You must listen carefully to the patient's story

My first day of internship was special. A patient came in with a large head wound. The doctor asked if I wanted to assist with the stitching. 'Yes,' I said! Another powerful moment was when a woman called to say her husband was having a heart attack. I acted well, and I was proud of that. Fortunately, the man was fine.

As a medical assistant, you listen carefully to the patient's story and complaint. Based on that, you decide how urgent it is and what to do: resolve it yourself, schedule an appointment, or contact the hospital? We assist with minor surgical procedures, perform ECGs, and measure blood pressure. So you really need to know a lot; the theoretical training is therefore demanding. For example, we have to know all the medications: what they're for, what the side effects are, and which ones shouldn't be used together. It's a real learning curve.