Advice on experience needed to be a medical assistant

Friday

New Member
I went for my assessment day and even though I got through all areas of testing and answered every interview question displaying a very good understanding of job knowledge, I had spoken to a current medical assistant about her experiences, as well as had conversations with other serving members of the airforce (my older brother is an avionics technician of 11 years now and I have met many of his friends/workmates) I was told that I was unsuccessful because I haven't done any previous medical training so there was no guarantee that I would enjoy the position and would stick with it.

The website does not say that I have to have done any form of previous medical experience/training (I did look into work experience at various pharmacys and medical practitions however I needed already completed certificates or to be able to do a year apprenticeship which I can't because my brother is being posted to Adelaide next year, I did tell the recruiter this) also when I rang up the recruiters on a weekly basis for about 4 months to see how my application was going and if theres anything further I could do I was not once told it was necessary to do courses or beg hospitals for volunteer work.
It was obvious that this one aspect/idea was all that the recruiter was basing my performance on, he didn't care about my motivation or my enthusiasm or that I had done the research.

Anyway after he had said no I really couldn't say more than 'yep' and 'ok' because my voice was trembling and I was about to burst into uncontrollable tears. I did hold back from collapsing in front of him and he did say ''I can see that you are very capable of performing the position and in your aptitude testing you did score very well and are qualified for almost all of the jobs available"

I would like to acknowledge that yes I haven't had the experience in that type of environment but honestly I love being helpful and making peoples lives easier, if I wasn't going to choose the airforce I would be a regular nurse and volunteer on the side with humanitarian efforts, yes it will be a physically and mentally demanding job but I know that I can do it, I am determined and I know that this is the job for me and that I would love the rewarding career, I don't need to do courses or work experience to know this but now I have to.
After calming down I requested to speak to the recruiter again and I asked him specifically what kind of courses or work I should be doing, his answer was ''Anything health related at tafe and to do volunteer programs at hospitals''

I messaged my older sister who has been a civillian nurse for almost 4 years now and asked her if she knew of any volunteer programs that hospitals do, her reply ''There is no such thing. I recommend you enrol in a tafe course that gives you a certificate in aged care. With that and a first aid certificate you should be able to get a job in a nursing home. Thats probably the only decent experience you could get''

Sorry about the long story and background information, anyway my main questions are:


1. Which course/courses should I do at tafe that would be relevant to a future medical assistant position in the airforce?

2. Where should I attempt to get a part-time or fulltime healthcare position? (this one may be harder because if I'm joining the Airforce next year I can't be locked into an apprenticeship for a year or so)

3. Does anyone know of any hospital or other healthcare facility related volunteer programs that wont require me to have completed certificates or have any qualifications but might still offer me the opportunity if I'm doing healthcare related courses at the time ?

4. Does anyone know of any healthcare related places or websites where I can start applying for fulltime work (keeping in mind that at this time I wont have any of the qualifications or have started tafe) before I actually move to Adelaide?


Money is not an issue for me, I do have savings and my mother has offered to assist me with paying for whichever courses I will need because she understands how important this is to me and we both want to make sure I have the right qualifications and training experience before I go for my Assessment day next year. I think we will be living no more than an hour away from Edinburough as that is the base my brother is being posted to. I have absolutely no objections to working with aged care, children, disability centres, animals or anything, I enjoy being around all different kinds of people of various ages and circumstances but I do need to do courses that will assist me in being successful on my assessment day as this is my end goal. All advice and ideas are welcome and greatly appreciated!
 
Top