Starting out your career as a medical office assistant is an exciting time!

Many MOA diplomas require a practicum or internship to help candidates gain real world experience.  Talk to your college instructors early on in the year to find out if they have any clinic contacts to share.  Often the best practicum locations are found by word of mouth.

Tips for Getting Hired

  • Be sure to review the ‘Interview and Hiring Tips’ pages to get a sense of how best to prepare for landing a practicum or your first job
  • Ensure that your resume is up to date and visually appealing
  • Consider your past work experience and how the skills you learned might translate to a medical practice setting. Keep in mind that any customer service experience will translate well to dealing with the public in a clinic setting. Be sure to articulate this during an interview.
  • Clean up your Facebook account. Employers will sometimes check out your online footprint and you don’t want to jeopardize your reputation with any inappropriate photos.
  • Always send a follow up thank you email after an interview. Even if you don’t land the job or practicum, you may cross paths with this clinic again the future.
  • Keep in touch with your classmates and instructors. The stronger your network, the more opportunities you will have in the future.
  • Join an MOA Facebook Group in your area and keep an eye out on MOACareers.com for future opportunities!

Tips for Your Practicum Experience

  • Show up early, every day. This demonstrates your enthusiasm and willingness to work
  • Create a ‘Learning Objectives’ document, outlining what you hope to learn and discuss it with your practicum supervisor
  • Take your practicum supervisor out for coffee and get to know them.  Ask about how they started out in the MOA field and if they have any words of advice for you.
  • Get to know the doctors and prove to them that you are a hard worker.
  • Ask for a letter of reference from your supervisor to aid in your future employment search
  • Be sure to stay in touch with your new practicum colleagues! These contacts may be helpful in the future.