Wallace State celebrating Medical Assistant Recognition Week
HANCEVILLE, Ala. —The Medical Assistant program at Wallace State Community College
is celebrating National Medical Assistant Recognition Week this week.
Surrounded by students and faculty from Wallace State Community College’s Medical
Assisting program, Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail has recognized Oct. 18-22, 2021,
as Medical Assistant Recognition Week as he has done for a number of years.
Mayor Nail congratulated the students on entering a field that focuses on caring for
others.
“It’s a very compassionate thing,” he said, to work in the medical field. “Just always
remember that people are hurting, and some people are scared, so just a nice, gentle
hand is so reassuring.”
“And I’m glad you chose Wallace State, because it’s the best around,” he added.
Medical assisting is an allied health profession whose practitioners function as members
of the health care delivery team and perform administrative and clinical procedures.
With their unique versatility, medical assistants are proving to be the allied health
professional of choice for this decade and beyond. Medical assisting is one of the
nation’s careers growing much faster than average for all occupations, according to
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tracie Fuqua, chair of the WSCC Medical Assisting program, said there were almost
800 medical assistant job listings in Alabama on Indeed last week and she often gets
calls from area physicians seeking trained medical assistants.
Wallace State’s training includes front- and back-office skills, and limited lab and
radiography skills, such as being able to perform chest and extremities x-rays.
The Medical Assisting program offers a three-semester certificate option as well as
a four-semester degree option. The program accepts new students each fall, with applications
accepted from March 1 to June 1 each year. There are no prerequisite classes required
before applying, but applicants do need to have an ACT score of at least 17 to apply.
Medical Assistants Recognition Week is designated by the American Association of Medical
Assistants® (AAMA). Medical assistants across the country will be recognized during
this special week and honored on Medical Assistants Recognition Day, Oct. 20. 2021.
For more information about Wallace State’s Medical Assisting program, visit www.wallacestate.edu
or call 256.352.8000.