Open Forum

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Brooke, 

I would also love to see the outline and materials. linda.keller@reveremedical.com

Best, 

Linda

Linda Keller DNP, RN, ACM-RN

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

------------------------------
Brook Fiske, MSN, RN
Nurse Educator
Rochester General Hospital
Rochester NY
(585)695-2343

Original Message:
Sent: 03-15-2026 22:58
From: Kelly Bergstrom
Subject: Education models for MAs

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

------------------------------
Kelly Bergstrom, RN, BSN
SL Director of Nursing, Primary and Urgent Care
Presbyterian Medical Group
5901 Harper Dr. NE,
Albuquerque, NM 87109
kbergstro2@phs.org
------------------------------

Brook - I too would be interested in seeing your outline and activities. Mrheinha@crhc.org

Kelly - we have developed our own in‑house Medical Assistant training program. We have internally developed our content and run the program as a combination of didactic learning with hands on skills and activities.  Our curriculum was designed by clinical leadership and is then taught by a variety of staff including medical assistants, practice nurses and our clinical leaders.  We have found engaging the MAs and practice nurses to teach has not only been great for the new MAs learning from staff that perform the role / work with the role of an MA but brings them professional satisfaction as well by being involved.

As for success based on survey results we have a high satisfaction rate and a current retention rate of 92% 

For some additional information, in addition to teaching the program we provide direct weekly feedback to the practice the new MA is working in on what our focus of the week was so as they precept in the practice it aligns with what is being taught.

We run the program over a 10 week period.

week 1 - three days in the program / 2 in their practice 

week 2 - two days in the program / 3 days in their practice 

week 3-10 - one day in the program / 4 in their practice 

We spend the first week ensuring they have enough time getting the foundational skills down to be able to return to their practice able to partner with their preceptor and participate in rooming, vital signs and such.

Our curriculum core approach is to take each system and educate to the acute and chronic syndromes associated to the system, common medications, medial terminology and then address in a hands on fashion competency's tied to that system.  In addition to this A&P approach we also have sessions around MA Scope of Practice, EMR education, Wellness / How to reduce Burnout, Prior Authorization, Medication Renewals, etc. 

We continue to tinker with the program curriculum with each co-hort we hold (we run the program twice a year) based off the feedback of participants, practices and the specialty the new MA is working at. 

I am happy to host a call / zoom if you have any questions. 

Megan Rheinhardt, RN

Original Message:
Sent: 03-16-2026 10:54
From: Brook Fiske
Subject: Education models for MAs

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

------------------------------
Brook Fiske, MSN, RN
Nurse Educator
Rochester General Hospital
Rochester NY
(585)695-2343

Original Message:
Sent: 03-15-2026 22:58
From: Kelly Bergstrom
Subject: Education models for MAs

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

------------------------------
Kelly Bergstrom, RN, BSN
SL Director of Nursing, Primary and Urgent Care
Presbyterian Medical Group
5901 Harper Dr. NE,
Albuquerque, NM 87109
kbergstro2@phs.org
------------------------------

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

Hi Kelly,

We developed an in-house education program for our MAs. It is three 8 hour days, each held once weekly on a rotating basis. Our clinical educators rotate teaching the sessions. We incorporate hands-on manual blood pressure and EKG placement skills with our didactic education and we use a lot of interactive activities and games. We are still in the process of collecting post course data but what we have collected so far has shown improvement in most of the areas that we are measuring and our feedback from the team has been great! We are also hoping that we will see better retention but do not have data on that yet. I can send you the topic outline if you like as well as the references and learning assessments that we used to build the program. 

Hello everyone,

I'm gathering information on in‑house (non‑certified) Medical Assistant training programs and would appreciate learning from those of you who are currently "growing your own." Specifically, I'm interested in:

• What you're using for MA education (online or purchased content, internally developed curriculum, or partnerships with external education programs)

• The role your clinical educators play in training and competency development

• Any impact you've seen on MA retention, time‑to‑fill, and overall quality, safety, or patient experience in your clinics

Your insights would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our options. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.