Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of three articles focused on medical assistant recruitment and retention.

Editor's Note: Pharmacy Technician Day is Oct. 19! The following editorial was written by Jessica Langley-Loep, executive director of education and advocacy at NHA, on her recent attendance of the NCPA Annual Convention and in celebration of Pharmacy Technician Day.

CTE Teacher Builds Region’s First Certified Medical Assistant Path for High School Students 

Oluwafemi Awomoyi, Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA)

As an immigrant from Nigeria, Africa, seeing my people die from diseases that are preventable or even insignificant to the Western world was always a difficult pill for me to swallow. In one fateful weekend during my teenage years, I lost my three-year-old cousin. She died of pneumonia. I can still picture her twin brother crying inconsolably, witnessing his best friend weak and gasping for air before she died. She could have survived with just a simple shot of the pneumococcal vaccine. That day, as I was feeling angry at the world, I decided that I would go the distance to prevent other unnecessary losses of life. I would become a renowned physician.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many essential healthcare workers—primarily women—to leave the workforce. This has brought up gender equality issues in the workplace, and many employers are taking action.

Tapping pharmacy technicians as immunizers opens up greater visibility and new source of health care labor.

Oregon Charter Academy Creates Online Medical Assisting Program That Serves Students State-wide

The National Healthcareer Association (NHA) has achieved programmatic accreditation for continuing education from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education for their soft skills training program, PersonAbility™. Accredited to provide nine hours of continuing education (0.9 CEUs) for both certified pharmacy technicians and pharmacists, PersonAbility™ provides essential soft skills training to improve communication techniques, critical thinking skills, and professionalism.   

NHA's 2021 Industry Outlook shares the trends impacting some of the most in-demand allied health professions. In this year's research, NHA collected insights and data from employers of allied health professionals, digging deeper to understand what they seek in candidates, what these professionals’ daily work looks like, and what traits and skills make them most successful in their roles. Download a copy or read on to learn more about this report.

In writing the 2021 edition of access™: an allied health industry journal, it was not lost on us that the healthcare industry, and specifically those working on the front lines, had just gone through what might have been the most challenging year in their careers.

In response to COVID-19, policy changes paved the way for a rapid expansion of telehealth. As we reflect on the past year, we can learn from the opportunities and challenges that communications technology has yielded and take steps to prepare for what might come next.