I love being an integral part of the healthcare system. Somewhere along the line someone decided that specialties for example cardiology, radiology and podiatry, just to name a few, should be paid more because they are a specialty. Being a competent and reliable medical assistant in family medicine means you are required to know a little of everything regarding medical disciplines and that includes CLIA waived tests and procedures. The family medical assistant is able to identify and take proper action, with the supervision of a MD, PA, or RN when it comes to handling emergent situations. I am not taking away the value that specialties hold within the medical community. I am saying that as the first phone call made when a patient has an issue, it is not to their specialty doctor, but up to their primary physician to assist the patient with their needs. I am required to be able to identify the signs of stroke, heart attach, chocking, poisoning, etc, I am also expected to perform the appropriate actions for said situations. I can tell you generic and brand names for medications that have absolutely nothing to do with one another. I assist our older generation in getting home health care and I fight tooth and nail with insurance for diabetic patients who didn’t get their diagnosis yesterday; my point is your family med medical assistant does a lot. Their appreciation should be reflected. None of us want to and/or are going to stop being advocates for our patients but, the stigma has got to end. I’d like to say, “a medical assistant is a medical assistant is a medical assistant”, but that’s just not the truth. Family/Internal medicine sees patients sometimes, from the time they are born until the time that pedes patient ends up our medical assistant. We are medical assistants when it comes to every day family medicine. We are quite literally part of the family. Thanks for listening.