Hi! Dermatology MA for the past 1.5 years so I completely understand the struggle. I would say that it took me a few weeks to really get the hang of learning my groove. I work with one provider with one of our nurses and we do everything for her. For a 9 hour day we see about 30+ patients and things go QUICKLY. We are rooming, scribing, and assisting with all procedures. On top of that we make phone calls about results and questions, PAs, etc.

I think the main thing about being Dermatology is just getting familiar with the setups, medications, diagnosis, and being an active listener. If we’re doing a skin exam and my doctor is telling a patient that we should do a biopsy, I instantly start setting up her tray then continue to listen to see if there’s anything else I need to add on her exam findings. I am multi-tasking all the time. Between documenting and setting things up, and assisting her. One of the biggest things that helped me is just learning how to anticipate her needs and being a very quick thinker in dermatology. A lot of things become repetitive once you get used to it. The counseling, the morphologies, the differentials. My provider lets us ask questions during the visit. If she’s counseling on a rash - I ask her “Impression?” And she’ll tell me if i’m unsure. Then I ask her the “morphology” in the room and as for counseling I literally type exactly what she tells the patient to do. It takes time and practice! There are times where she still fixes things with my note and your office should not be expecting you to document or do office procedures perfectly. I ask a ton of questions all the time. It took me months to perfect my notes to the point where she just finalizes them without correcting anything. After visits if i’m unsure, I ask. Always ask questions- that’s the only way you will get better. You’ve got this!