Since 2019, Children’s Wisconsin has offered a rewarding opportunity for staff to learn new skills and grow professionally. More than 100 Children’s Wisconsin team members have been part of the Grow Our Own Medical Assistant training program – accelerating their professional development and filling critical workforce needs.
 
In less than a year, program participants achieve a medical assistant associate degree while they continue working at Children’s Wisconsin. The program prepares participants to be eligible for a national medical assistant certification program. With online coursework and hands-on learning, participants learn how to perform the key clinical and administrative duties medical assistants fulfill. These tasks include taking and recording patient vital signs, assisting with and performing procedures, administering medications, updating patient records, scheduling appointments and much more. Once the program is completed, Children’s Wisconsin offers the participant a role as a medical assistant. Funded by Children’s Wisconsin, federal and state funding and Herzing University, participants complete the program debt free.
 
To date, most of the participants have worked in Children’s Wisconsin’s Milwaukee area clinics. However, the first Fox Valley area medical assistant recently graduated and is working at the Children’s Appleton Clinic. For many graduates, becoming a medical assistant is a career pathway to another health care position. A handful of graduates from the Children’s Wisconsin medical assistant training program are now continuing their education to become registered nurses.