AAMA installs Salt Lake City, Utah resident as President

St. Louis (MMD Newswire) November 18, 2014 — The American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) met in St. Louis for its 58th Annual Conference. Charlene Couch, CMA (AAMA) was installed as the 2014-2015 AAMA President. In this capacity, President Couch, a resident of Salt Lake City, represents medical assistants across the nation. Medical assisting is an allied health profession whose practitioners function as members of the health care delivery team and perform administrative and clinical procedures.

President Couch states, “It is an honor to serve the association and profession during this time of great change in health care delivery. Medical assistants have a lot to offer physicians and patients in the way of our versatility and knowledge of clinical, administrative, and billing skill sets. The mission of the American Association of Medical Assistants is to provide the medical assistant professional with education, certification, credential acknowledgement, networking opportunities, scope-of-practice protection, and advocacy for quality patient-centered health care.”

Couch brings a great deal of experience to her office. She worked in health care for more than 40 years and as a certified medical assistant since 1986. She has worked for six years in Australia in hematology, oncology, and orthopedics. After returning to the United States, she was in pulmonary medicine for 11 years and radiology for 20 years. At present she is working in primary care and geriatrics.

Couch has served on many committees and strategy teams for the AAMA, including six years on the Curriculum Review Board, and has surveyed medical assisting programs in educational institutions throughout the country. She has also chaired the Occupational Analysis Task Force twice over the past 10 years and has held the office of Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, and President of the AAMA.

The purpose of the American Association of Medical Assistants is to promote the professional identity and stature of its members and the medical assisting profession through education and credentialing.

The AAMA offers the CMA (AAMA) credential, which verifies entry-level knowledge of medical assisting professionals. The CMA (AAMA) represents a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) who has been credentialed by the AAMA Certifying Board. The National Board of Medical Examiners-responsible for many national examinations for physicians-serves as test consultant for the examination.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of medical assistants continues to grow much faster than the average for all occupations.

Photos: Available upon request

Contact: Jean M. Lynch, AAMA Director of Communications and Marketing, 800/228-2262