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"I fulfilled a lifelong dream by traveling to a third world country on a missions trip."	"It just happened that my mom and I ended up enrolling [in a medical assisting program] at the same time."	"It's so rewarding to be able to help prevent a lot of medical errors and a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering."
Name: Christine Kincaid, CMA (AAMA) Occupation: Works for a family practice physician. In the spotlight: Kincaid traveled to Africa on a missions trip to help educate Kenyans on health issues. Read more on Kincaid's intriguing journey.	Names: Staci Butler, CMA (AAMA), and Lisa DiToro, CMA (AAMA) Occupation: Butler works for a medical equipment distributor; DiToro works for a military family practice clinic. In the spotlight: This mother-daughter duo shares a passion for medical assisting. Read more about this medical assisting duo.	Name: Joaquin Varo, CMA (AAMA) Occupation: Works as the program coordinator/ translator for a nonprofit organization. In the spotlight: Varo put his medical assistant training to use by helping to provide quality health care for Hispanics. Read more on Varo's unique career.

The following is adapted and reprinted with permission from WSMA Update.

In August of 2006, I fulfilled a lifelong dream by traveling to a third world country on a missions trip. My 16 year old daughter, Val, and I went to Kenya, Africa, with Life Missions, a Christian organization based in Appleton, Wis. During part of our two week trip, we stayed at the HEART compound in Nairobi. HEART stands for Health Education Africa Resource Team.

Diseases that affect many Kenyans include HIV/AIDS, typhoid, malaria, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis. HEART teaches Kenyans about transmission, symptoms, and prevention of these diseases, as well as proper hand washing techniques, sanitation, and food preparation. It is horrifying the conditions that many Kenyans live in, without the simplest of necessities, such as clean water.

One of the first days we were there, we visited Muthari slums, a large slum in Nairobi where it is estimated nearly a million people live in utter poverty. The women from our team met with women in a WEEP program. WEEP stands for Women's Equality Empowerment Project and provides employment to mothers with AIDS, children to support, and no husbands. The women we met that day were learning to sew school uniforms for the children in the slum. The Kenyan government offers free education to all of its children, but requires that they wear uniforms, which many families cannot afford. So these WEEP women will sew uniforms to sell at a cheaper price and still make a decent income for themselves.

In addition to encountering AIDS firsthand, we met many individuals who also had tuberculosis. One young mother with AIDS and TB didn't know if she should let her children sleep with her in her bed at night when she was coughing, or if they should sleep on the floor where, with the many holes in the walls of her home, rats would run over the top of her children while they slept.

We also traveled out into the "bush" and worked with the Maasai tribe. Traveling out into the wilderness it was hard to imagine that a disease such as AIDS can be killing off these proud warriors. Several factors are at work in these ancient tribes.

All of the Maasai practice polygamy. One husband might have up to five or six wives, who all live in harmony in several dung homes, called a manyatta. All the wives raise all the children together, and the husband sleeps with whichever wife he wants to whenever he wants to. So once HIV is introduced into this little family, it spreads to them all.

The Maasai men are semi-nomadic and will travel around the countryside grazing their herds of cattle and goats. They eventually will end up in a larger city to trade cattle. While they are in the city, they will usually find a prostitute to keep them company. Then, as they journey back home, they stop at other manyattas along the way. Because the Massai are a very hospitable people and very kind to their guests, they will offer to any stranger their food, their home, and one of their wives for the night.

To change a culture and improve the health of its people is a daunting task, but groups such as HEART are starting to make a difference.

Lisa DiToro, CMA (AAMA), and Staci Butler, CMA (AAMA): Like mother like daughter

Medical assisting suits this mother-daughter duo

Lisa DiToro, CMA (AAMA), and daughter Staci Butler, CMA (AAMA), share a profession, passion for reading, and even the same astrological sign. "We've always been really close," says Butler. "And we tend to challenge each other in a positive way," DiToro adds.

Both women have been interested in health care their entire lives. "Working in medicine was always a dream of mine that got put on hold when I became a mom," states DiToro. When she decided to go back to school, medical assisting was the perfect fit. "It gave me the opportunity to use the administrative background I already had, but still learn the hands-on patient care," she says.

For Butler medicine was a constant part of her childhood. "Staci was unfortunate enough to be one of those children with a lot of throat and ear problems so she spent a lot of time with an ENT. She was 4 years old when she told me she wanted to be an otolaryngologist," DiToro says, adding, "At 9 instead of sitting and watching cartoons, she actually sat and watched an entire knee replacement!"

Butler says medical assisting fulfills her fascination with medicine, as well as her passion to help people. "When I was looking through the catalog at the college, I kept going back to the medical assisting program," she states. "It just happened that my mom and I ended up enrolling at the same time."

DiToro and Butler were two of just 10 students in the medical assisting program at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach, Va. Though they were ecstatic to be in every class together, they strived to make the experience their own.

The duo completed the medical assisting program in August 2007, passed the October CMA (AAMA) Exam, and graduated magna cum laude at the December 2007 graduation ceremony. "My mom's graduation gift to me was putting up the money for my certification exam," says Butler.

Both women always envisioned the credential after their names, and DiToro also intended to be involved in the association. She is serving a second year as a student representative on the AAMA Membership and Marketing Team.

When asked about working together, the women both laughed. DiToro elaborates, "We sometimes clash because we are both leader-type people."

DiToro works for a military family practice clinic where she takes vital signs; performs wound and strep cultures; coordinates labs, X-rays, and specialist care; and participates in patient education. "Patient education is truly my favorite part," she says.  "Teaching the kids especially about wound care or using crutches and such is a joy!"

Butler works for a medical equipment distributor where she processes orders, ensures the appropriate equipment is delivered, and communicates with patients. "I love it," she states. "It's very challenging; the tasks I do and how I handle different situations change from day to day."

Joaquin Varo, CMA (AAMA): Speaking from the heart

Translator connects patients with care

Joaquin Varo, CMA (AAMA), left Mexico with his family and arrived in Newport, Ore., at the age of 14. He instantly developed an interest in health care, particularly improving the quality of care for Hispanics. "I just wasn't exactly sure how to go about it," he says. So after graduating from high school, Varo worked as a Hispanic program coordinator for the Oregon Area Health Education Center, an agency that aims to improve the education, training, and distribution of health care professionals in Oregon. "They had a program that encouraged Hispanics to go into health care, and one of my jobs was to promote the program, which included recognizing the medical assisting field," he states. "I thought, 'hey, this is the career I should get into.'"

Following this realization, Varo enrolled in the medical assisting program at Portland Community College. "But when I was finishing my clinical externship, I realized that if I worked in clinical services, I wasn't going to be able to optimize my knowledge in reaching out to Hispanic people because a lot of Hispanics unfortunately don't go to see the doctor often," he explains. So Varo became involved in El Centro de Ayuda, a nonprofit organization that strives to provide support and educational services to high-risk, low-income families. Its programs include medical interpretation, an after school club for children, fresh food distributions, referral and assistance programs, and an array of classes in adult literacy, nutrition, health, and childbirth. "It was the best opportunity to really become involved in my community," Varo says. "I first became a volunteer, then a board member, then a vice chairman of the board, and then the program coordinator/translator position became available, and I got it," he notes. The position seemed tailor-made for Varo's passion. "I can really be there with Hispanic patients throughout the whole journey from going to the ER, doing follow-up, making sure they get all their medications and are taking them correctly, and that they understand what their diagnoses and prognoses are," he says.

Variety fills Varo's workdays, but he spends much of his time translating. The El Centro de Ayuda has a relationship with the local hospital, so if a patient needs a translator, the hospital immediately calls the center. "We have a 24/7 service with the hospital so if we get paged, we go," says Varo. He's on call four days a week, and takes pride in each page, no matter the hour.

According to Medical Care Research and Review, multiple studies document that more interpreter errors occur with untrained ad hoc interpreters, compromising quality of care for patients with limited English proficiency. "It's so rewarding to be able to help prevent a lot of these medical errors and a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering."

Varo's medical assisting training grounds him for each workday. "We have a rather complicated medical system in the U.S. and so it is very difficult for people to navigate," he states. "Having my background in medical assisting is of great help to the quality care of people. It helps me to help them make sure they understand clinical issues, as well as administrative information," he says. "I know the system and I'm able to provide a link of communication between the patients and their providers." Translation: One caring and committed CMA (AAMA) can make a world of difference.

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