Mints joins NMCC staff
PRESQUE ISLE — A Mapleton woman has been tapped by Northern Maine Community College to coordinate and serve as the lead instructor for the medical assisting associate degree program. Penny Sue Mints has joined the faculty of the nursing and allied health department at NMCC.
Mints, who most recently served as a clinical project coordinator at The Aroostook Medical Center, comes to the college with 17 years’ experience in health care and health care education.
Penny Sue Mints
“We are so pleased that Penny has joined the faculty in nursing and allied health. She brings a wealth of both professional and clinical expertise, as well as teaching experience,” said Kimberly Esquibel, chair of the NMCC nursing and allied health department. “We developed this program four years ago in direct response to the needs of The County health care community. The response has been extremely positive and our first graduates are now in the workforce. Penny will help us move this program forward as we continue to ensure the curriculum best meets the needs of area employers.”
Prior to serving as clinical project coordinator at TAMC, Mints was a diagnostic medical sonographer for both TAMC and Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. She held a similar position at Cary Medical Center from 2001-2006.
Her teaching experience includes serving as a part-time instructor for the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where she taught courses for students enrolled in the medical laboratory and medical technology programs. She also served as a preceptor for the students while they were in clinical rotations at area health care facilities.
“I am looking forward to working with both the students and fellow faculty and staff members,” said Mints. “Medical assisting students at NMCC participate in a curriculum that is comprised of both classroom learning and medical practice practicum. They have an ambitious attitude about learning and transitioning from the college setting into the health care setting, and it will be very rewarding to be an integral part of that transition.”
Mints holds a master of science in business degree from Husson University and a bachelor of arts degree in clinical science from the University of Maine. She additionally completed coursework in diagnostic ultrasound from Southwest Missouri Allied Health and the medical technology program at Eastern Maine Medical Center. She is professionally licensed as a registered diagnostic medical sonographer and as a medical technologist.
Medical assistants perform routine administrative and clinical tasks needed to keep the medical offices and clinics of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other medical professionals running smoothly and efficiently. Others in the profession may work in outpatient surgical centers, laboratories, or hospitals.
The services provided by medical assistants include both the office administrative and clinical aspects of their place of employment. Administrative duties include keeping patient records, managing financial matters, handling insurance arrangements, processing correspondence, and overall office management.
Clinically, the medical assistant prepares and assists in patient examination, records laboratory data, assists with office surgical procedures, performs basic physical assessment and measures vital signs.
