What is a Medical Assistant?Written by Danni R., CMA, CCMA, CMAA
What is a Medical Assistant? Medical assisting is a field full of opportunity for those who enjoy working side by side with physicians and others in a medical office or clinic, regardless of gender. Traditionally, medical assisting has been a profession dominated by women, mostly because of biased counseling and recruiting, and misconceptions about workforce. A study called "Title IX and Equal Opportunity in Vocational and Technical Education" conducted in June 2002 showed that male students made up less than 14 percent in courses offering medical assisting training in 12 states surveyed. However, contrary to certain stereotyped preconceptions and believes male medical assistants are highly valued and respected colleagues. Just like their female counterparts they usually are very much liked by patients in a modern healthcare facility and it is encouraging to see that recently more and more male medical assistants are beginning to enter into this very rewarding profession!
| | ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CLOTHESWritten by Dr. Sherin Elkhawaga
The ancient Egyptians made their own clothes from what their environment and nature gave them. Egypt has mostly a hot climate thus use of clothes reflect material that is lightweight to suit this type of climate. The ancient Egyptians thus used clothes made of linen. For reading more articles about ancient Egypt click on: www.kingtutshop.com The ancient Egyptians both men and women wore linen clothes all throughout hot weather. The men wore short skirts around their waists called kilts, while women wore straight fitting dresses with straps on their shoulders. The wealthy men wore pleated kilts, and older men wore a longer kilt. When doing hard work, men wore a loin cloth, and women wore a short skirt. Children usually ran around nude during summer months. HOW LINEN WAS MADE Linen is a fabric made from plant fibers. The plant fiber comes from flax plants that grow abundantly along banks of Nile. The flax plants are plants having small leaves, blue flowers and stems about two feet tall. Flax was pulled out of ground, not cut. This work was done mostly by men. Half-ripe flax stems made best thread. If stems were too ripe, they were used for mats and rope. Flax stems were soaked for several days then fibers were separated. Then fibers were beaten until soft. The resulting fibers are then spun into thread. The thread is woven into linen fabric from which garments are made. Most Egyptians wore garments made from linen. This type of fabric is light, airy, and allows freedom of movement, which are important characteristics because of hot and sometimes humid climate of Egypt. In Ancient Egypt, women were predominately in charge of textile manufacturing and garment making. Garment making was a household chore, but woman also worked for aristocrats in spinning and weaving shops. Every garment from decorative dresses of queens and elaborate, pleated kilts of pharaohs to simpler kilts and aprons of common people were handmade by woman. The tools involved in garment making include knives and needles, both of these needed to be molded, shaped or craved. In predynastic times, knives were made out of stone and needles were made from bones. However, during Old Kingdom, they were both made out of copper. Then, in Middle Kingdom, bronze replaced copper. Knives and needles were molded. Surprisingly, eyes of needles were not bored. They were "scratched out with a hard, pointed instrument, probably a stone." With these tools and linen, garments were fashioned to suit needs of people based on climate and social status. . All men, from tomb worker to pharaoh, wore a kind of kilt or apron that varied in length over years, from halfway above knee, to halfway below it. It was tied at front, folded in at side, or in two knots at hips. A sleeved, shirt-like garment also became fashionable. Men were always clean-shaven, they used razors made from bronze to shave their beards and heads. Women wore straight, ankle-length dresses that usually had straps that tied at neck or behind shoulders. Some dresses had short sleeves or women wore short robes tied over their shoulders. Later fashions show that linen was folded in many tiny vertical pleats and fringes were put at edges.
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