Medical Administrative Assistant Float staff work behind the scenes to ensure schedules run smoothly, messages get delivered quickly, and patients get the appointments they need. Find out what it takes to be a float, what makes the job meaningful, and what the team would be called if they were a band.

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Mayo Clinic is a team of teams — many, many teams. So many that it's impossible to know what each of them does. This column will put that question to teams throughout Mayo, giving them a chance to share how they contribute to patient care and support colleagues throughout the organization. If there's a team you'd like to know about or whose work you'd like to see highlighted, drop the News Center team a note, and we’ll see what we can do.

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DJ Bledsoe started her Mayo Clinic career as a patient care assistant at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. It was a good fit for her personality.

"I have a huge heart for healthcare," she says. "I'm very empathetic and love to help people. You need to have the right heart to be in this field, whether you're working hands-on or behind the scenes."

A year ago, Bledsoe became part of the Medical Administrative Assistant Float Team, eager for a chance to learn more about opportunities throughout Mayo Clinic.

"I didn't know where I wanted to end up," she says. "Then I just fell in love with the float team. The feedback I get feels really nice. People really appreciate what we do."

Bledsoe and her colleagues also appreciate each other. 

"We're all there for each other," she says. "And everyone works so hard. I feel blessed to do what I'm doing and to work with the people I do every single day." 

The News Center team asked Bledsoe to answer questions about her job and her team.

Tell us about your team. What is it your team does?

The Medical Administrative Assistant Operations Float Team provides medical administrative support to departments that have vacancies because they're short-staffed or have someone on leave. We might go in for a day or a week, or several months. We provide behind-the-scenes support to both care teams and patients. That might mean managing a physician's calendar, finding a work-in appointment for a patient, or routing in-basket messages to providers. We wear a lot of hats and put out a lot of fires. Wherever we are, we're there to help.

How do you spend most of your day?

Providing coverage for departments that request administrative support for their providers and care teams. The actual work is different every day, and I love that.

What might surprise people about the work your team does?

The float department staff are capable of providing coverage for over 40 departments across Mayo Clinic in Arizona. We can support administrative departments as well.

Everyone at Mayo contributes to caring for patients. How does your team do that?

We work on the back end and communicate with care teams to ensure patients are receiving the best care. Our work isn't visible to patients, but they are always in the front of our minds. Our team stands by "the needs of the patients always come first."

You're going to hire a new team member. Describe your ideal candidate.

Someone with a strong work ethic and willingness to adapt to a new work environment quickly. They need to be willing to jump right into a new situation and enjoy variety in their work.

What is a recent team success that you're proud of?

Our team has been a resource to help other departments adjust to the launch of the Harwick Project. Our Practice Support trainer, Danitza Schmitt, opened up one of her first Oracle/Travel and Reimbursement training classes to the float staff. We got early training on Oracle, UKG and GetThere. So when we'd float to different areas, we'd be able to help other staff as they were adjusting to the new applications.

If your team was a band, what would it be called?

If we were a band, we would be called Panic at the Mayo! If we were a song, we would be called "Stop, Drop and Float."

If you had to describe your team’s work in six words, what would your six-word story be?

You can count on the floats!