Medical Assistant

Due to the rapidly expanding population and advances made in the technological aspects of the medical field, jobs for medical assistants are growing at a fast pace. The majority of medical assistant positions are available in physicians offices, however, there are also job opportunities in hospitals and clinics and chiropractor and optometrist offices.

A medical assistant is a person who works in one of the above mentioned offices and either performs office and clerical duties, clinical duties, or a combination of both. Medical assistants who work in a smaller office setting are more likely to perform both tasks, while a medical assistant working in a larger office setting generally either performs office tasks such as updating and filing medical records, greeting patients, and filing insurance paperwork, or performs clinical duties such as taking vital signs and assisting physicians during an examination. The duties of a medical assistant who performs clinical duties vary from state to state depending on law.

Persons wishing to pursue a career as a medical assistant must hold either a high school diploma or GED. The majority of medical assistants hold either a one year certification from a technical school or a two year associates degree. Persons wishing to become medical assistants must generally take courses in keyboarding, accounting, insurance processing, medical record transcription, anatomy and physiology, and medical terminology.

While certification is not required, it is certainly an asset. Certification is offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants as well as the Association of Medical Technologists. Certification can also be narrowed to a specific field such as obstetrics, gynecology, podiatry, or ophthalmology.

Advancements are possible in the medical assistant field. Many clerical medical assistants advance to the position of office manager, while clinical medical assistants often continue their education and become technicians or nurses. As medical group practices expand, the demand for medical assistants will increase. More positions are required for a large group practice to function, and medical assistants play a major role in these practices.

Medical assistants can expect to work full time hours, although there are part time opportunities. Medical assistants may work both night and weekends and must be able to get along well with the public and must respect the laws of confidentiality. Pay is dependent on experience and the size of the office as well as geographical location. Full medical and dental benefits are normally offered to medical assistants.