What is a Medical Assistant?
A medical assistant is an individual trained to assist medical professionals on an administrative level, clinical level, or both. Medical assistants are not the same as physician assistants. A physician assistant (PA) is trained to provide basic medical services, such as exams, diagnostics, and treatment under the supervision of a physician. Physician Assistants usually already have experience as nurses, paramedics, and medical technicians.
A medical assistants primary role is to keep physicians’ offices running smoothly by performing administrative and/or clinical tasks. Medical assistants do this by updating patient files, maintaining patient records, filling out insurance forms, and coordinating hospital admissions and laboratory services. Administrative duties might also include reception, bookkeeping, purchasing of office supplies and medical equipment, scheduling appointments, greeting patients and visitors, and accounts payable/receivable.
Depending on the type of office and state law, clinical duties include but are not limited to assisting physicians during examinations, collecting specimens, preparing and administering medications, drawing blood, changing dressings, discussing treatment procedures with patients, sterilizing medical equipment and instruments, prepping for examinations, recording vital signs, and taking and recording medical histories.
Medical assistants, whether administrative, clinical or both, can work on a full-time or part-time basis. Because the medical industry is a year around, around the clock industry, medical assistants can work days, evenings, weekends or a combination of the three. This is usually the case for hospital employees.
Medical Assistant Earnings
Medical assistants can work in any number of hospital settings or physicians’ offices including family and general practices, as well as “specialized” practices such as dental chiropractic, podiatry, and ophthalmology. Salaries for medical assistants will vary greatly depending on the type of medical assistant, setting, skill level, and experience.
As of May 2008, the average annual wage for medical assistants was $28,300. The middle 50 percent earned between $23,700 and $33,050. The lowest 10 percent earned $20,600 and the highest 10 percent earned $39,570. It is important to note that wages can be considerably higher based on whether an assistant has an advanced degree, multiple certifications, 10+ years of experience, and number of languages spoke.
Medical Assistant Qualifications
Although an accredited medical assisting program is strongly recommended to become a medical assistant, it is not always a requirement. However, most hospitals and physician offices prefer formal education and training. If you decide to attempt to enter the field without formal training, you will likely be passed over for candidates that have completed an accredited program. In the few cases where formal education and training are not required, you will be trained on the job.
Medical Assistant Programs
Medical assistant programs usually consist of anatomy and physiology courses and others that cover medical terminology. The curriculum will consist of accounting, insurance processing, bookkeeping and record keeping, typing, and transcription. You may also learn about clinical and diagnostic procedures and pharmaceutical principles as well as how to administer medications and first aid. An accredited medical assisting program will also cover ethics, medical law, office practices, and patient relations.
Depending on state law, certain certifications may be required. If not, many hospitals and physicians offices may require it. Most hospitals and physicians offices prefer to hire individuals who are certified, especially for specialized fields. For example, if you plan to become an optometric assistant, you may want to obtain certification through the American Optometric Association.
Anatomy of a Top Shelf Medical Assistant Program
A top shelf medical assistant program will be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). Academic and clinical training will consists of specific courses such as:
- -Clinical and diagnostic procedures
- -Coding and insurance processing
- -First aid
- -Human anatomy, physiology, and pathology
- -Keyboarding and computer applications
- -Laboratory techniques
- -Medical law and ethics
- -Medical terminology
- -Medication administration
- -Office practices
- -Patient relations
- -Pharmacology
- -Record keeping and accounting
Top shelf medical assistant programs will offer internships and externships. Externships are short-term training sessions that allow the student to shadow a professional during his normal daily routine. An externship will also include a tour of the facility, informational interviews, and participation in office projects. Externships typically last one-two days and they offer no academic credit or compensation.
Internships are long-term, usually lasting an entire semester or more. Some offer pay and/or academic credit and allow the student to support an office, hospital or other organization’s work function.
Medical Assistants Job Outlook
In 2008, there were approximately 483,600 medical assistants working in offices of physicians, private hospitals, inpatient and outpatient facilities and offices of health care practitioners such as optometrists and chiropractors. Projected employment for the 2008-2018 decade is 34 percent. This is much faster than average, making “medical assistant” one of the fastest growing occupations in the country.
For more information about medical assistant careers, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics at www.bls.gov.
