The medical assistant profession started in the 1950s.  It is usually a 40 hour a week job, but can be part-time.

There are different types of medical assistants: administrative, clinical, and specialized.  Each must have strong communication skills as one-on-one contact with patients is a key part of the job.

Medical assistants, in general, have a variety of tasks to perform, from duties in the office like administrative and clerical to hands on work with patients.  They must be strong multi-taskers, as there are a variety of aspects of the job to juggle. They are also the main communicator between the patient and various health care professionals.

Those who work with clients on the administrative side are called administrative medical assistants.  They work with medical records, insurance claims, billing, scheduling, greeting of customers, book keeping and letter writing.

Clinical assistants aid the doctor in carrying out procedures, performing basic laboratory tests, caring for patients, giving medications, tell patients about special diets, draw blood, remove stitches and remove dressing.

Specialized medical assistants focus on particular areas like ophthalmology, which is related to the eyes, or podiatry, which is related to the feet.

Because medical assistants are not licensed, the law requires they work under supervision of a licensed medical professional whenever they do hands-on procedures with patients.

Medical assistants work in outpatient facilities, like a rehab center, and inpatient communities, which can be in both public and private hospitals.  They usually report to the office manager or another health care worker in the office.

In some states, medical assistants need to be formally trained, while in other states they don’t.  Employers mostly prefer to hire those who are certified, though. There are approximately 500 schools which have training programs in the field.

The medical assistant field is in high demand and is a fast growing job in the United States.  Those who have money images in their head, however, about earning a very high income in this field may have to set their sights a little lower.  Salaries start at $20,000 and peak at $40,000.

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It is interesting when you look at the average salaries for medical assistants.  It is shocking to me that medical assistant jobs working for the government are higher paid than any other sector.  Research on the BLM website seems to suggest that the government actually pays more in a lot of industries in addition to providing good benefits.

There are many benefits to having medical assistant jobs.  First of all, being a medical assistant can be much more interesting than other administrative jobs.  For instance, being an assistant in an office can be very mundane.

Medical assistants however get to meet new people every day.  Additionally, they are able to help people every day.  Having a pleasant attitude as a medical assistant could have a profound impact on a patient.  In other industries, your good attitude can easily go unnoticed.

People with medical assistants jobs also have a great opportunity to move up.  It is a great starting place if you are looking to have a career in the health industry.  For instance, as a paralegal it can easily turn into a dead end job.  The only way to move up is to go to law school. 

However, as a medical assistant there are certain degrees and certifications that you can get.  You can become a nurse or other licensed paraprofessional.  Registered nurses working in the government sector have an average salary of $58,510.  That is about 75% increase above the medical assistants government salary of $36,430.

There are other things to consider when looking at a medical assistants job.  For instance, are there benefits offered by the employer?  Even though a private practice doctor may pay you less salary, chances are you will be working fewer hours.

Other benefits to consider are vacation and sick time and health insurance.  I am not sure if this is true or not, but it would seem that those working as medical assistants would have better health benefits than administrative professionals in other industries.

It is also true that specialty care doctors pay their medical assistants more money than primary care doctors.  Date would have to be researched and control all factors to find out the real reason for this.  However, it would seem that specialty care doctors are more expensive because of their specific expertise.  It costs the patients and insurance companies more money to be seen there, so medical assistants and all other staff are paid more.

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Whether or not you choose to attempt CMA or RMA certification, a good education is your best chance at finding the best, highest paid MA position.  In order to make sure you are getting the most benefit out of your education, it is best to complete an accredited program.

Some medical assistants are trained on the job, but most (including many of the most competitive job candidates) attend medical assisting school. Programs at medial assisting schools typically last either 1 year for a certificate or diploma, or 2 years for an associate degree.
In addition to classroom training, medical assisting programs often include internships where you can gain practical experience in a physician’s office, hospital, or other health care facility. Applicants usually need a high school diploma or GED for admission to medical assisting school.

There are two organizations that accredit MA programs, Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES).  Both are acceptable as pre-requisites for the CMA (AAMA) and RMA (AMT) certification programs.

online distance learning is often-times an efficient solution for those wanting to pursue high education.  Many “regular” colleges and universities offer online programs, and there are some instutions that offer online-degrees only.   This article will go over some of the options for accredited online medical assistant education programs.

1. University of Pheonix
2. San Joaquin Valley College Online
3. Mountain State University
4. Penn Foster Career School – Healthcare
5. Ashworth University
6. ECPI College of Technology
7. Kaplan University
8. Stratford Career Institute
9. Colorado Technical University
10. Gibbs Schools
11. Missouri College
12. Sanford-Brown College
13. Western School of Health and Business
14. Florida Hospital College of Health Sciences
15. Herzing College Online
16. Independence University
17. Indiana Business College
18. Jones College
19. Lincoln College of Technology
20. Minnesota School of Business
21. New England Institute of Technology
22. Penn Foster Career School
23. Rasmussen College
24. University of Cincinnati
25. Allied College

Things to consider when choosing an online college are:
1. is the school accredited and is the program I am interested in accredited?
2. what are the tuition and fees involved?
3. what is the teacher/student ratio?
4. is there an option for taking a course at a physical campus?
5. is financial aid available?
6. how long does it take to complete the program?
7. what are the reviews from otheres who have completed the program?

It would be beneficial to get the answers to all these questions before enrolling in an online medical assistant program.

Tags: accredited program, education, higher education, medical assisting school, online education

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