Top Medical Assistant Programs
- Kaplan University Online Click for Recommended Degree Program
- Herzing University Click for Recommended Degree Program
What is a Medical Assistant
A medical assistant was once a physician’s helper. The assistant would perform activities on patients and in his office that would have taken up the more valuable time of the physician. Today, a medical assistant needs a bit more explanation to answer completely the question what is a medical assistant. A medical assistant would also perform activities for the office secretary to allow her to spend her time in dealing with patients on the phone or in the waiting room. Some physician’s don’t have a registered nurse working in their office.
Job Description
A medical assistant can be quickly taught to draw blood, label specimen from patients, properly discarded syringes and other medical supplies used in the physician’s office. A physician’s helper can do clerical work like returning files to their cabinets, making appointment’s for patients with other physician’s and keeping the physician’s books up to date.
What is a medical assistant today? A medical assistant can do work like requesting patient records from hospitals, other physicians and clinics. A medical assistant can be a physician’s right hand helper doing both clerical and clinical work in his office or in a clinic or hospital if hired by either.
Training
A medical assistant could be trained by the physician while employed without any training from any school. Today, a medical assistant can get training and be taught the activities that her employer would have taught her on the job. A medical assistant can be trained by a school in less than one year. Later, the medical assistant can apply for certification and if passing the medical assistant exam become a certified medical assistant. The requirements to become a medical assistant are simply a desire to help a physician to perform his duties by doing activities that can be done by an assistant and leave the physician more time to devote to his patients. Of course, that desire must also be accompanied by adequate training as those activities require skill and education.
Attending a medical assistant school online is one way of meeting the real world requirements of working in a physician’s office. You can apply and get a job much faster if you have qualifications rather than just aspirations. A physician has many activities in running his office that only a skilled medical assistant can perform. Getting a job as a medical assistant who has completed a course online or in a vocational school setting won’t be a problem. The outlook for jobs for medical assistants is bright. If looking for jobs in the medical field, finding out what is a medical assistant might prove well worth your time. More and more physician’s will be hiring more and more medical assistants. The reasoning is simple. A medical assistant can do both secretarial and clinical procedures. Hiring a medical assistant is cost effective and physician’s as well as clinics need people who can multi task and be effective.
Salaries for medical assistants range around 20 to 30 thousand a year, depending on the years of experience that the medical assistant has. That might change as more physician’s begin to appreciate the flexibility of a medical assistant. You can train as a clerical medical assistant or as a clinical medical assistant and there is nothing to prevent you from getting training in both areas to make you more employable. Look online to find out more about what is a medical assistant.
