Medical Assistant Salary and Jobs

One of the questions I have been hearing from a lot of people lately that are pursuing a career in the medical field is, “How much can I expect to earn for a medical assistant salary?” While I understand where the question comes from, there is so much more that the medical industry has to offer than just a medical assistant salary.

First, it should be said that medical assistants do earn some very respectable wages in the marketplace, but certainly that cannot be the primary reason someone would consider entry to the field. One of the things I would personally place above importance relative to the high medical assistant salary is the feeling of fulfillment one can receive from having such a highly valuable impact on the health and well being of others.

According to a nationwide survey of Medical Assistants, the pay scale of an average medical assistant is between 10.55 to 15.75 per hour. Keep in mind, these figures are simply general guidelines that only serve to give you a hint of what is possible. Factors such as experience, training, and location of practice play a huge role in determining your final salary. For example, medical assistants practicing in the state of California get paid an average of $14.35 an hour, while a medical assistant practicing in Wyoming will generally get a lower pay. The average annual salary a medical assistant could expect to earn in the United States is between $22,806 – $31,196 per year.

While certainly we all get jobs partially to pay the bills, and ensure we can meet our monthly financial obligations, I believe that if projected income levels are the main reason anyone enters a field that is a recipe for disaster. To really feel fulfilled in the workplace one has to garner more than simply a high medical assistant salary.

So what might you expect to do with yourself as a medical assistant that’s worth more than a medical assistant’s salary? Healing people is a great place to start. Obviously medical assistants don’t play the major role in health care decisions, or treatment options, but they definitely play a big part in the overall quality of health care people receive. And don’t be surprised to hear that a lot of medical assistants eventually take a step up to nursing, and some even become doctors.

And what exactly are some typical work-duties associated with being a medical assistant anyway? Medical assistants perform a variety tasks both clerical, and wellness oriented. The specific tasks you might perform as a medical assistant will vary by office, but some common tasks include:

• Patient and lab prep work
• Maintaining records
• Answering Phones
• Simple Patient Analysis Procedures – checking weight, blood pressure, etc…
• Bandage Simple Wounds

Of course the above is not a comprehensive list of possible activities you might engage in as a medical assistant, but it serves as a nice basic list to help anyone who may be considering entering the field of medicine as a medical assistant. You might want to consider that list though prior to simply getting into this line of work because you expect a high medical assistant salary.

So if you have been seriously considering a career as a medical assistant, I say go for it, but don’t do it only because your expect to make a lot of money due to the higher than average income levels associated with a typical medical assistant salary. Do it for the joy of helping people. Do it to make a difference in your world, and the community. Do it to contribute to the greater of the people around you. Who knows, you might just find the rewards of being a medical assistant to be far greater than just financial.

Interesting, no? Who knew medical assistants pay could be so diverse and vary so much from state to state. However, salaries is just ONE point to consider when thinking about a career change.

For more information about this profession and others, feel free to explore our site.

Qualifications: Although there is no real requirement for formal education, almost all employers look for “qualified individuals”. In the eyes of an employer the minimum qualification would be a high school diploma, and specialized training through a vocational school.

Training and Education: The medical field is extremely competitive. You want to ensure you receive the best education possible, to ensure the best pay. There are a couple types of program available for you to choose from. There is the 1 year program and the 2 year program. In addition, many would choose to go through an extended learning program to specialize in a certain field, examples would be ophthalmic medical assistants, optometrist assistants, and podiatrist assistants.

One Year Program: The one year program is an introductory program that will cover courses in anatomy, medical terminology, physiology, clerical training, bookkeeping, recording, filing of insurance paperwork. After the completion of the one year program you will be rewarded with a Certificate of Completion.

Two Year Program: With the two year program, you can have your complete medical assistant certification. Courses include, anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, laboratory overviews, diagnostic procedures, pharmaceutical principles, administration of medications, first aid, bookkeeping, clerical duties. There will also be a focus around patient care, patient relations, medical laws, and codes of ethics. In the two year program you will also have the option to participate in an accredited program that will allow you to have an internship at a physician’s office.

Training: Training is mainly done on the job, no formal training is required, however, it is preferred. For advanced procedures, such as x-rays, injections or laboratory work, extra courses are required.

As you can see, the training and path to become a certified medical assistant is neither long, nor difficult. A recent study on people who when through medical assistant certification reveals that the majority of them are elated and feel very fullfilled with their chosen profession. In conclusion, whether or not you decide to get your medical assistant certification, there are many different paths and options you have to achieve your goals.

As you now know, getting your medical assistant certification is not as easy as once thought! Feel free to browse around our website to learn even more!

Certified medical assistants are trained individuals who work in a wide variety of settings. They often aid physicians and nurses by performing administrative tasks and handling basic duties within the clinical setting. They work in doctors offices, medical clinics, hospitals, and basically at any medical facility. They play a vital role in keeping operations running smoothly and efficiently. The certified medical assistant job description changes from office to office. Certified medical assistants in one health facility may work on medical records, bookkeeping, and answering phone calls. In other settings, they may exclusively do patient and laboratory work. In the majority of medical settings and offices, the medical assistant job description only calls for handling the front desk and administrative tasks.

In certain states, certified medical assistants assist and help doctors examine and treat patients. They are often assigned to complete tasks such as; checking the patients height, weight, temperature, and blood pressure. They are sometimes called upon to complete simple laboratory tests and writing down the patients medical history. In certain cases, they answer patients questions regarding medicines and post care treatment plans. Among the man tasks included in a certified medical assistants job description, include applying bandages, taking x-rays, and in some cases, perform injections. Another common task performed by medical assistants is taking electrocardiograms, which is to measure the electrical impulses of the heart.
In addition, some certified medical assistants are specially trained in a given area like ophthalmology, optometry, or podiatry. In these roles, the medical assistants provide valuable, experienced help to the doctor and office at large by working with patients. For instance, an ophthalmic medical assistant helps test patients eye function and instruct them in proper care for contact lenses, and they also administer eye medications under the supervision and guidance of an ophthalmologist. Similarly, a podiatric medical assistant can help podiatrists in surgery and make X-rays of patients.

A medical assistant, in other words, is a trained professional able to be used in a variety of ways within a medical office. So if you ever wondered “what is a certified medical assistant job description?”, the answer is – a little bit of everything. Like an all-purpose tool, the office couldn’t get along without them.

For more free information about medical assistants and other career options, feel free to check out some of the other articles on our site.

Since the recent healthcare overhaul of the medical system by President Barack OBama, there has been a tremendous upswing in the number of available medical assistant jobs. The demand is expected to continue to grow for quite a few years. This despite attempts to repeal what has been dubbed “Obamacare ” by republicans in congress and the senate. So there really may be no better time to get medical assistant jobs today.

Today’s medical assistant jobs require more education than ever with most places expecting their medical assistants to have an associate’s degree at a bare minimum, and others taking it a step further by only making their medical assistant jobs available to those with a 2 year college degree plus certifications.

Most nursing programs have a two year program(after some initial college pre-requisites),and while modern medical assistant jobs don’t pay quite as well, they do offer a much different basic job description. Many of today’s medical field graduates choose a career in medical assistant over nursing careers because they felt there was simply more possible diversity in the workloads associated with the two careers. Many medical assistants don’t want to feel boxed into the same job, at the same place, doing the same thing over and over again for the rest of their lives.

What does a typical day look like for people in these medical assistant jobs? It’s a pretty diverse span of tasks they need to conduct, and of course there are a lot of options for where to actually work. In the end whether it’s working in a private practice, working in a hospital setting, or other places one thing you can expect if you take medical assistant jobs is a lot of work. While there is diversity in the work tasks associated with the job, there is also no shortage of work that needs to be completed by medical assistants?

For example, common tasks built into medical assistant jobs include checking patients vital signs, pushing paperwork, answering phones. One might expect to work as a private aid to a successful doctor in a medical practice which means a lot of times these medical assistant jobs can be clerical in nature, but some hospitals and private practices respect the need to tightly niche medical assistant jobs descriptions closer to the medical field. This is because there is a lot of promotion from within in these types of organizations, and a lot people still use medical assistant jobs as a stepping stone to more meaningful careers in the medical field.

Maybe you have been considering a career change, and have been looking into these medical assistant jobs. Obviously that must be the case, or you would not be here. If you are serious about earning one of these highly coveted roles as a medical assistant, you want to make sure you do more than just stay in school. All medical career fields are competitive, so buckle down, and apply yourself. Doing well in college is one way to differentiate yourself when applying for medical assistant jobs.

To learn more about medical assistants, feel free to explore our site. We have created this website for the sole purpose of helping future medical assistants! Go ahead, read the other articles and educate yourselves!

Taking a step towards a new career in the medical field is a big move. To ensure your best chances at success, you want to make sure you have the best education possible. With so many schools, colleges, and certificate granting programs it can be hard to sort through it all. Here are some of the most important things to look for in medical assistant schools and programs prior to enrolling.

It can be pretty expensive trying to pay for medical assistant schools and programs. In fact, most people have a really difficult time doing it on their own. They rely on parents, and financial aid to help get them through it. For many financing an education is the hardest thing they will ever do, so it is absolutely crucial that the medical assistant schools and programs you apply to offer quality financial aid packages.

Almost equally important to getting your education is getting a job afterwards, so if you are looking at medical assistant schools and programs that do not offer job or career placement services upon graduation, you may want to look elsewhere. While the demand for health care workers continues to rise, so does the pool of qualified applicants to choose from. That’s why you need to apply to only medical assistant schools and programs that do have an in-house job placement solution.

If the medical assistant schools and programs you are considering are college-based, meaning your education will come from an institute of higher learning, then it is important to make sure they are an accredited degree granting university. There are a lot of horror stories out there involving college graduates who later found out their degrees were not valid, and that the credits would not transfer to real schools. Always make sure the medical assistant schools and programs you apply to have accreditation status if they are in fact colleges.

That applies to the new breed of online institutions as well to a certain extent. This is a completely different way to attend medical assistant schools and programs. While there are no accrediting bodies currently created for these types of schools, one can still be diligent. Ask around at local doctor’s offices, and hospitals. Make sure that some of the people working in these places got their degrees from the online medical assistant schools and programs you are considering.

Those certainly are not the full scope of things to look for when considering new medical assistant schools and programs, but they are a great start. By placing your primary focus on those issues, you can expect to eliminate some of the biggest reasons people fail to achieve their higher education goals. You will also be far better positioned to find a job once you graduate from one of these medical assistant schools and programs. You will know the institution you are applying to is reputable, and carries weight in the medical field. You will be able to line up effective financing options to pay for it all, and you will ultimately be poised to make the most of your experience with medical assistant schools and programs.

We hope you enjoyed reading about medical assistant schools and programs, we have created this site for future medical assistants like yourself! Feel free to browse around our site for more information.

When considering careers in the medical field, a lot of people are put off by how hard it is, and how long it takes to get advanced degrees. You can’t become a doctor without at least eight years of education, and even becoming a nurse is taking increasingly longer, and is becoming more competitive and challenging. An alternative is to pursue medical assistant training.

Depending on your program of study, your time commitments could be as short as nine months to two years, but what about the complexity of this medical assistant training? Many people wonder if your average high school graduate can easily obtain a certificate, and ultimately a job in this field. Still many more wonder if it might be too hard for them.

Nobody can really answer those unless they have a great knowledge about the individual asking the questions, but there are some ways to easily figure out if you might have the skills to handle medical assistant training programs. One option is enter college under a general studies program to get your feet wet, and evaluate the general complexity of under-graduate work for yourself.

Of course, college is not the only place you can acquire medical assistant training. A lot of major hospitals offer certificate granting programs as well. So enrolling for a semester is not going to hurt anyone even if they decide the full program of studies is not for them. This is one of the best ways to evaluate your own capacity to complete these programs.

What should someone expect for workloads if they pursue medical assistant training certificates or degrees? Most medical assistant training programs consist of both coursework, and a more hands-on approach. Sometimes there are even external placements in doctor’s offices or hospitals which function as a typical work-study arrangement, only course level credits are often awarded. This is sometimes one way to earn a low wage while also acquiring job related training and skills.

Some common courses often associated with medical assistant training might include:

Modern Medical Office Practices
Pharmacology
First Aid/CPR Certification
Anatomy and Physiology
And more…

For a lot of people looking at some of those courses might be pretty intimidating. Who would have guessed there would be so much involved in a typical medical assistant training program? While it might be overwhelming at first, many people find it is not much different getting involved than it is for a typical first-year college student.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter what field of study you are going into. Whenever anyone starts a move towards a new career, whether that is  medical assistant training, or anything that requires personal commitment and dedication – it can always seem like an uphill struggle. The important thing is to remember that life is always challenging, and that it is our spirit for personal growth and development that compels us to always be moving forward.

If you have been considering becoming a medical assistant, but are concerned it might be too difficult for you, some of the options above are great opportunities to find out. Do not sit back wondering if something is too hard for you. The truth is that only by trying anything can we discover our true capacity to get the work done. Don’t let your fear of medical assistant training dissuade you from discovering your own true potential.

Now that you have read a little bit about medical assistant training, feel free to read the other pages on our website.