Medical assistants are clerical and clinical professionals with a distinctive skill set uniquely designed for healthcare settings. They combine administrative and medical-secretarial skills with basic clinical functions to facilitate the efficient, team-based delivery of healthcare. It is not only about pushing paperwork, but also helping patients and optimizing workflow at ground zero of the healthcare industry.
This fast-growing profession originated in and remains more common among smaller provider workplaces like physicians' offices, but it is expected to expand throughout the U.S. healthcare system in the years to come. Note that a medical assistant is not the same as a physician's assistant. Although both work under a doctor's supervision, physician assistants are charged with greater clinical responsibilities, like the power to prescribe medicine. In contrast, medical assistants are clerical and administrative workers trained for the medical sector.
Medical assistants conduct basic clinical procedures, handle the complexities of medical insurance and coding, interface between offices and labs, communicate with patients, and maintain an orderly administrative workflow in healthcare settings. Common 'front office' tasks include appointment scheduling, mail sorting, and billing. Other tasks are more clinical in nature, including assisting doctors, preparing treatment rooms, taking vital signs, carrying out lab work, and performing limited procedures like electrocardiograms and even x-rays.
Medical assistants can learn these skills in a dedicated vocational or associate's program. Students interested in pursuing voluntary national certification to maximize their earnings potential should ensure their program is accredited by either the Accrediting Bureau of Health Schools (ABHES) or Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs (CAAHEP).
Although most states don't require postsecondary education of medical assistants, formal training is an opportunity to master the fundamentals of medical assisting before seeking real-world employment and thereby gain a competitive advantage. While some employers offer on-the-job training, the skill set acquired may or may not be transferable between workplaces. Earning a certificate can be an effective solution to this problem.
Students that intend to seek voluntary professional certification should choose an accredited program that will prepare them to pass one of the major certifying exams—either the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) test administered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) or the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) test given by the American Medical Technologists. Vocational programs typically last from 6 to 12 months.
Vocational programs in Medical Assisting include courses like:
Associate programs teach students the full entry-level skill set necessary to immediately begin work as a medical assistant. These programs are normally 2 years, or 4 semesters, in length. Although most medical assistants have only a high school diploma, many employers take an associate's degree as the gold standard for entry-level MAs. Further, an associate's degree from one of the ABHES- or CAAHEP-accredited medical assistant schools is a precondition for professional
certification as a CMA.
Although the knowledge and skills acquired in an associate's program are typically transferable across employers, keep in mind that different programs vary in their ratio of clerical to clinical training. Moreover, not all medical assistant programs require students to complete a practicum, or supervised clinical experience, although it's required for professional certification and recommended for getting vital clinical experience before heading off to the job market.
Although some students move on to associate programs after pursuing vocational training, a diploma or certificate is not required to enter most associate programs. Some of the most convenient and affordable programs at the associate level can be found at community colleges that offer Medical Assisting as a major.
Courses for an Associate of Applied Science in Medical Assisting might include:
Few bachelor programs are offered in medical assisting per se, but they do exist. Bachelor degrees take at least 4 years to finish. Associate-level credits and vocational certificates can often be used towards a bachelor's degree given a qualifying record of academic performance.
In a profession where advanced career opportunities are conspicuous for their absence, earning a bachelor's degree is a way to access better-paying managerial clinical-administrative positions in healthcare via medical assisting. For some competitive jobs, it could be a way to enhance employability or substitute for work experience requirements. It is also a way to ultimately become a medical assisting instructor, although this career pathway will typically additionally require a graduate degree in a major allied health profession like healthcare administration or nursing.
Undergraduate medical assistant programs might include:
We found 823 schools offering medical assistant degree programs in the U.S.
>> See all 823 Medical Assistant Colleges in the U.S.
