How To Become A Medical Assistant

Medical Assistant Training

Congratulations on Deciding To Become A Medical Assistant!

You are going to Join The Healthcare Profession that would be both exciting and financially rewarding. If you are just starting out and learning how to become a medical assistant, then you’ve come to the Right place. If you are already looking for more information about Medical Assistant Programs then our site would also be able to help you out.

For those who are looking for Medical Assistant Jobs and the Current Medical Assistant Salary Rates in your Area, we can provide you with some Comparisons to help guide your job search.

 

A Brief History of Medical Assisting

Medical Assistants might have evolved because of the ongoing demand for aides in physician offices. Most physician clinics employ nurses and midwives. And these Nurses and Midwives often perform administrative work as well. But as the number of patients grew because of the aging population of baby boomers, Physicians realized that they would need more help in doing some administrative and clinical tasks without hiring another Registered Nurse or Registered Midwife. They would be overqualified with the administrative duties and these professionals costs more for the Physicians.

Because of these “Medical Assistants” were needed and they were hired without any professional degree because they were considered “assistants” performing easier administrative tasks and clinical duties. Did you know that Most of them learn while on the job. Most MA’s before don’t have any experience on the job and they just learn along the way.

Today, they are still no licensure requirements for Medical Assistants but in order to compete with today’s labor market, most physicians require that they would have completed an accredited Program and pass either Certification or Registration Exams to be fully recognized as a Certified or Registered Medical Assistant.

Most States in the United States don’t require any licensing exams but it may change anytime.

Because of the increasing demand to become Medical Assistants, various organizations and institutions offered Certification and Registration methods to help you get qualified. Most Vocational Schools and Community Colleges now also offer Accredited Medical Assisting Programs that can be completed within a year or two.

 

The Opportunity in the Future is Great

The US Department of Labor and Statistics projected that this is one of the fastest growing careers for the next decade (up to the year 2018). It has been increasing tremendously and is now at a growth rate of about 34%. That is way above the average growth rate in the US which is about 20%.

People wanting to join this career will not find themselves having too much difficulty looking for a job, provided they have the credentials and experience.

This career can also provide a stable source of income for most families because the median salary range is about $27,000-$30,000 per year. This is not bad because you usually work during the weekdays from 8-5 pm and this mean you’ll have Saturday and Sunday for yourself and your family. Unlike Most Nurses who would need to work anytime during the week. The flexibility of time that Medical assistants have makes it one of the most promising careers to pursue as a healthcare provider.

 

Is It Difficult To Become a Medical Assistant?

Deciding on your career path and succeeding on it, it can be answered by only one person and that is you. It would be safe to assume that anything worth doing would be difficult or would at least require a lot of hard work. You’ll need to find an accredited Medical Assistant Program that can help you become acquainted with the Medical Assisting field.

There will be lots of terminologies and vocabularies that you might have never encountered before.

An example would be the term Roux-en-Y which is used in Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass Surgery. Understanding what they meant would help you a lot when performing your duties and responsibilities.

After Graduating from your program I would recommend that you pursue certification or registration from an accredited body to make sure you are credentialed. This will give you an edge over other potential applicants applying for the job.

It doesn’t matter if you are certified or registered. It only differs in designation and the accrediting body who provides those credentials. If you want to be known as a “Certified Medical Assistant” you might want to become certified by AAMA. If you want to be known as a “Registered Medical Assistant” you will need to register with AMT.

There are other two certifying bodies for Medical Assistants but these two are the most popular ones.

Am I Prepared to Start My Career?

Most people jump into a career with little to no knowledge at all. They enter a career that they have no idea and no interest to start with. So they end up being “tired” with their job and not knowing why they are doing their job in the first place.

Understanding what you will be doing once you start your career, will help you decide if this career is for you or not.

Most Medical Assistants will perform these types of Duties (Typically in a Physician Clinic Setting):

  • You will handle and collect patient’s general data and enter it into the Physician’s database for easy retrieval
  • You will assist patients in processing hospital admissions and lab requests.
  • Sometimes you will also handle the billing of patients and keeping records for accounting purposes.
  • You will schedule appointments and make sure that patients are notified of their appointment schedules
  • Now Depending on State law, you can perform some clinical tasks like recording vital signs taken by Blood pressure monitors and other vital stats measuring devices.
  • You can also help explain the treatment and procedures that will be performed to patients.
  • Sometimes you can collect specimens and send them to the lab for routine testing and performance of tests
  • You must know how to prepare the examination room and supplies whenever a new patient might use the facilities.
  • If you belong to a specialized group of Medical assistants, you might perform additional clinical tests based on the skills and training you have acquired.
  • Opthalmic Medical assistants helps in recording the results of the Snellen test and other eye examinations.
  • Most Medical assistants are capable of providing routine eye care and can teach patients to do the same.
  • While those who specialize on the feet provide assistance when patients are having xray exams and when feet castings are made.

These are just some of the duties and responsibilities that Most people will encounter when they start a career in Medical assisting.