Medical Assistants – The Multi-Tasking Job of Healthcare Industry!

Who are the professionals, which we see assisting physicians at hospitals? Who are the trained experts helping other healthcare professionals? The answer is medical assistant (MA). These professionals can be seen at various healthcare centers helping their seniors with clinical and administrative work.

For entering this profession, one needs to attend a medical assistant school. After completing this course, one can easily get a job at various healthcare centers such as physician’s office, hospitals, care centers, nursing homes, clinics etc. Here is an overview on their profession.

Salary – Salary of these professionals starts from 20,000 US dollars. With their experience and knowledge, their wages can increase up to 35,000 US dollars. In the starting of their career, they may get paid less, but with increasing years and experience, they can get paid a lot more. Some of them also get some additional benefits like health insurance with their salaries. Wages of these professionals depend on years of experience, location of job, education, performance etc.

Work hours – Medical assistants usually work 40 hour per week from Monday to Friday. Some of them also work over time in evenings, weekends, and even holidays. Some people also like to work part time. It also depends on the healthcare center where they are working. If they work at a place, which is providing services 24/7, then there might be shifts.

Certification – For getting certified as a medical assistant, one needs to qualify certification exam. This exam is optional but it is encouraged by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). AAMA’s certification exam is computer based and done at various centers across America. After certification, one needs to recertify every 60 months. By qualifying this exam, one earns credential, which can help in getting a job.

Training – At this training, one can learn about various tasks done by these assistants. Students can get trained in clinical as well as administrative tasks. Some of these duties are taking vitals of patients, doing lab tests, helping healthcare professionals with medical treatments, collecting samples for lab tests, scheduling appointments, handling front desk, managing calls, bookkeeping etc. In this training, usually classroom, laboratory, and clinical experience are included.

Work – At healthcare centers, they perform various tasks such as:

• Taking vital signs such as blood pressure, temperature etc., of patients
• Handling administrative tasks like calls, appointments, records, bookkeeping, coding, histories, communicating with staff, patients etc.
• Collecting various samples and taking them to laboratories. They also perform some tests.
• Managing records and histories
• Handling the process of insurance claims