Medical Assistant Jobs – Lucrative Field to Explore

Are you interested in the medical assistant jobs field? Medical assisting is one of the fastest growing occupations projected over the next decade according to the Bureau of labor Statistics.

This means that medical assistant jobs for graduating medical assistant students are plentiful. In fact, 62% of medical assistants are able to find employment upon graduation. This is an important fact because why achieve the training if jobs are not available? Landing a job is only significant if the earnings are lucrative. Earnings for medical assistant jobs can vary, depending on the perspective’s experience, skill level, and the job location. The annual salary for medical assistant in 2009 ranged from $29,810 to $30,850 depending on the job setting.

Have you wondered where medical assistants work? Medical assistant jobs can be found in a variety of settings including colleges, universities, and professional schools, general medical and surgical hospitals, offices of physicians, offices of other health practitioners, and in outpatient care centers. Medical assistants have also found employment in psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, scientific research and development services, and in specialty hospitals.

Medical Assistant Jobs and Careers

The medical assistant profession offers many challenging and rewarding duties with the basic medical assistant job description consisting of performing both clinical and administrative tasks that promote the smooth running of physician practices, medical centers or hospitals.

Medical assistant duties can vary from setting to setting but most will perform clinical duties under the direction of a physical or other health practitioner which might include taking medical histories, taking and recording vital signs, preparing patients for examinations, assisting doctors during examinations, preparing laboratory specimens, and explaining treatment procedures to patients. Administrative tasks may include updating patient medical records, filling out insurance forms, and arranging for hospital admissions or laboratory tests.

The medical assistant career begins with on-the-job training or 1 to 2 years of medical assistant programs. Vocational-technical high school, post secondary vocational schools and community and junior colleges offer medical assisting programs. Accredited programs typically include an internship that provides practical experience in either a healthcare facility or a physicians’ office. Although most healthcare employers usually prefer formal training many of those working in medical assistant jobs are doing so after only receiving on the job training. A high school diploma or equivalent is required and some states in the U.S. have allowed medical assistants to perform advanced procedures, such as taking x-rays, or giving injections, after taking a course and passing a test. Achieving a medical assistant certification shows prospective employers that you are willing to meet certain standards of knowledge and may lead to higher salary offers and better employment opportunities. Certification credentials to medical assistants are offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and by the Association of Medical Technologists (AMT). It is possible for medical assistants to go on to become certified in specialty fields such as optometry, ophthalmology and podiatry.

Employment prospects for medical assistants are expected to grow 34% from 2008 to 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. The healthcare industry is always booming because of technological advances in medicine and because of the aging population’s growing medical needs. This is good news for anyone interested in the opportunities offered by the lucrative field of medical assistant jobs.