Medical Assistant Training
Medical Assistant Training
Congratulations on your decision to start your career as a medical assistant!
You are entering a field that is in high demand, so your chances of getting a job and becoming a medical assistant are more than excellent!
Medical assistant training requirements vary from state to state. Please select your state below to read both the clinical and administrative medical assistant training requirements so you can quickly get started.
Medical Assistant Jobs Descriptions
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Medical assisting is a challenging, rewarding profession. Medical assistants perform routine administrative and clinical tasks to keep hospitals, medical clinics, and the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, and other healthcare professionals running smoothly. Clinical and clerical duties vary from office to office depending on the office’s size, location, and specialty. Medical assistants may perform any of the tasks listed below.
- While they may be restricted to typical office duties at a hospital, they may have clinical duties at a small clinic.
- Those who are strictly administrative may answer telephones, greet patients, update and file patient medical records, fill out insurance forms, schedule appointments, arrange for hospital admission and laboratory services, and handle billing and bookkeeping.
- Those who are strictly clinical may work with patients and do laboratory work. In most small offices, medical assistants may handle both types of work.
- Their clinical duties vary according to state law; these duties may include taking medical histories and recording vital signs, explaining treatment procedures to patients, preparing patients for examination, and assisting during routine examinations.
- They also collect and prepare laboratory specimens, perform basic lab tests, dispose of contaminated supplies, and sterilize medical instruments.
- They instruct patients about medication and special diets, prepare and administer medications, authorize drug refills, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, prepare patients for x-rays, remove sutures, and change dressings.
- Collect samples to be tested, including:
- Urine
- Blood
- Stool
- Assist with minor surgical procedures, including:
- Stitches
- Wound clean-up
- Applying splints
- Ear and eye irritations
- Perform EKGs
- Some may take on the role of office manager, whose duties might include planning the doctor’s schedule, taking dictation, overseeing a budget, and purchasing medical equipment.
Medical Assistant Certification
As the healthcare industry continues to adjust to a growing patient population, more and more employers of allied health personnel insist that their medical assistants be certified as either a certified medical assistant (CMA) or a registered medical assistant (RMA).
CMAs are certified through the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). Becoming certified as a medical assistant increases your opportunities for career advancement, offers a professional edge, and confers greater prestige among coworkers and employers. To earn the official CMA credential you must enroll in a medical assisting program accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). During your schooling there, you will attain academic and clinical training in a variety of areas, including:
- human anatomy, physiology, and pathology
- medical terminology
- keyboarding and computer applications
- record keeping and computer accounting
- coding and insurance processing
- laboratory techniques
- clinical and diagnostic procedures
- pharmacology
- medical administration
- first aid
- office practices
- patient relations
- medical laws and ethics
After graduating from the program, candidates must successfully complete the rigorous CMA Certification Examination. Achieving the credential demonstrates two important things to your employer. First, you possess exceptionally broad, thorough knowledge of the field in which you’re working. Second, you care enough about your profession to attain that knowledge. The CMA credential must be renewed every five years, which means you have ongoing opportunities to learn about new developments in healthcare delivery.
In addition to having a better job opportunities, CMAs typically receive higher wages and benefits. The CMA credential is a national certification recognized by employers across the country, so the time you invest in certification will pay off for you no matter where you end up. Find more information on the AAMA website at www.aama-ntl.org.
RMAs are awarded through the American Medical Technicians (AMT). To receive an RMA you must meet the prerequisite requirements, submit an application to take the RMA exam, and of course pass the exam. The prequisites are:
1. You must be of a good moral character.
2. You must meet one of the three following requirements:
a. you must be a recent graduate from an accredited medical assistant program or a formal medical services training program of the United States Armed Forces;
b. you must have been employed as a medical assistant for five years; or
c. you must have passed a generalist medical assistant certification examination offered by another medical assisting certification body.
For more detailed information about receiving RMA certification, visit AMT‘s website at www.amt1.com.
Medical Assistants Salaries
On the average, medical assistants earn $22,000 to $30,000 or more annually working full time. Those with experience or an associate degree earn more than those without.
| City | Low End | Average | High End |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Charlotte, NC
|
23,704
|
28,516
|
32,833
|
|
El Paso, TX
|
20,987
|
25,018
|
29,070
|
|
Jacksonville, FL
|
22,775
|
26,729
|
31,547
|
|
Los Angeles, CA
|
26,947
|
31,691
|
37,325
|
|
Milwaukee, WI
|
25,268
|
29,529
|
34,999
|
|
New York, NY
|
28,463
|
33,905
|
39,425
|
|
San Francisco, CA
|
29,130
|
34,629
|
40,348
|
Hiring Trends for Medical Assistants
Employment opportunities for medical assistants are projected to grow quickly through to at least 2014. The aging U.S. population will place greater demand on the medical community, and the decreasing number of physicians means that there will be a greater need for medical support staff, particularly those with formal training or experience.
Changes to medical billing codes and cost-cutting measures within the healthcare industry means that more documentation will need to be done in less time and with fewer physicians. Physicians will increasingly rely on medical assistants to keep their practice running smoothly and to uphold high standard of patient care.
Most medical assistants work in the offices of physicians and other health practitioners such as chiropractors, optometrists and podiatrists. Positions are available in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities.
Personal Abilities and Personality Traits Needed for Medical Assistants
Like all healthcare workers, medical assistants must have the desire to help people. They must be friendly, patient, and empathetic. Since medical assistants deal with the public, they must be neat and well groomed and have a courteous, pleasant manner. They must be able to put patients at ease, explain physicians’ instructions, and respect the confidential nature of medical information. Confidentiality is a priority in the healthcare industry. Medical assistants have access to patient records and personal information, and must be able to maintain the highest standards of ethics.
A medical assistant’s clinical duties require a reasonable level of manual dexterity as well as good eyesight. Medical assistants need to be computer-comfortable, as they may work with patients’ electronic medical and health records, electronic prescriptions, databases, billing software, and electronic treatment protocols.
Doctors’ offices, hospitals, and clinics are usually busy and fast paced. Medical assistants generally work 40 hours per week, including some evenings and weekends, and their work may vary greatly from day to day.
Education and Training for Medical Assistants
Medical assistants must high school diploma. Preference is given to candidates who have completed formal training; even so, much of the job training is completed on site. Many vocational schools and community colleges offer two-year programs leading to a medical assistant certificate or diploma.
As discussed earlier, the AAMA and the AMT both offer registration into their organizations and professional certification to those assistants who meet training criteria and experience requirements and who pass a standardized test.
Advancement Opportunities For Medical Assistants
Medical assistants who have earned certification or who have more experience or training than their coworkers may advance into supervisory positions and assist with managing other medical assistants. Assistants may also move up to office management, administration, personnel management, or human resources management positions. Some assistants use their experience as a springboard into other healthcare careers such as nursing or medical technology.
Medical Assistant Schools
There are many schools or institutions that provide both the Medical Assistant Associate Degree programs and the Medical Assistant Certificate or the Medical Assistant Diploma programs.
Thus it is important to know the difference between these 2 types of programs.
The Associate Degree programs take more time an average of 2 years and money than the Medical Assistant Certificate or Diploma programs, but they also provide you with credits that you will be able to transfer towards a Bachelors degree if you decide to go back to school down the road. A Medical Assistant Certificate or Diploma program gets you into the workforce faster, but does not give you as much upside as a degree.
That said, you would then have to decide which program is more suited for you in the long run and what your objectives are.
Click Medical Assistant Schools In America For More Information.
Medical Assistant Training Online Programs
For those who are not able to set aside the time to study in a medical college or medical institution on a full time basis, the other options are to find those colleges or institutions that offer part-time courses or programs. Yet another option is to do your Medical Assistant Training Online, through those schools that offer online programs. One very important point to note however is that you must be able to discipline yourself if you decide to take this route. There will be bound to have many obstacles that simply distract you while you are going through your online education this way.
So if you are able to commit the hours to really educate yourself, this is a good way for you to get your certification too. So before you apply for that online medical assistant training program or course, please do your research carefully or have a word with those who have taken such programs before to ensure that the online programs that you have ear marked is an accredited and recognized certification program and not waste your time to take it, only to realize at the end of the day that the state that you are in or the hospital or physician clinic that you wish to work in, does not recognize the certificate that your chosen online medical assistant training program issued.
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