Medical Assistant Qualifications
Medical Assistant jobs are jobs which require employees who have many diverse personality characteristics. Medical Assistants need to perform both clinical work and administrative work and they need to have great people skills. Often working in a physician’s office, the Medical Assistant helps to make sure the office runs smoothly. The smaller the office, the more varied that Medical Assistants job will be. In a larger practice, the Medical Assistant is more likely to perform specific or more limited tasks.
Medical Assistants who do administrative duties will work with patients medical records and insurance forms. They may also be asked to deal with appointments, greeting patients and answering phones. Medical Assistants who do more clinical work will take patient vitals, draw blood, and prepare patients to see the physician.
Both types of Medical Assistants need to have similar training. While some may be trained on the job, it is more likely that most need at least one to two years of training. Some programs offer diplomas while others offer a two year associate degree. Either way, a great deal of information is covered in the Medical Assistant course, everything from basic Medical Terminology to the more complex Anatomy and Physiology.
It is also important that the student learn bookkeeping, keyboarding, record keeping and insurance skills. While these skills are of particular importance to the administrative side of Medical Assisting, courses like pharmaceutical and laboratory practices, ethics and medical law prepare the Medical Assistant student for the more clinical side of the field.
In addition to the schooling necessary to become a Medical Assistant, certain personality traits are also important. Since the Medical Assistant often deals with the public, he/she needs to have great people skills. They must be pleasant and must be able to help a patient feel comfortable while waiting to see his/her physician. It is also extremely important for a Medical Assistant to realize the importance of patient confidentiality.
Currently, there are no required certifications for Medical Assistants. However, being certified is certainly a plus. This certification may help a Medical Assistant not only get a job, but get a better job instead of just an entry level position. Different associations exist for Medical Assistants such as the American Association of Medical Assistants. Medical Assistants can also specialize in certain areas such as podiatry and optometry.
While the average starting salary for Medical Assistants is only around $28,000 year, there is much room for improvement and experience and skill level will improve upon this.
