The Medical Assistant

The medical assistant is a non-licensed member of the medical office team with duties that are distinct from the practice of medicine, dentistry and nursing. In the past, medical assistants were mostly women directly trained by the doctor who hired them to assist exclusively in their own medical office on a clinical and administrative level. Today, many medical assistants working in doctor's offices are formally trained from vocational training programs for medical assistants which are now common and readily available to every one from new high school graduates to senior adults. 

One question before you embark on your journey to become a medical assistant is: "What IS a medical assistant?"

What is a Medical Assistant (Definition)

Anyone with a high school diploma and the drive to succeed can achieve their dream and become a medical assistant in a surprisingly short time. Medical assistant training programs are readily available at a very reasonalbe cost, sometimes even completely free. There are many, many people who started with nothing, went through a vocational training program, earned their medical assistant diploma and excelled in this rewarding field.

Get Your Medical Assistant On:

What you need to know about becoming a medical assistant and succeed in this rapidly growing field among healthcare professionals.

 The medical field continues to create many job opportunities for people everywhere. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in September 2011 that healthcare added 41,000 new jobs in that month alone, many of them were for medical assistants. While average national wages jumped from 22.08 to 23.12 dollars per hour, the average medical assistant's pay also increased.

Medical assistants are highly sought and readily hired by doctors to replace nursing staff, e.g. LPNs in the medical office setting:

 A medical assistant works side-by-side with doctors, practicing clinicians and other allied health professionals in various assistive and supporting positions essential to the medical office, from entrance level to senior level medical assistant handling daily office routines essential to a well run practice, ranging from clinical, to administrative and managerial duties.

An increasing number of doctors are replacing Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) with skilled medical assistants and integrate them into their practice to handle typical medical office duties on a clinical and administrative level. Doctors have discovered that a medical assistant is sufficiently qualified to meet their practice's needs. While undoubtedly, traditional nursing staff is always a great asset to any medical office, you increasingly find that there are now at least two medical assistants for each nurse on the team, one in the front and reception area and one in the clinical area assisting the doctor in the back wherever beneficial to the medical office.

How to Become a Medical Assistant

Affordable training methods and avenues for those wishing to become a medical assistant are readily available everywhere:

 Medical assistant training is readily available. Most community colleges and various other vocational training institutions and online schools are heeding the call; they provide medical assistant training programs that meet many different needs trough morning classes, afternoon, or evening classes. Medical assistant programs are relatively short and in many cases low cost, especially for those who qualify for scholarships and student loans. Those who qualify for government funded vocational rehab programs, educational grants, or are hired to be trained directly on the job get their medical assistant training completely free. This type of hands-on instruction under the watchful eye of the doctor is an excellent way to get free medical assistant training while also working as a member of the medical office team and getting paid for it. The only thing you might have to pay out of your own pocket are your scrubs, transportation and the babysitter.

Having carefully read all the above information you might now wonder how to apply and land better paid medical assistant jobs:

 Arm yourself with knowledge! Those wishing to become a medical assistant, talk to other medical assistants already working in this field to find out where they received their training, how they landed their first job and any possible challenges and pitfalls they may have encountered! Then research and find out about possible educational and any professional certification requirements for medical assistants in your state, employer's expectations and average wages and pay in your area before you dive right in.

1. What are your short and long term professional goals?
2. What are the latest trends on the job market? 

3. What do doctors expect and ho much do they pay? 

Then, decide and carefully plot your career path. As you gain further insight and experience you will soon find yourself advancing to new and more exciting levels and with careful planning and realistic goals your future medical assistant job will be satisfying and secure.

Medical Assistant Earnings and Pay

Aspiring medical assistants must understand that employers set certain standards when they hire—in turn they offer attractive wages and benefits to attract and retain their highly skilled staff:

 Your medical assistant earning will depend on your experience, skill level and location where you work, for example a medical assistant staring salary in a specialty office in states like Massachusetts and Connecticut can be as much as $17.50 an hour (starting!). According to the US Department of Labor statistics the median earnings are between $23,700 and $33,050 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $39,570 a year.

The longer you stay on board the more your medical assistant wages will go up and accordingly you may also earn valuable benefits, such as paid leave time, employment sponsored savings plan, tuition reimbursement and retirement plans where the doctor matches a percentage of your contributions to your retirement account so you can build a nice nest egg.

*We believe that medical assistants today can add at least $2,000 to $4,000 per year to the annual national average wage figures in the above table, which are May 2008 figures from the Department of Labor (BLS). A medical assistant's take home pay depends largely on the amount of experience, location, size of the practice and specializations. As medical assistants handle more and more clinical and administrative routines within the medical assistant scope of practice their pay increases accordingly.