Looking for a new career in the health care industry? You might want to consider becoming a medical assistant.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of medical
assistants is expected to grow much faster than the average for all
occupations through the year 2012. They say that the increasing use of
medical assistants across all rapidly growing health care industries
will result in fast employment growth for this occupation. In fact,
medical assistants is projected to be the fastest growing occupation
over the 2002–12 period.
The health services industry is expanding because of technological
advances in medicine, and a growing and aging population. Due to the
expansion and growth in group practices, hospitals, medical centers,
clinics, and healthcare facilities, many more support personnel will be
needed, especially medical assistants who will be able to handle both
administrative and clinical duties.
What do Medical Assistants do?
Medical assistants perform routine administrative and clinical tasks.
They provide much needed daily assistance to keep the doctors,
podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health care offices running
efficiently and smoothly. Their duties will vary from office to office,
depending on the location and size of the practice and the
practitioner’s specialty. In small practices, medical assistants
usually are generalists, who would handle both administrative and
clinical duties and report directly to an office manager, physician, or
other healthcare practitioner. Those in large practices tend to
specialize in a particular area, under the supervision of department
administrators.
Some of the many administrative duties performed include answering
telephones, greeting patients, updating and filing patient medical
records, filling out insurance forms, handling correspondence,
scheduling appointments, arranging for hospital admission and
laboratory services, and handling billing and bookkeeping.
The clinical duties performed would vary according to State law and may
include taking medical histories and recording patient vital signs,
explaining treatment procedures to patients, preparing the patients for
their examination, and assisting the doctor during the examination.
Medical assistants collect and prepare laboratory specimens or perform
basic laboratory tests on the premises, dispose of contaminated
supplies, and sterilize medical instruments. They also instruct
patients about medications, special diets, prepare and administer
medications as directed by a physician, authorize drug refills as
directed, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, prepare
patients for x rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures, and
change dressings. They may also arrange examining-room instruments and
equipment, purchase and maintain supplies and equipment, and keep
waiting and examining rooms neat and clean.
Some assistants may specialize in particular healthcare areas and would
have additional duties to perform. Medical assistants do not examine,
diagnose, or treat patients, as a physician's assistant would.
Future career advancements may include advancing to office manager.
Some may qualify for a variety of administrative support occupations or
may opt to teach medical assisting. With additional education and
cerifications, some may advance into other health career occupations,
such as nursing and medical technology. Since the preference of many
healthcare employers are for trained personnel, job prospects should be
best for medical assistants with formal training, experience and
particularly for those with accredited certification.
