Medical Assistant
Should I Become a Medical Assistant?
There are myriad reasons for you to focus your efforts towards building a career as a medical assistant. Undoubtedly, medical assistants have always been considered to be major components of the healthcare industry, fulfilling a set of vital roles in the medical offices. Unlike other professions in the medical field, the medical assistant profession involves a lot of interaction and communication, both with the monitored patients and with other members of the medical staff. Although a career as a medical assistant can be very challenging, it also brings a lot of satisfaction! While an inexperienced medical assistant may at first earn an annual $20,000 salary, fully qualified medical assistants may eventually earn more than $40, 000 a year.
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How To Become A Medical Assistant
Training is key to fulfilling the dream of a career in the medical assistant field. Most training is carried out in colleges that are approved by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). Some schools including private ones offer training online and some are recognized by the AAMA. It may be ideal for people already working in a medical setting. You can choose any of the many positions within the medical field like radiology assistant, emergency medical technician, or physician assistant, physical therapy assistant, medical examiner assistant.
The American Association of Medical Assistants is the most well known certification body. The employment chances of medical assistants will grow 35% more than other occupations in 2007-2016 so the chances of employment are very good. With experience and more training you can advance to other jobs in the medical field.
Medical Assistant Schools Train
A medical assistant school can teach you to perform routine administrative and clinical duties to help maintain a smooth operation in a medical clinic. You may learn a variety of skills, such as scheduling patient appointments, performing patient intakes, updating and maintaining medical records, helping with hospital admissions, completing insurance documents, and medical billing and coding.
The professional medical assistant is generally supervised by a physician or other health practitioner. As a medical assistant, you will not be qualified to examine, diagnose or treat patients; however, you will be trained to draw blood, collect laboratory specimens, sterilize medical instruments, instruct patients about medications and special diets, authorize drug refills as directed by a physician, call-in prescriptions to pharmacies, prepare and administer prescribed medicines, dispose of contaminated supplies. Remove sutures and change dressings, prepare patients for x-rays or other procedures, and perform electrocardiograms.
Online Medical Assistant Degrees
There are two organizations that accredit Medical Assistant programs, so look for these seals when reviewing programs. One is the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and the other is the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). Graduation from a program that is accredited by either of these institutions is an acceptable pre-requisites for both the CMA (AAMA) and RMA (AMT) certification programs.
Receiving an online education can be an efficient, if not the only option for those for those wanting to pursue higher education. Many brick and mortar universities offer online campuses in addition to their regular programs. Also, there are some colleges that offer online degrees only. Additionally, there are some institutions that offer a hybrid of internet classes and physical classes.
Things to consider when choosing an online college are:
1. is the school accredited and is the program I am interested in accredited?
2. what are the tuition and fees involved?
3. what is the teacher/student ratio?
4. is there an option for taking a course at a physical campus?
5. is financial aid available?
6. how long does it take to complete the program?
7. what are the reviews from others who have completed the program?
So if you have the desire to be a part of the growing health industry, becoming a medical assistant is a great opportunity.
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