Become a Medical Assistant: Job Security in a Rewarding Field
Why consider a medical assistant position? The health care industry is one of the most secure places to find—and keep—a job. No matter if you live in a metropolitan or a rural area, medical care providers are always expanding and looking for qualified people to fill positions. Becoming a medical assistant allows you to become a part of this field with less stress and more regular hours than you may experience in other medical positions.
You may choose to become an administrative medical assistant, a clinical medical assistant or you may even get a medical assistant position that combines both administrative and clinical duties. You can expect more specialized positions in larger clinics and multifaceted positions in smaller clinics, simply because the smaller clinics employ fewer people. You can work at a general physician’s office or a hospital. You can also choose a specialization and become a medical assistant to a podiatrist, an optometrist, a dermatologist, or a urologist, to name a few. Virtually all medical specializations require the employ of medical assistants.
As an administrative medical assistant, you may not be part of the examination process. Instead, you’ll be located behind the front desk, answering phone calls, checking in patients, keeping medical records and answering basic health care questions for the patients. An administrative medical assistant may also be in charge of filing insurance claims, sending out bills, scheduling appointments, and calling other clinics to arrange laboratory testing and hospital admissions.
As a clinical medical assistant, you may interact with the patient in the examination room. You could check the patient into the examination room and ask him or her basic medical history questions and you may take vitals, such as blood pressure and pulse. Or you could simply arrange the examination room for the nurse and doctor by putting out necessary tools for treatment and examination. A clinical medical assistant may also perform basic laboratory tests and/or take the samples to the laboratory for testing. You may assist a doctor during an examination or test by handing him or her the necessary tools and collecting samples.
Your clinical medical assistant duties may also include authorizing prescription refills, calling pharmacies, performing x-rays and cleaning the examination room following an appointment. You’ll also be able to answer basic health care questions for the patients. If your position includes both clinical and administrative duties, you could be kept quite busy during the workday performing both kinds of tasks. However, as a medical assistant, you’ll most likely be able to work a regular workweek, without overtime or being on call.