What is A Medical Assistant?

If you were to look for the definition of Medical Assistant in a dictionary, you would get something along these lines: A Medical Assistant (MA) is “a person trained to assist medical professionals.”

In essence, MAs are the backbone of doctor’s offices. MAs perform many important duties such as administrative and clinical tasks and ensure that the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners runs smoothly. The day-to-day duties of MAs vary from office to office, depending on the practitioner’s specialty and on the location and size of the practice.

In smaller practices MAs perform many different tasks which includes administrative and clinical duties. Eventually, an MA may specialize in a particular area, however, they will always remain under the supervision of other licensed health practitioners.

In larger practices, they tend to specialize in one specific area which is related to the practice in which they work.

Some Facts About Medical Assistants

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here are some facts regarding Medical Assistants:

• Employment is projected to grow much faster than average, ranking MAs amongst the fastest growing occupations over the next decade.
• About 62% of MAs work in offices of Physicians.
• Job prospects should be excellent – especially for those with a Medical Assistant certification or with experience.
• Some Medical Assistants are trained on the job; however, many prefer to complete a one (1) or two (2) year program before-hand.

In 2008, Medical assistants held about 483,600 jobs. As mentioned above, about 62 percent of MAs worked in offices of physicians; 13 percent worked in public and private hospitals – which includes inpatient and outpatient facilities; and 11 percent worked in offices of other health practitioners – such as chiropractors and optometrists. Most of the remainder of MAs worked in other healthcare industries, such as nursing, outpatient care centers and residential care facilities.

Types of Medical Assistants

There are three (3) main types of Medical Assistants: Administrative Medical Assistants, Clinical Medical Assistants and, Specialized Medical Assistants.

• Administrative Medical Assistants: In general, Administrative MAs update and file patients’ medical records, as well as fill out insurance forms, and arrange for hospital admissions. Duties might also include arranging the patient for laboratory services. On top of these main duties, Administrative MAs also perform tasks that are less specific to the medical industry and include answering phones, greeting the patients, handling correspondence, scheduling appointments and handling billing information. Some might also be required to do bookkeeping for the practice in which they work.

• Clinical Medical Assistants: Depending on the state law, Clinical MAs have various duties which include: Taking medical histories and recording the patients’ vital signs, explaining treatment procedures, preparing patients for examination as well as directly assisting physicians during the examination. Clinical MAs can be in charge of collecting and preparing laboratory specimens and performing basic laboratory tests, disposing of contaminated supplies, and sterilizing medical instruments. Depending on the physician, Clinical Medical Assistants might instruct patients about medications and special diets, prepare and administer medications, authorize drug refills, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, prepare patients for x rays, take electrocardiograms, and so on. They also may arrange examination room instruments and equipments, be in charge of purchasing and maintaining office supplies and medical equipments, and keeping the waiting and examining rooms neat and clean.

• Specialized Medical Assistants: Depending on the specialization of the Medical Assistant, they are required to perform activities directly linked to their specialization. For example, Ophthalmic MAs help ophthalmologists provide eye care. Their duties include conducting diagnostic tests, measuring and recording patients’ vision, and testing eye muscle functions. Ophthalmic MAs may have to apply eye dressings and also show patients how to insert, remove, and care for contact lenses. Under the direct direction of the physician, they may have the responsibility of administering eye medications. Ophthalmic MAs may also need to maintain optical and surgical instruments ready and may assist the ophthalmologist during surgery. Ophthalmic Medical Assistants also help provide eye care to patients, working directly with, and under the supervision of optometrists. Ophthalmic Medical Assistants also provide chair-side assistance, instruct patients about contact lens use and care, conduct preliminary tests on patients, and otherwise provide assistance while working directly with an optometrist.

For those of you interested in becoming Certified Medical Assistants, please visit our Medical Assistant Certification page for more details and information.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.