A medical assistant is a healthcare professional who works directly with physicians. They primarily work in ambulatory care and outpatient facilities, such as doctor’s clinics and medical offices. Medical assisting is among the fastest-growing healthcare careers in the United States. This growth is attributed to several factors, including the rising number of elderly American patients and the likely increase in outpatient and ambulatory care facilities accompanying rising patient numbers.
Medical assistants typically gather important information that is then relayed to the doctor they’re working with. For example, a medical assistant may be the first point of contact for a patient. The assistant may then take the patient to the exam room, check their vital signs, and collect basic data about their height, weight, and symptoms. This information goes to the patient’s doctor, who uses it as the baseline for further medical examination and treatment.
Though they do not provide medical advice directly, medical assistants play a vital role in making patient care more efficient. Their clinical and administrative duties are often time-consuming, meaning they would detract from the time a doctor could spend with their patients. Medical assistants keep clinics and outpatient facilities running smoothly, ensuring doctors can provide the highest standards of care possible.
We can divide a medical assistant’s work into two core duties – clinical and administrative. Within these duties are an array of small tasks that the assistant completes on behalf of the physician they work with.
On the administrative side of things, these tasks may include the following:
These tasks require the medical assistant to understand their facility’s computing and technological facilities in-depth. Soft skills, such as communicating effectively and efficient typing, make a medical assistant more efficient when handling administrative tasks.
A medical assistant’s clinical work typically involves conducting basic procedures to assist the physician. Tasks in this area may include the following:
Beyond these standard clinical tasks, medical assistants may also complete clinical work that is more directly related to the specific facility they work in. For example, a medical assistant working in a family clinic may be required to administer vaccinations.
Medical assistants also require in-depth knowledge of the medications their physicians typically prescribe. This allows them to advise patients on how to take their medication and any dietary changes they need to make.
Ultimately, these tasks improve a facility’s efficiency while helping patients feel more at ease with any medical procedures or exams they’re about to experience.
Medical assistants can work in a variety of medical facilities.
Approximately half of all assistants work in private practice, such as a medical clinic or doctor’s office. These locations allow the assistant to work with recurring patients, helping them to develop tighter bonds with patients and their physicians.
Medical assistants can also work in hospitals, which offer different working conditions to private practice facilities. Work in hospitals is often more varied and comes with greater pressure, especially if you’re working in an emergency department. However, hospitals often provide more competitive pay and benefits packages than other facilities.
Outpatient care facilities are another option. These workplaces straddle the line between private clinics and hospitals. They typically provide medical services that don’t require overnight stays. This means their medical assistants often need to work with laboratory tests and similar issues. Outpatient facilities are less pressure-intense than hospitals, though they’re often open on weekends.
These three types of facilities account for most medical assistant hiring opportunities. However, the following facilities may also hire medical assistants for various reasons:
Opportunities also exist in facilities that aren’t focused on urgent care, such as retirement homes and chiropractor’s offices.
According to data from salary.com, the average medical assistant’s salary in the United States is currently $37,819. Most people in this role are paid between $34,864 and $40,836 per year, though salary expectations change based on several factors. These include your experience and location.
Starting with experience, entry-level medical assistants should expect to be paid approximately $18.66 per hour. This increases to $20.87 if you have up to five years of experience. Medical assistants with 10 years of experience are paid an hourly average wage of $23.53, which adds up to a little over $48,900 per year.
Location plays a large role in your salary expectations too. Medical assistants in states like California, Washington, and Alaska can expect the highest pay. Washington-based assistants have an average annual salary of $45,700. However, Alaska comes out on top with an average salary of $46,610, likely due to the region’s demand for qualified professionals.
At the lower end of the salary spectrum, Alabama and West Virginia are the only states that offer an average salary below $30,000. You can also expect to be in the lower $30,000 range if you’re a medical assistant in Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, or Mississippi.
The key takeaway is that there is no standard salary expectation for a medical assistant. Where you work plays as much of a role as your experience level, with some locations simply paying less than others. Thankfully, your skills are transferable between states, meaning you have the option to move to a location that provides higher salary expectations.
Those who wish to become medical assistants must meet certain educational requirements and achieve relevant certifications. Most people follow the steps below to enter their healthcare career.
Step No. 1 – Obtain a GED or High School Diploma
Having a GED or high school diploma is the minimum educational requirement for becoming a medical assistant. You can’t work in the field without this qualification. If you’re currently in high school, focus your energy on subjects relevant to the field. Math and science are priorities, with any electives related to algebra, chemistry, physics, biology, and statistics coming in handy.
It’s also helpful to volunteer at a local doctor’s office or clinic to gain early experience. This volunteering work looks good on an application for the postsecondary courses you’ll need to take.
Step No. 2 – Complete an Accredited Medical Assistant Program
Your next step is to pass the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) exam. Overseen by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), this exam must be completed at a school that has accreditation from one of the following organizations:
The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
The Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)
Each organization offers several approved programs throughout the United States, with most requiring between nine and 12 months of studying before you take the CMA exam. Courses cover a wide range of subjects, including medical terminology, human anatomy, first aid, record keeping, computer competency, and many others related to the administrative and clinical tasks medical assistants must complete.
Though these programs are the primary way to earn CMA certification, the AAMA also offers a pilot program that serves as a different educational pathway. Created in 2019, this program will run until August 31st, 2024. It’s a time-limited option that offers opportunities to those who don’t qualify for a CAAHEP or ABHES program.
To be eligible for the pilot program, you must have graduated from a postsecondary medical assisting program that offered the following:
Two semesters of study with at least 560 academic contact hours. This does not include externship or practicum.
A minimum of 160 hours of externship or practicum time completed in an outpatient environment.
Accredited by an organization that’s recognized by either the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or the United States Department of Education.
A diploma, associate’s degree, or certification.
The program must also have a required curriculum that covers anatomy, applied mathematics, physiology, pharmacology, injection administration, and phlebotomy.
Step No. 3 – Apply for Your Medical Assistant Certification
Completion of a program doesn’t mean you are a medical assistant. It means you have completed the basic educational requirements and are prepared to take the CMA exam. Before you can do that, you must apply to take the exam.
You may take the exam no more than 30 days before graduating from your accredited program. Applications cost $125 for new applicants. Students who wish to recertify must pay $250 unless they’re members of the AAMA, through which recertification costs $125.
Medical assistants must be recertified every 60 months to maintain their licenses. This can be done through continued education or by retaking the CMA exam.
Step No. 4 – Pass the CMA Exam
Assuming you’ve successfully applied for the CMA exam, your next step is to pass it. The exam consists of 200 multiple-choice questions delivered over four 40-minute exam periods. Taking practice exams may increase your chances of passing because it gives you an idea of what to expect.
According to the AAMA, the pass rate for the CMA exam was 62% between July 2020 and July 2021.
Step No. 5 – Considered Your Skills And Apply for Jobs
Once you have your CMA certification, you can start applying for medical assistant jobs. But before you begin, it’s important to consider your strengths and weaknesses. Though medical assistant courses tend to cover the same subject matter, you’ll also need several soft skills to enhance your work with patients and physicians.
These include communication skills, which are vital for putting patients at ease and communicating effectively with fellow professionals. Medical assistants must also be competent multi-taskers and have the ability to show empathy for the patients they work with.
Before applying, create a list of occasions when you’ve demonstrated these soft skills. When coupled with your qualification, the ability to showcase these skills increases your chances of success when applying for a medical assistant job.
The career opportunities for medical assistants look set to increase over the next decade. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the field is expected to grow by 18% between 2020 and 2030. This is more than double the 7.7% growth the BLS predicts across the American job market.
BLS figures also show that there will be 104,000 openings for medical assistants per year during this period. Most of those openings will result from people exiting the workforce through retirement or medical assistants moving on to new roles.
Further career opportunities arise because CMA exam pass rates appear to be declining. According to Data USA, only 52,393 people became medical assistants in 2020. This represented a 13.1% decline compared to 2019’s figures.
New medical assistants benefit from a growing demand for their skills and a declining supply of qualified professionals. This should make it easier to apply for medical assistant jobs, assuming you have the required qualifications. Furthermore, these supply and demand dynamics suggest that medical assistants may benefit from higher wages than the current averages in the coming years. As more facilities require medical assistants, they’ll become more likely to offer higher salaries when faced with a declining number of available professionals.
If you are a certified medical assistant under the AAMA, you must recertify every 60 months. You can do this by earning continuing education credits via AAMA-approved programs. The organization offers a comprehensive list of programs divided into different states so you can easily find a course that works for you.
The AAMA requires you to collect 60 recertification points before you can apply for recertification. If you’re an AAMA member, you can collect all 60 points through AAMA-approved courses. If you aren’t a member, you can collect a maximum of 30 points through AAMA courses, with the other 30 having to come from other sources.
The following is how the AAMA converts various continuing education sources into recertification points:
One continuing education unit = One recertification point
One continuing medical education credit = One recertification point
One college credit hour = 15 recertification points
One contact hour = 1 recertification point
You must document all of your continuing education efforts on your AAMA Registry Transcript for it to count toward your continuing education. Assuming you meet all the appropriate requirements, you can apply for recertification as a CMA using its Recertification by Continuing Education Application.
You must complete this application before or on the expiration date of your current CMA credential. If your CMA credential expires by more than three months, you cannot reactivate it via continuing education. Instead, you must retake the AAMA’s CMA exam.
As mentioned, medical assistants complete both administrative and clinical tasks under the supervision of a physician. Physician assistants take a more active approach to clinical work. They’re able to examine, diagnose, and treat patients without being overseen directly by the physician they work for.
Though being a medical assistant is a very rewarding career, it’s not for everyone. Beyond the technical and soft skills previously covered, medical assistants must be able to work dependably in high-stress situations. They must also have excellent attention to detail and superb visual and manual dexterity, both of which help with lab and clinical tasks.
The career may be right for you if you have these skills, are willing to work hard to build and maintain your technical expertise, and enjoy helping others.
The skills you develop as a medical assistant are useful in several other medical career paths. Many who begin their careers as medical assistants transition into surgical, electrocardiograph, and phlebotomy technician roles. Many also become medical office assistants. Furthermore, the soft skills medical assistants require are useful in many office-based and customer service roles.
Cross-training is the key difference between medical assistants and most other types of healthcare professionals. For example, patient care technicians focus solely on the comfort of their patients. A medical assistant may have duties related to patient comfort. But they must also complete a range of other tasks, which include the previously mentioned clinical and administrative work. As such, medical assistants are usually more versatile than other healthcare professionals, though this versatility comes at the cost of specialization in a single area.
No, you don’t need to recertify. The AAMA’s CMA credential is offered nationally, meaning you maintain it no matter what state you’re working in. You only need to recertify when you’re reaching the end of your 60-month certification period.
https://www.mbc.ca.gov/Licensing/
https://www.ncctinc.com/ certifications/ma
https://www.aama-ntl.org/cma-aama-exam/about
http://www.nysed.gov/ career-technical-education/medical-assisting
https://floridasnursing.gov/ help-center/how-do-i-become-a-medical-assistant-in-florida/
https://www.azmd.gov /MedicalAssistant/ MedicalAssistant/medical-assistant-rules