According
to the US Department of Labor "Medical Assistants is projected
to be one of the fastest growing occupations over the 2004-14 period."Medical
Assistants perform a wide variety of duties in physicians offices
depending on the size of the medical office. In smaller solo or two
physician practices the duties of the Medical Assistant may include
some front desk work. These front desk responsibilities vary from
signing in and greeting patients to scheduling visits and patient
testing and admissions.
However, due to the high costs of physician liability insurance, rent
and salaries, mega-medical practices are the norm today. These are
medical practices that have 15-25 physicians. Generally in a practice
like this duties are broken down and are very delineated between front
office and back office. Duties such as greeting the patient, answering
the phone, scheduling appointments and dealing with insurance would
be the responsibility of secretaries and insurance specialists trained
in front office duties.
The Medical Assistant would be responsible for back office duties
exclusively. These duties would include preparing the patient for
the exam, taking a patient history, checking blood pressure and pulse,
perhaps performing an EKG. The Medical Assistant would be responsible
for drawing blood and assisting the physician during routine office
procedures, depending on the type of medical practice.
In the past most Medical Assistants received on the job training.
All that was required for someone to become a Medical Assistant was
a high school diploma. Today, as more medical practices are specializing
and as services rendered in physician offices become more complex
these medical practices are looking for Medical Assistants who have
had formal schooling and hold a degree in Medical Assisting.
If you are thinking of pursuing a degree as a Medical Assistant there
are many different types of specialized Medical Assistant degrees
to choose from in a variety of specialties including cardiovascular
medicine, internal medicine, ophthalmologic, dental, and pediatric.
Each of these medical specialities have specific types of office treatments
and testing which makes obtaining a degree as a Medical Assistant
in a particular field of medicine invaluable when seeking a job.
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