Types Of Medical Assistant Careers
What are the different types of Medical Assistant careers?
There is good news if you’ve ever considered a career in healthcare as a medical assistant. First, it’s a position that is in demand, thanks to the growth of the aging baby-boom population. Second, just about all medical environments can use a skilled and qualified healthcare worker to help with clinical and administrative duties. There are three types of medical assistants:
- Administrative
- Clinical
- Specialized
EBI Career College offers a 12-month Medical Assisting certificate program that covers both administrative and clinical training. If you’re dedicated to a new healthcare career, you’ll leave with the skills you need to begin the steps to a medical assisting career.
Medical assistants are in demand!
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of medical assistants is expected to increase 29% by 2022**, making it one of the fastest growing occupational industries.
Administrative
The primary responsibility of an administrative medical assistant is managing the front desk operations of a healthcare facility. They also serve a role that requires them to provide customer service when working with patients, as well as administrative support for medical facility staff, allowing their team to provide care to patients.
Clinical
The role of a clinical medical assistant is similar to that of an administrative assistant, but their responsibilities lie more on the clinical side of healthcare. Clinical assistants work more one on one with patients, assisting in exams. There are still some administrative tasks but the focus is mainly providing direct care to patients.
Specialized
The responsibilities of a specialized medical assistant depend on a few factors: your area of specialization, the size of the practice and the size of your healthcare support team. Specialized training allows you to work more directly with patients and physicians. You may choose from a number of specialty fields, including:
- Family medicine
- OB/GYN
- Pediatrics
- Oncology
Contact us today and begin your medical assisting career
Now is a great time to start a career in the healthcare field. You can complete your certificate program in as little as 12 months. To learn more about our Medical Assisting certificate program in Vestal, NY, call 607-729-8915.
Become A Registered Medical Assistant
The only real concrete requirement to be a medical assistant is education and training from an accredited institution, but ambitious medical assistants seeking career advancement are able to earn a number of different professional certifications. Students and working medical assistants alike can earn the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) credential offered through American Medical Technologists (AMT). American Medical Technologists is a nationally and internationally recognized certification agency in the healthcare field that allows medical program graduates expand their knowledge and professional opportunities. Many healthcare employers today only actively seek out medical assistants with an RMA or similar accreditation. To become an RMA, medical assistants must pass an examination and meet certain requirements set by AMT and the National Commission of Certifying Agencies (NCCA).
Eligibility Requirements
AMT offers four unique routes for applying and testing for the RMA (note that “recent graduate” means an applicant that has graduated within four years of applying):
- Education
- Applicant must be a recent graduate or be scheduled to graduate from an AMT accredited medical assisting program or an accredited school with a non-accredited program that includes minimum 720 clock-hours of training including 160 hours clinical externship (or as required by state law).
- Military
- Applicant must be a recent graduate of, or be schooled to graduate from, a formal medical services training program of the U.S. Armed Forces.
- Work Experience
- Applicants who have been employed as a medical assistant for a minimum of five of the last seven years, of which no more than two years may have been as an instructor in a post-secondary medical assistant program. Also required is work experience in both clinical and administrative duties as well as proof of high school graduation. Full-time 40 hour work weeks apply.
- Instructor
- Applicant must be currently instructing in an accredited medical assisting program, completed a course of instruction in a healthcare discipline related to medical assisting, and a minimum of five years of full-time teaching experience in a medical assisting discipline encompassing both medical and administrative competencies representative of core medical assisting duties.
AMT offers detailed guides and charts that applicants can use to determine their eligibility for the RMA exam found here.
The RMA Exam
The actual examination for RMA certification covers an array of medical and legal material, and requires extensive preparation. The exam application and study materials are not free, but are relatively cheap compared to the benefits of certification. The exam application fee is $120, and AMT offers two full-length practice exams as well as an online review course for $175 total. The exam itself consists of 120 multiple choice questions divided into three parts and has a completion time limit of two hours. A general outline of the exam is as follows:
- Part 1: General Medical Assisting Knowledge – 41% of total test
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Medical Terminology
- Medical Law
- Medical Ethics
- Human Relations
- Patient Education
- Part 2: Administrative Medical Assisting – 24% of total test
- Insurance
- Finance and Bookkeeping
- Medical Receptionist/Secretarial/Clerical
- Part 3: Clinical Medical Assisting – 35% of total test
- Asepsis
- Sterilization
- Instruments
- Vital Signs and Mensuration
- Physical Examinations
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Minor Surgery
- Therapeutic Modalities
- Laboratory Procedures
- Electrocardiography (ECG)
- First Aid and Emergency Response
Benefits and Maintenance
Earning the RMA has numerous benefits to a medical assistant’s career. The most obvious and most advantageous benefit is that possessing the RMA certification automatically makes any medical assistant more appealing to employers. It represents functional advanced knowledge of the medical field and of the various duties of a medical assistant. Other benefits include membership to AMT state societies, access to many publications and national networking opportunities, Career Connection job boards, and many more.
To maintain AMT certification all that is required is payment of an annual renewal fee, 50$ for the RMA, compliance with AMT’s Certification Continuation Program, and abidance of the AMT Standards of Practice, which can all be found on the AMT website at http://www.americanmedtech.org/.
Learn in the Medical Assistant Degree Program
Now is a great time to find a career in the health care field. If you enjoy working with people and helping them feel better, a medical assistant career could be the perfect fit.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that demand for qualified medical assistants will rise up to 29% by 2022. Although that means there will be many positions, competition will be high. The right education can make all the difference when pursuing your first medical assistant job.
Medical assisting courses
In EBI Career College’s Medical Assisting program, you’ll take courses to build your knowledge base, including medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, and clinical skills. You’ll also take specialized medical assistant courses to learn skills you’ll need to function as part of a healthcare team, including electronic medical records, medical billing and laboratory courses. The capstone is the medical assisting externship, which will give you the opportunity to practice what you’ve learned in a real world setting.
Because this is a degree program, general education courses round out your education experience with technology, business and communication classes, which can help you become a more effective employee.
What does a medical assistant do?
Depending upon the employer, a medical assistant job description can include responsibilities on the administrative and clinical side of the practice. The responsibilities include:
- Assisting the physician with patient examinations
- Giving patients injections as directed by the physician
- Measuring vital signs
- Preparing blood for laboratory tests
- Scheduling patient appointments
- Taking and recording patient history and personal information
Contact us today!
Now is a great time to start a career in the healthcare field. You can complete your degree in as little as 16 months. To learn more about our Medical Assisting program in Vestal, NY, call Vestal: 607-729-8915.
Specialized Medical Assistant Career Training
How can I specialize in my Medical Assistant career training?
Are you looking for a challenging career that will allow you to help others and make a difference in their lives? Perhaps you should consider a career as a Medical Assistant. At EBI Career College, our Medical Assisting degree program can help you prepare for a new and exciting career with the industry knowledge and technical skills needed to be a successful medical assistant.
EBI Career College offers a 16-month Medical Assisting certificate program that covers both administrative and clinical training. If you’re dedicated to a new healthcare career, you’ll leave with the skills you need to begin the steps to a medical assisting career.
In this profession, there are three types of medical assistants: Administrative, Clinical, and Specialized. Let’s talk about the differences in these specializations.
- Administrative
The primary responsibility of an administrative medical assistant is managing the front desk operations of a healthcare facility. They also serve a role that requires them to provide customer service when working with patients, as well as administrative support for medical facility staff, allowing their team to provide care to patients. - Clinical
The role of a clinical medical assistant is similar to that of an administrative assistant, but their responsibilities lie more on the clinical side of healthcare. Clinical assistants work more one on one with patients, assisting in exams. There are still some administrative tasks but the focus is mainly providing direct care to patients. - Specialized
The responsibilities of a specialized medical assistant depend on a few factors: your area of specialization, the size of the practice and the size of your healthcare support team. Specialized training allows you to work more directly with patients and physicians. You may choose from a number of specialty fields, including family medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, and Oncology.
Medical assistants are in demand
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of medical assistants is expected to increase by 23% by 2028, making it one of the fastest-growing occupational industries.
Contact us today and begin your medical assisting career
Now is a great time to start a career in the healthcare field. You can complete your certificate program in as little as 16 months. To learn more about our Medical Assisting degree program in Vestal, NY, call 607-729-8915.
Learn more:
