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Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician.
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Watch a video to learn more about this career
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Employment is projected to grow much faster than average, ranking medical assistants among the fastest growing occupations over the 2006-16 decade. Job opportunities should be excellent, particularly for those with formal training or experience, and certification.
Employment change. Employment of medical assistants is expected to grow 35 percent from 2006 to 2016, much faster than the average for all occupations. As the health care industry expands because of technological advances in medicine and the growth and aging of the population, there will be an increased need for all health care workers. Increasing use of medical assistants in the rapidly growing health care industry will further stimulate job growth.
Helping to drive job growth is the increasing number of group practices, clinics, and other health care facilities that need a high proportion of support personnel, particularly medical assistants who can handle both administrative and clinical duties. In addition, medical assistants work primarily in outpatient settings, a rapidly growing sector of the health care industry.
Job prospects. Job seekers who want to work as a medical assistant should find excellent job prospects. Medical assistants are projected to account for a very large number of new jobs, and many other opportunities will come from the need to replace workers leaving the occupation. Those with formal training or experience—particularly those with certification—should have the best job opportunities.
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Medical assistants held about 417,000 jobs in 2006. About 62 percent worked in offices of physicians; 12 percent worked in public and private hospitals, including inpatient and outpatient facilities; and 11 percent worked in offices of other health practitioners, such as chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists. Most of the remainder worked in other health care industries such as outpatient care centers and nursing and residential care facilities.
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Job Zone 3 - Medium preparation
These occupations often involve using communication and organization skills to
manage and train others.
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Overall Experience
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Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these
occupations. For example, an electrician must have gone through an
apprenticeship program or several years of vocational training to perform the
job.
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Education
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Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related
job experience, or an associate's degree. Some may require a bachelor's degree.
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Job Training
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Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training,
including both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced
workers.
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Examples
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Dental assistants, electricians, fish and game wardens, legal secretaries,
personnel recruiters and recreational workers.
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Information about career opportunities and certification for medical assistants is available from:
- American Association of Medical Assistants, 20 North Wacker Dr., Suite 1575, Chicago, IL 60606. Internet: http://www.aama-ntl.org
- American Medical Technologists, 10700 West Higgins Rd., Suite 150, Rosemont, IL 60018. Internet: http://www.amt1.com
- National Healthcareer Association, 7 Ridgedale Ave., Suite 203, Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927.
Information about career opportunities, training programs, and certification for ophthalmic medical personnel is available from:
Information about career opportunities, training programs and certification for optometric assistants is available from:
- American Optometric Association, 243 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63141. Internet: http://www.aoa.org
Information about certification for podiatric assistants is available from:
- American Society of Podiatric Medical Assistants, 2l24 South Austin Blvd., Cicero, IL 60804. Internet: http://www.aspma.org
For lists of accredited educational programs in medical assisting, contact:
- Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, 7777 Leesburg Pike, Suite 314 N, Falls Church, VA 22043. Internet: http://www.abhes.org
- Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, 1361 Park St., Clearwater, FL 33756. Internet: http://www.caahep.org
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Sources: O*Net data version 12.0
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Department of Labor
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