Formal Medical Assistant Training

Medical Assistant:
The Medical Assistant school trains medical assistants for the duties of medical assistants which often vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the practice and the practitioner’s specialty. In small practices, medical assistants usually do many different kinds of tasks, handling both administrative and clinical duties and reporting directly to an office manager, physician, or other health practitioner. Those in large practices tend to specialize in a particular area, under the supervision of department administrators. Medical assistants who perform administrative tasks have many duties. They update and file patients’ medical records, fill out insurance forms, and arrange for hospital admissions and laboratory services. They also perform tasks less specific to medical settings, such as answering telephones, greeting patients, handling correspondence, scheduling appointments, and handling billing and bookkeeping. A Medical Assistant duties vary according to what is allowed by State law. Some common tasks include taking medical histories and recording vital signs, explaining treatment procedures to patients, preparing patients for examinations, and assisting physicians during examinations. Medical assistants collect and prepare laboratory specimens and sometimes perform basic laboratory tests on the premises, dispose of contaminated supplies, and sterilize medical instruments. They might instruct patients about medications and special diets, prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician, authorize drug refills as directed, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, prepare patients for x-rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures, and change dressings, often medical assistants also may arrange examining room instruments and equipment, purchase and maintain supplies and equipment, and keep waiting and examining rooms neat and clean. Formal training in medical assisting, while generally preferred, is not always required. Some medical assistants are trained on the job, although this practice is less common than in the past. Applicants usually need a high school diploma or the equivalent. Recommended high school courses include mathematics, health, biology, typing, bookkeeping, computers, and office skills. Volunteer experience in the health care field also is helpful. Medical assistant jobs who are trained on the job usually spend their first few months attending training sessions and working closely with more experienced workers.

An Online Medical Assistant Course
by Jenny P.,M,
My niece, is now working as a medical assistant in a nursing home in London. It's quite a change for her, as she worked as a personel manager in a factory in Taiwan before. That's actually where I got to know her, when Willy and I spent a month in Taiwan last 2005. We were in Taichung City for IVF treatment, and although the treatment wasn't successful for us, the friends we made there are invaluable, and the 30 days we spent there bonded as closer as a couple.M told us that she took an online medical assistant course before heading off to London. She looked up medical assistant schools, and decided that online was the best option for her. She told me that her online studies only took a couple of months and she received her degree. And her papers were processed super fast, because she was a previous overseas contract worker and had a good record. I've talked with her a few times since then, and she says her work there is very interesting. She is naturally caring and sweet, so the nursing center's residents love her, the staff is pleasant, and the work load just enough. She sometimes takes in overtime work though, because she says she wants to fill her empty hours. The other medical assistants, being that they have family nearby, want to spend time with their family. M says she will just combine all her sick leaves and vacation leaves to take a longer vacation with her family here in Manila.

Employment for medical assistant:
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. 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 medical assistant training or experience.