Thursday, February 27, 2014

Medical Assistants as an entry level position in the health care industry

Medial assistant job in Massachusetts can be a promising career choice, as it opens doors for many opportunities in the health-care field. There are abundant health-care jobs in MA. Healthcare assistants in MA are one of the highest paid in industry. They are paid an average annual wage of $37210 as compared to industry average of $30550.

What Does this Job Entail?

Medical assistants are non-licensed health care professionals who work under physicians and other health professionals to perform administrative and/or clinical tasks. Their duties vary depending on the specialty, size of the practice and location

Most of them work in physicians’ offices and other healthcare facilities.

Their duties typically include, taking patient’s history and measure vital signs, giving injections, taking X-ray, blood samples and preparing for laboratory test. MA are also responsible to schedule appointments and conduct administrative formalities of patients.Most assistants work full time; however a few also work in shifts.

A Medical Assistant job does not require any formal training. Most medical assistants learn on the job. They learn medical terminology; names of medical instruments, daily task and interaction with patients from other medical assistants and physicians. They mostly possess a high school diploma. Some colleges offer associate degree courses for Medical associates. Such candidates are generally preferred over the others. The National Commission for Certifying Agencies offers four certifications for medical assistants:

(1)Certified Medical Assistant from AAMA
(2) Registered Medical Assistant from American Medical Technologists
(3)National Certified Medical Assistant from the National Center for Competency Testing
(4)Certified Clinical Medical Assistant from the National Health career Association.

A good medical assistant should have analytical skills, technical skills, interpersonal skills and eye for detail.

Jobs for healthcare assistants are expected to grow by 31 percent by 2020. With an increasing number of clinics, and healthcare facilities the demand for medical assistants to do both administrative and clinical duties will increase. Medical assistants are preferred over expensive workers such as nurses to reduce cost.

Medical assistants can move into health care careers such as nursing by taking formal education. A study states that medical assistant jobs would be one of nation’s fastest growing occupations by 2018.

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