Medical Assistant Work

Medical assistant work is involved in executing clinical and administrative tasks for smooth functioning of the work of podiatrists, physicians, chiropractors, and other health professionals. Based on the practitioner's specialty; size; and location, the responsibilities of a medical assistant may differ from office to office and state to state.

Medical assistants are usually employed in various medical institutions such as hospitals, clinics, outpatient surgery centers, doctor's office, and community service centers. Medical assistants generally specialize and get acquired with peculiar duties that are related to kind of physician they are working for viz., ophthalmic, pediatric or podiatrist doctors.

Medical assistant work is considered to be a varied profession when compared to this fast paced and quick growing domain. Apart from providing medical assistance to the doctors and patients, playing the duties of a receptionist can also be counted as one of the functions performed by the medical assistant.

Medical assistants are expected to abide by the set of legal guidelines including the ethical regulations of the state they are working in. Medical assistant jobs offer excellent stability and is quite appreciating taking into consideration the moral and legitimate duties carried by the medical assistants. Medical assistants are required to be accurate and honest in their work.

Requirements of Medical Assistant Work

Apart from excellent communication and listening skills, there are some other requirements that one should possess for becoming a medical assistant. They are as follows:

• Associate degree, on-line degree or a year's diploma in medical assisting program
• Successful certification from American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA)
• Medical assistants may require to change from clinical to clerical duties as per the need. Hence, multitasking and computer skills are essential elements in medical assistant jobs
• Acquaintance with medical terminology or jargons and general sanitary lifestyle and superior analyzing skills
• Proficiency in manual dexterity and visual acuity

Job Profiles of Medical Assistant Work

There are different job profiles that come under medical assistant work. They are as follows:

• Clerical Medical Assistants: Clerical medical assistants execute repetitive routine tasks which are vital in the smooth operation of any organization. They are responsible to fix appointments, attend phone calls, sort mails, type letters and memos, and greeting patients. They function similar to the clerical workers in any other office setting

• Clinical Medical Assistants: Clinical medical assistant responsibilities are highly associated medically as compared to that of clerical and administrative medical assistants. Their duties include collecting medical histories, helping doctors at the time of examinations, and preparing patients for examination. Other responsibilities of clinical medical assistants may include collecting laboratory specimens, explaining medical processes to patients, and sterilizing medical instruments

• Administrative Medical Assistants: Administrative medical assistants are involved in performing various duties like updating patient files, submitting medical claim forms, scheduling hospital admissions, arranging medical tests, bookkeeping for medical practices, and other general clerical duties

• Specialized Medical Assistants: Specialized medical assistants carry out additional tasks that reflect their proficiency. For instance, podiatrist medical assistants are involved in helping the podiatrist during surgeries and making castings of feet. Optometric assistants usually test the eyes of the patients, give basic assistance during eye examinations, and provide proper guidelines to the patients regarding the right use of eye lenses.

Working Conditions of Medical Assistant Jobs

Medical assistants generally work in challenging and tight scheduled locations such as hospitals, clinics, and doctor's or physician's offices. They specifically work for 40 hours in a week. They are involved in carrying out multifaceted tasks. Those assistants working in private offices settings may work on Saturdays and sometimes in the evenings. They work in clean and sanitary surroundings.

Job Prospects of Medical Assistants Jobs

Medical assistant is projected to be one of the fast growing professions over the decade. Candidates with experience, professional certification and training have a good job prospect as most employers prefer selecting such candidates. Today, we see there are numerous clinics, group facilities, and other health care practices that are in demand of higher percentage of medical assistants who can carry out both clerical and administrative tasks.

Besides, medical assistant work can also be found in primary care which is one of the systematically progressing fields of the health care industry.