In the past, medical assistants used to be trained on the job by the physicians and doctors on staff. They did not specifically hold the title of a medical assistant until 1956, when the American Association of Medical Assistants was founded.
Employment for a medical assistant can be found in many locations. The most common facilities you will find this position is in an urgent care facility, ambulatory care center, and also various clinical doctors’ offices. However, a medical assistant today can find employment in many more locations which include the public and the private sector such as hospitals. Inpatient and outpatient centers are also finding a need for medical assistants because of the many administrative jobs.
The education of a medical assistant is not being trained by the staff as the traditional methods used to be. Today there are legal issues regarding these types of administrative jobs because it could cost a patient their life if there was a mistake with a prescription or something else. You can receive a formal education to become trained as a medical assistant in various schools around the country like vocational, community colleges, technical institutes, proprietary colleges, junior colleges, and even over the Internet. The most important thing you need to consider when you choose a school for your education is that the school is actually accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, Accrediting Bureau of Health Education School, CAAHEP, ABHES, or any other sufficient accreditation requirement. You want to be sure your education for this these types of administrative jobs is valid.
As a medical assistant it is important to remember that you are not a licensed professional, even if you are registered or certified. This means that the law across the nation, in every state will require you to work under the direct supervision of a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, registered, nurse or a physician assistant. This is required when hands on direct procedures are practiced.
If you plan on working with patients as a medical assistant giving needle injections, allergy testing, skin tests, and other various tasks working with needles you will need to be authorized through the state you live in. There are various states that require the certification of the medical assistant if you want to draw blood from patients also. A certification may even be required if you want to run x-rays on patients.
Some medical assistant positions are primarily administrative jobs that require a lot of work around the medical office. You may have to answer the phone quite a bit, greet the patients as they come into the office, and update and file patient records. Other various administrative duties may be very time consuming and require a lot of attention to detail like filling out insurance forms, correspondence, and appointment setting, and arranging for hospitalization and laboratory services. You might even be required to handle all of the bookkeeping for the entire office.
Many other various tasks you might be required to do include, but are not limited to taking a patient’s medical history, getting vital signs, explaining the treatment procedures to the patients. You might have to prepare patients to be examined by a doctor, assist with a diagnostic examination and collect and prepare laboratory specimens. Some medical assistants also prepare and administer certain medications, authorize prescription refills, call in prescriptions to a pharmacy and more. You might use a needle to draw blood, x-ray, remove stitches, take an electrocardiogram, and change wound dressings.
The medical assistant does a lot to work with a patient directly. This position is the direct link between the doctor and the patient. In addition, this position requires a lot of communication with hospitals, insurance companies, and more.
The medical assistant is the backbone of any doctor’s office or facility they work at. They are responsible for almost all of the paperwork that goes in and out of the office. They often work one on one with the patients to be sure they are getting the care they need and even give them injections if they need to. A medical assistant is familiar with every aspect of a doctor’s office and most offices could not function without them. If you are interested in a medical assistant career it is important to remember that you will need a certification in many states to be able to work freely in this position to perform the necessary tasks in most offices.
