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Medical Assistants
perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information 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.
[extra href=”#example” title=”The Helper” info=”popover” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”People with this personality type likes to work with people and in teams. They prefer work that allows them to build relationships with others.”]The Helper[/extra]
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Medical Assistants perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information 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.
- Record patients’ medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.
- Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
- Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
- Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.
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Featured Schools
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Medical Assistants with little to no experience tend to make between $24790 and $28400 while the more experienced ones can earn over $39190 per year.
| Top 5 paying states | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| AK | $22 | $45,490 |
| DC | $20 | $42,010 |
| WA | $20 | $41,340 |
| MN | $19 | $40,320 |
| MA | $19 | $40,270 |
One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Medical Assistant is to move to a higher paying state like AK. Right now, the highest paying states for Medical Assistants are AK, DC, WA, MN and MA.
However, a higher pay at AK doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at AK might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.
Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Medical Assistant is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.
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We asked other Medical Assistants what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Post-Secondary Certificate followed by an Associate’s Degree.
Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.
| Medical Office Assistant/Specialist |
| Medical Reception/Receptionist |
| Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder |
| Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary |
| Medical/Clinical Assistant |
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Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Medical Assistant.
| [icon type=”thumbs-o-up”] PROS |
|---|
| Suitable for people who likes to help and teach others |
| Suitable for people who values relationships between co-workers and customers and wants to work in a friendly non-competitive environment |
| This career is perfect for people who love to work indoors. |
| It is not too difficult to get into this career. Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for this career. |
| Normal working hours (40 hours per week) |
| [icon type=”thumbs-o-down”] CONS |
|---|
| Not suitable for people who likes to work with designs |
| One of the lowest paying jobs |
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71% of Medical Assistants said they were satisfied with their job and 76% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.
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You can read more about these career personality types here.
People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..
They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.
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| [icon type=”home”] | Summary (You are here) |
| [icon type=”list-ul”] | Job Description |
| [icon type=”dollar”] | Salary |
| [icon type=”graduation-cap”] | Requirements |
| [icon type=”heart”] | Quiz |
Related career information
Medical Assistants job description, Medical Assistants salary, Medical Assistants information, what is the job of a Medical Assistant like, pros and cons about Medical Assistants, colleges and universities for Medical Assistants, is Medical Assistants the right career for me, careers in Healthcare and Medical
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