Working World

Medical Assisting is one of the fastest growing professions in the booming healthcare industry as physicians become more reliant on medical assistants for their front and back office skills.

Douglas Grossman, director of career services at Kaplan College Panorama City campus told us, “The medical field is always expanding. People don’t stop getting sick just because the economy is bad.”

With future job security in mind, if you’re looking for an entry-level position in health services, medical assisting could be right for you. What’s also needed is a strong desire to help people, an interest in health and medicine, and being able to handle multi-tasking throughout the workday.

Many of the training programs take eight months to complete. This includes seven months of hands-on training and lectures in the classroom, concluding with a month-long 160-hour externship position that allows you to try out your practice before graduating.

Manulani Aunuua, Student Igniter Ambassador and top of her class at Everest College, says the medical assisting program is a basic overview to start a career in the healthcare industry. She tells us, “After my father passed away, I wanted to be a nurse but the prerequisites for the RN program were too long a time commitment for me. Medical assistant training allowed me to get my foot in the door and opened my eyes to so many other opportunities and career directions in the field.”

Upon graduation, Aunuua plans to practice urgent care medical assisting in an emergency room at a hospital. She says, “The hands-on training is my favorite. Doing injections, IV setups, I love that.”

Job satisfaction appears to be high with medical assisting, perhaps because the actual job description varies so widely from place to place, so one can usually find something tailored to what you enjoy doing most. Donna Patterson, curriculum manager for the medical assisting program for Corinthian Colleges, Inc., stated that, “It’s a great profession to be in. We can work anywhere we please. We don’t just work in clinics; we work in home healthcare settings, we work in insurance companies doing insurance exams, we work as medical assistant teachers.” She also said a medical assistant might do a combination of front office admin and back office clinical, or choose a position in admin only or clinical only. It’s your call.

Of course, duties will vary depending on where you decide to practice. A busy dental clinic, for example, may have you doing more administrative work than a private physician’s practice which might need you to help with clinical procedures. What’s important is that you have good communication skills, a caring manner, and interact well with physicians as well as the public.

While many states, including California, do not require certification for medical assistants, the American Association of Medical Assistants offers a certification program that can be taken by medical assistants who have graduated from an accredited training program. A medical assistant with a CMA certificate has an extra edge on the competition.

It’s never too late to begin training. Judi Enlow, chair of Corinthian’s medical programs, told us that while the majority of students apply directly from high school, she is seeing more medical assistant training students coming in from other careers for retraining. “The way the economy is today, the fact that many of us are living longer, there’s always a demand for medical careers,” Enlow said. “Being a medical assistant is just a starting place. When they go the door is open to go on to become X-ray technicians, ultrasound technicians and even teachers.”

The salary range is wide and may depend on whether you work for a small independent practice, a larger corporate medical facility or an insurance company. According to the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey, medical assistants can expect a starting salary of $21,260 – $30,560.

SIDEBAR

A Day in the Life of a Medical Assistant

The American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) says a medical assistant should be able to do the following with proper training:

• Greet patients and schedule appointments
• Update and fill out patient medical records
• Code and fill out insurance forms
• Arrange for hospital admissions and lab services
• Handle correspondence, billing and bookkeeping
• Take medical histories
• Explain treatment procedures to patients
• Prepare patients for examination
• Assist the physician during the exam
• Collect and prepare laboratory specimens
• Perform basic laboratory tests
• Instruct patients about medication and special diets
• Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician
• Authorize prescription refills
• Draw blood
• Take electrocardiograms
• Remove sutures and change dressings

RESOURCES:

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL ASSISTANTS (www.aama-ntl.org)
CALIFORNIA STATE SOCIETY OF MEDICAL ASSISTANTS (www.aamantl.org/chapters/california.aspx)
CALIFORNIA MEDICAL ASSISTANTS ASSOCIATION (www.cmaa-ca.org)
CORINTHIAN COLLEGES, INC. (www.cci.edu)
EVEREST COLLEGE (www.everest.edu)
KAPLAN COLLEGE (www.portal.kaplancollege.com)
CONCORDE CAREER COLLEGES, INC (www.concorde.edu)
PLATT COLLEGE (www.plattcollege.edu)
U.S. DEPT OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS (www.bls.gov/OES)

Katy Allgeyer is an artist and freelance writer. She is a columnist for Working World and Working Nurse magazines and her features have appeared there and in Feng Shui Times, The Art of Well Being, You & Me Magazine and others.