Online Medical Assistant Degree
Online Medical Assistant DegreeFor the most part Medical Assistants assist with the administrative part of the healthcare industry. They schedule appointments, work with the correspondence and the billing, and update patient records.
Some facilities additionally require Medical Assistants to take a more direct role in with patients by explaining treatment procedures, taking vital signs, collecting lab tests, or explaining medications to patients. It's also not unheard of for Medical Assistants to be asked to prepare and clean up examining rooms and to tidy up the waiting rooms.
Some States allow medical assistants to give injections or perform more advanced procedures after passing a test or taking a course.
Degree ChoicesCertificate, AA, BA/BS. For Medical Assistants, generally a Certificate or an Associate's degree is enough to get you into the job. If you see yourself as moving up the career ladder or branching off to another department (such as Nursing), then you might want to consider a Bachelor's.
In the coursework for your certificate or degree, you will be sure to encounter the science courses such as: Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Terminology, Biology, etc. However, due to the nature of the job, you will also have to learn about record keeping, accounting, and insurance processing. You will probably even have to take a typing course!
Some healthcare facilities prefer their Medical Assistants to be certified by the American Association of Medical Assistants. This requires taking their national certification exam. As a CMA, you'll have better career advancement opportunities and greater job security.
Career and Salary OutlookAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Medical Assistants rank among the fastest growing occupations. In the next 7 years you can expect the growth rate to be 35%! That is well above the national average.
As for salaries, there is a wide-range of salaries reported by BLS from $22,000 to $37,000. Some things that effect salary are experience and certification. Payscale.com pits Medical Assistant wages to range between $14.00 and $20.00 per hour.
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