Medical assistants perform many duties in physician’s offices, hospitals and other health care facilities. The medical assistant job description may depend on the size and type of facility where he or she works. In most physician offices medical assistants handle a mixture of clinical and administrative duties, but in large facilities like hospitals, they may specialize in a particular area of clinical work or hospital administration.
Clinical Medical Assistant Duties
Clinical medical assistants help prepare patients for examination, explain diagnostic and treatment procedures to patients, record vital signs and help doctors during the patient’s examination. They may also be responsible for collecting blood and urine samples and may perform basic laboratory tests. They may perform tests like electrocardiograms, remove sutures and change patient dressings. In some offices they are responsible for sterilizing medical equipment.
Administrative Medical Assistant Duties
The administrative medical assistant job description includes answering phones, scheduling appointments, handling insurance billing and accounting tasks, inventorying supplies and handling correspondence. They may also be responsible for keeping and filing medical records, arranging hospital admissions, arranging laboratory tests, calling in prescriptions under the doctor’s supervision and completing insurance forms.
Ophthalmic and Optometric Medical Assistant Job Description
Ophthalmic and Optometric medical assistants receive special training in the field and are usually certified in their specialty. Their duties include performing diagnostic tests, measuring vision and testing eye muscle function. They may assist the ophthalmologist in performing eye surgeries, apply dressings and may administer medications under the doctor’s supervision. They also instruct patients in the use and care of contact lenses.
Podiatric Specialization
Some medical assistants may choose to specialize in podiatry and receive a certificate in their specialization. The podiatric medical assistant job description may include making castings (molds) of feet, developing x-rays and assisting in surgery. Their duties may also include administrative tasks like greeting patients, scheduling appointments and handling insurance billing and accounting. They are usually responsible for stocking exam rooms and sterilizing instruments.
Work Environment
Medical assistants work in clean, well lit environments performing a variety of tasks. The medical assistant job description includes working closely with patients so people skills are important. Most medical assistants answer directly to the doctor or office manager. Generally medical assistants work a 40 hour week although part time, weekend or evening work may be available at hospitals and clinics. Overtime hours may occasionally be necessary, especially in hospitals and clinics.
Advancement Opportunities
Advancement opportunities vary between clinical and administrative medical assistants. Most clinical medical assistants take additional training to advance to other positions like medical technicians and nurses. Administrative medical assistants may advance to supervisory or office manager positions without additional training and education or they may opt for additional training in healthcare administration and advance to medical facilities management positions.
The field of medical assisting is expected to grow rapidly until at least 2018. Most entry level positions pay more than $18,000 annually. The median salary for medical assistants in 2008 was $28,300 per year. Additional training can lead to advancement in the healthcare industry which is predicted to have an overall growth rate much higher than the average for all jobs in the U.S.