Online Colleges Help Further Medical Assistant Education

Mon, 31 May 2010 16:33:08 EST

Many people would be amazed to hear what one of most in-demand professions is these days. It's the medical assistant. That's right. The sweet young woman who greets you in some capacity from behind the partitioning glass panes at your doctor's office is part of the fastest growing professions in the country.

A degree from traditional or online universities might not be needed for the receptionist, but those skilled assistants in the back room usually have one.

This is a growing field, with a projected 160,000 or more needed by the year 2018 (per the Bureau of Labor Statistics). Most occupations will grow at a rate of 11 to 12%, while this field is reaching an astonishing 34% increase over the next ten years.

Then again, becoming a medical assistant is a lot more than being courteous and having a sweet smile these days. This mainly female occupation demands good organizational and communications expertise.

While understanding medical procedures is not necessary, it is a good to start learning them. It can give valuable insight into the medical field. From behind that desk one can strategy's one's health care future and be paid to do it, too. As it happens, medical assistants break down into three types:

(1) Administrative Medical Assistants - These are the women you actually see on the other side of the glass panels. They update and file records, arrange laboratory services and handle similar tasks besides answering telephones, greet patients, scheduling appointments, some billing and bookkeeping. This is usually the first step to the next following positions.

(2) Clinical Medical Assistants - The next step up the ladder gets the assistant from behind the desk and into the examination room. Common tasks include taking medical histories, recording vital signs, giving information on treatments and helping a doctor or nurse during an exam.

It's also not uncommon for them to instruct patients, give medicine, phone in prescriptions and even keep the exam rooms clean. Most everyone is familiar with these assistants.

(3) Specialized Medical Assistants - Their jobs are built around their office's specialization. Some of their exact titles include podiatric (feet) or ophthalmic, optometric (both eye). For instance, optometric assistants provide chair-side assistance, instruct patients about contact lens use, conduct preliminary tests and otherwise provide assistance while working directly with an optometrist.

For those who wish to get into this growing field, it's not that complicated. A new high school grad might be able to land a front desk job, although a year of secretarial school polish would actually aid in the cause.

From there, enrolling in an online college, taking classes when home and increasing one's knowledge will get her from behind the desk to the exam rooms. Two years of continued education will certainly help move her into the specialty positions. From there, she can further educate herself into nursing and beyond.

As for compensation, a high school will likely earn a salary in the $19,000 to $23,000 range. The average is about $25,000 and it can go up to just short of $30,000. Naturally, there are health benefits. So while the salary range is relatively low, one should look at this job as the first step into the medical world, and these days that can mean just about anything.

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Online Colleges Help Further Medical Assistant Education