Medical Assistant Certification

The world of medical assistant employment is appealing to many people and for good reason. Unlike many other professionals, as a medical assistant the opportunities are truly amazing. Instead of being locked into the same type of job day in and day out, medical assistant jobs are diverse so there is plenty of room for growth and development, as well as salary increase. Now, people can start with the lowest form of medical assistant work if wanted, working their way up through the system but with the right medical assistant certification, they can choose the specific area they prefer working and begin the career there.

Once all required coursework has been completed for medical assistant certification, a person could make anywhere from $20,500 to almost $40,000 a year. While some of this would depend on geographic location and experience, much of it would be based on the type of medical assistant certification the individual had completed. Therefore, anyone interested in medical assistant employment should first consider the way they want to approach this type of job and whether they have any interest in a specific area.

Because there are so many different levels involved for medical assistant employment, each with unique responsibilities, the exact type of coursework to earn a medical assistant certification would also vary. Therefore, we wanted to offer a brief overview of the primary coursework involved for several different types of medical assistant positions so people would have a much better idea of the time and work invested to secure a job and start building a solid career.

For starters, working as an administrative medical assistant would involve primarily administrative duties so coursework would focus on learning how to perform administrative duties within a clinic or medical office. Once the required medical assistant certification had been secured, the person would be able to work for a doctor’s office, clinic, medical clinic, or even in a hospital. Coursework in this case would include medical terminology, medical transcription, billing, accounting, and communication. For medical assistant salary, the average to start would be around $24,000.

Then for a standard medical assistant, this person would still have responsibility for some administrative duties but also perform a variety of additional clinical tasks such as performing certain laboratory tests, administering medication, taking patients’ vital signs, completing follow-up, and more. Because these jobs are more involved, the medical assistant certification would also be more involved. For instance, along with learning administrative skills, coursework for this type of medical assistant employment would include medical law, ethics, first aid, laboratory techniques, and diagnostic procedures. Therefore, annual salary would be greater, generally around $27,000.

Another type of medical assistant job would be as a clinical assistant. This person would work more on the clinical side of the house, working with patients and assisting doctors on a greater degree. Along with the abovementioned coursework, people would also learn more laboratory testing procedures, disposal of containment supplies, sterilization of medical instruments, and interaction with patients for diet, medication, etc. In fact, with this type of medical assistant certification, the individual would also have the ability to authorize prescription medication refills, phone in prescriptions to pharmacies, and draw blood. With this being a more advanced type of medical assistant employment, pay is also better, averaging $33,000 a year.

The last option is for an ophthalmic, podiatric, or optometric medical assistant. Additional coursework would be required, covering things such as teaching patients to insert, test, remove, and care for contact lens, test eye muscle function, maintain surgical and optical instruments, offer chair side assistant to the physician, and in some offices or clinics, actually assist with surgery. With this being considered one of the top medical assistant jobs available, certification would open all types of opportunities and annual pay would be $36,000 or more a year.

With so many different factors involved to earn medical assistant certification, it is critical to finish coursework through a top rated and accredited school. Although there are many to consider, the following are some of the best schools for earning a certificate to work as a professional medical assistant.

•    Vatterott College – Vatterott has an excellent reputation and today, it is considered one of the best available, offering coursework for all levels of assistant work.

•    CDM Institute – This school provides certification to work as a medical assistant but what makes this educational institution unique is that the program was designed by healthcare professionals and qualified doctors.

•    Bradford School – With a 14-month Associate of Applied business program, students leave with all the qualifications needed for a longstanding medical assistant career.