Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibility of a medical assistant is to execute the administrative and clinical tasks needed to keep chiropractors, podiatrists, physicians and the myriad of other healthcare offices running properly. However, they are not physician assistants, which examine, treat and diagnose patients while working under the eye of a doctor.

Medical assistants’ responsibilities vary depending on the type, size and location of the healthcare specialty in which they work. In general, the smaller the office the more varied the duties and as the office gets larger the duties tend to become more specialized. For instance, in a small office a medical assistant may handle both clinical and administrative duties and most likely will report directly to the office manager or doctor but in a large office they tend to be specialists and may report to a department supervisor.

Medical assistants performing administrative duties have a multitude of tasks. For instance, they may be responsible for filing and updating patient files, medical records and filling out insurance forms. In addition, they often perform duties not directly related to patient care like, answering phones, scheduling appointments, billing and bookkeeping and correspondence.

State law dictates what duties are allowed for clinical medical assistants. Some of the more common duties include formatting medical histories and recording vital signs, patent preparation for examinations and then being present during those examinations to assist the doctors and helping patients understand possible treatments.

In addition, medical assistants prepare and collect lab specimens and on occasion do some of the more basic lab tests and they also are responsible for properly disposing supplies and for the sterilization of medical instruments.

They may also educate patients regarding special diets and medications, administer and prepare medicines as instructed by a doctor, approve drug refills as instructed, call in prescriptions to pharmacies, take blood, ready patients for x-rays, take out stitches and change bandages.

Other duties include cleaning examining and waiting rooms, purchasing supplies and maintaining equipment.

Ophthalmic medical assistants and optometric assistants are examples of specialized assistants who have additional duties.

Some of the primary duties of ophthalmic medical assistants are to assist ophthalmologists in providing eye care, conducting diagnostic tests, testing, recording and measuring vision and the muscle function of the eyes, fit eye dressings and teach patients how to care for their contact lenses.

In addition, some may be required to maintain surgical and optical instruments and they may also act as assistants to the ophthalmologist during surgery.

Optometric assistants also provide chair-side assistance to optometrists, help instruct patients concerning contact lens care, conduct preliminary tests on patients and otherwise provide assistance while working directly with an optometrist.

Work Atmosphere
A clean, well lit work environment is the norm for medical assistants. Whether working full-time or part time most are constantly interacting with patients and need to have the ability to multi-task.

Education and Training
Most medical assisting programs are usually 1 year diploma or certificate programs or if some pursue a 2 years associates degree. Classes normally take place area vocational or community colleges.

Typical course outlines include anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, typing, transcription, recordkeeping, accounting and insurance processing.

In addition, students are also taught standard lab techniques, clinical and diagnostic procedures, pharmaceutical principles, the administration of medications and first aid.

A variety of organizations are available that are set up to accredit medical assisting programs. The process of accreditation often includes an internship that provides on the job experience in doctors, office or other type of heath care facility.

Formal training in medical assisting, while preferred by most employers, is not required. While a portion of medical assistants are still trained on the job, this practice is becoming less common or practical.

After passing a skills test or taking targeted courses, some States allow medical assistants to perform a few advanced procedures like giving injections.

Certification
Certification has become increasingly important in today’s work environment and employers lean towards those who have the proper certification. Although it’s not required, it indicates that an individual meets a base set of competency skills and thus represents less risk to an employer. There are a variety of associations that offer certification and they are easy to find using basic internet search techniques.

Medical assistants deal with the public; as a result, they must be well groomed, courteous and present themselves in a pleasant manner to patients be able to explain physicians’ instructions in an understandable fashion.

Advancement
Advancement opportunities are relatively plentiful for medical assistants for those with experience. One such example is that some go on to teach medical assisting or seek additional training and go on to become nurses or get involved in other health care related fields. Administrative medical assistants can be advanced to office manager or qualify for a variety of administrative support positions.

Employment
In 2006, approximately 415,000 people were employed as medical assistants with about 60 percent working in physician offices, 11 percent working in private or public hospitals and another 10 percent working in health practitioner offices like podiatrists, chiropractors and optometrists. The majority of the remaining individuals were working in other health care industries like nursing and residential care facilities and outpatient care centers

Projected Employment
The best job opportunities will be for those with experience, training and certification. Up through 2016, employment is expected to grow about 33 percent which is faster than average for other occupations.

A couple of factors will continue to fuel demand for medical assistants. The increasing use of them in every medicine and the overall increased demand of health care workers in general will fuel job opportunities.

Employment Prospects
For those seeking employment opportunities should be excellent. In addition to replacing those leaving the workforce, new jobs openings should be good.

Earnings
In May 2006, median yearly earnings of medical assistants were $26,300 while the middle half of the profession earned between $22,000 and $31,200 and the top 10 percent earned more than $36,900 and the bottom 10 percent earned less than $18,900. Median yearly earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of accountants and auditors are listed below: