Medical Assistants
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Overview
Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician.
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Titles for this career often contain these words
AssistantMedicalAideTechnicianClientCoordinatorClinicClinicalCareSpecialistOfficeMorgueOptometricOrthopedicPodiatricAutopsyCertifiedCMAChiropracticChiropractorServiceServicesDoctorDoctor'sEyeHealthUnitClerkHemodialysisPatientHospitalMAWorkerSupportTechAttendantOcularOphthalmicOptometristOptometryCastPhysician'sPodiatristRegisteredRMARespiratoryTherapistSterileProcessingSurgerySchedulerVeinAccessVisualTraining
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Responsibilities and activities

Medical assistants typically do the following:

  • Record patient history and personal information
  • Measure vital signs, such as blood pressure
  • Help physicians with patient examinations
  • Give patients injections or medications as directed by physicians and as permitted by state law
  • Schedule patient appointments
  • Prepare blood samples for laboratory tests
  • Enter patient information into medical records

Medical assistants take and record patients’ personal information. They must be able to keep that information confidential and discuss it only with other medical personnel who are involved in treating the patient.

Electronic health records (EHRs) are changing some medical assistants’ jobs. More and more physicians are adopting EHRs, moving all their patient information from paper to electronic records. Assistants need to learn the EHR software that their office uses.

Medical assistants should not be confused with physician assistants, who examine, diagnose, and treat patients under a physician’s supervision.

In larger practices or hospitals, medical assistants may specialize in either administrative or clinical work.

Administrative medical assistants often fill out insurance forms or code patients’ medical information. They often answer telephones and schedule patient appointments.

Clinical medical assistants have different duties, depending on the state where they work. They may do basic laboratory tests, dispose of contaminated supplies, and sterilize medical instruments. They may have additional responsibilities, such as instructing patients about medication or special diets, preparing patients for x rays, removing stitches, drawing blood, or changing dressings.

Some medical assistants specialize according to the type of medical office where they work. The following are examples of specialized medical assistants:

Ophthalmic medical assistants and optometric assistants help ophthalmologists and optometrists provide eye care. They show patients how to insert, remove, and care for contact lenses. Ophthalmic medical assistants also may help an ophthalmologist in surgery.

Podiatric medical assistants work closely with podiatrists (foot doctors). They may make castings of feet, expose and develop x rays, and help podiatrists in surgery.

Salary
Median salary: $35,850 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $30,360 and $41,280.
$36K$0$20K$40K$60K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for medical assistants
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$23K$33K$37K$31K$28K$35K$35K$32K$34K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
020K40K60K80K100K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Medical Assistants
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of medical assistants who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Exposed to Disease or Infections (84%)
  • Unpleasant or Angry People (75%)
  • Consequence of Error (72%)
  • Responsible for Others' Health (70%)
  • Time Pressure (64%)
  • High Conflict Frequency (48%)
  • Exposed to Contaminants (37%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Medical Assistants? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Analytical skills
Medical assistants must be able to understand and follow medical charts and diagnoses. They may be required to code a patient’s medical records for billing purposes.
Detail oriented
Medical assistants need to be precise when taking vital signs or recording patient information. Physicians and insurance companies rely on accurate records.
Interpersonal skills
Medical assistants need to be able to discuss patient information with other medical personnel, such as physicians. They often interact with patients who may be in pain or in distress, so they need to be able to act in a calm and professional manner.
Technical skills
Medical assistants should be able to use basic clinical instruments so they can take a patient’s vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Injury and Illness
About 31 medical assistants become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 59% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
All multiple traumatic injuries
Bruises and contusions
All cuts, lacerations, punctures
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by medical assistants
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical assistants typically hold a postsecondary nondegree award.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as medical assistants as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for medical assistants

Medical assistants typically graduate from postsecondary education programs. Although there are no formal educational requirements for becoming a medical assistant in most states, employers may prefer to hire assistants who have completed these programs.

Programs for medical assisting are available from community colleges, vocational schools, technical schools, and universities and take about 1 year to complete. These programs usually lead to a certificate or diploma. Some community colleges offer 2-year programs that lead to an associate’s degree. All programs have classroom and laboratory portions that include lessons in anatomy and medical terminology.

Some medical assistants have a high school diploma or equivalent and learn their duties on the job. High school students interested in a career as a medical assistant should take courses in biology, chemistry, and anatomy, and possibly business and computers.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for medical assistants

Medical assistants are not required to be certified in most states. However, employers may prefer to hire certified assistants.

Several organizations offer certification. An applicant must pass an exam and have taken one of several routes to be eligible for each certification. These routes include graduation from an accredited program and work experience, among others. In most cases, an applicant must be at least 18 years old before applying for certification.

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies, part of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, accredits five certifications for medical assistants:

Some states may require assistants to graduate from an accredited program, pass an exam, or both, in order to practice. Contact the state board of medicine for more information.

Education level of Medical Assistants
Only 12% of medical assistants have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by medical assistants
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Medical Assistants per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most medical assistants? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as medical assistants. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where medical assistants earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for medical assistants compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for medical assistants.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which medical assistants earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Medical Assistants (ACS)
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Employment
17% of Medical assistants are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 17% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 61% of careers.
17%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of medical assistants by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$31K$31K$30K$33K$33K$33K$33K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000Self-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentLocal governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Medical assistants and gender
With 90% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 97% of careers.
Gender of Medical assistants
Men (10%)
Women (90%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$31K$32K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
90%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%. The situation is a little better for medical assistants, with the median salary for men 6% higher than the median salary for women.
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Race/Origin
Race and origin of Medical assistants
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Medical assistants.
Race/origin of medical assistants
White (67% )
Black (15% )
Other (9% )
Asian (4% )
Multiracial (3% )
Hispanic (2% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$29K$30K$30K$30K$31K$31K$31K$34K$0$20K$40K$60K$80KAmerican IndianHispanicOtherWhiteMultiracialPacific IslanderBlackAsian
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.