How to be a Medical Assistant

Medical assistants provide integral services in physicians' offices.  Many medical assistants find themselves functioning in several areas of the office.  In the front office, medical assistants perform administrative functions such as patient billing, scheduling, filing, and balancing day sheets.

In the back office, medical assistants typically perform clinical duties and patient care.  Phlebotomy, injections, vital signs, and lab tests are commonly done by clinical medical assistants.  Back office assistants also may assist physicians with minor office surgeries.

When you choose a career in Medical Assisting, you are joining thousands of qualified medical professionals who spend each day assisting physicians in medical office practices. These highly skilled health care providers perform activities in both the administrative and clinical areas. This is one of the few fields in medicine that will get students out into the health care workforce in under one year.

Finding a Program

There are many programs available for medical assistant training.  Prospectives students should pay special attention to the accreditation program that monitors each school's performance. Schools that participate in the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), are held to the highest standards for educational institutions that teach medical assisting classes. This association works closely with the Medical Assisting Education Review Board to ensure that schools are following a rigorous educational program.

Americal Association of Medical Assistants

The American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) offers national certification in the medical assisting field. Students who take and pass the certification exam are considered qualified to use the Certified Medical Assistant through the AAMA (CMA(AAMA)) credentials.  Only students who graduate from a CAAHEP accredited school can apply and sit for this exam.  Seeing that the CMA(AAMA) credential is the gold standard in credentials for medical assistants, many physicians are starting to require this certification for their employees.