subject: The Earning Potential Of Medical Assistants Depends Upon Few Factors & They Are.. [print this page] An increasing number of individuals across United States are taking advantage of the jobs in the booming health care industry. One of the best ways to gain entry into it is through the jobs of medical assistants. These assistants are an integral part of every healthcare facility these days and they even earn attractive salaries. However, numerous factors determine the earning potential of these medical assistants. These factors have been elaborated below,
1. Education - A good training is an important factor that determines the salary of a medical assistant. Training courses can be of short duration, such as part time or may be more extensive with duration of couple of years. The training course should be accredited by the educational authorities such as Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). The certification is not necessary as even those without certifications can be easily hired; however, employers always give preferences to those with proper certification.
2. Experience - Like every industry, the healthcare industry too provides compensation based on the experience of the individual. A novice assistant is paid lesser in comparison to an assistant with experience. Pioneers of the industry earn attractive compensations because of their long experience.
3. Employer - The salary of private or public sector may differ, larger medical facilities, health spa centre and nursing centers offer higher compensations to the medical assistants. Small private practices on the other hand offer lesser salaries in comparison to large facilities.
4. Geographical location - The salary offered to a medical assistant may differ from location to location. Those in the bigger cities often earn higher salaries due to the high cost of living. For instance, the average salary of Medical Assistants in New York City is greater than the national average salary whereas that of Houston, Texas equals it.
5. Area of specialty - The salary of a medical assistant may differ depending on the specialty in which the assistant is working. A medical assistant working in a dentist office can earn more than working in the outpatient centre. Working in the specialty demands knowledge of specialized skills from a medical assistant with the benefit of higher salaries.
6. Certification - A medical assistant merely does not require a training course, he/she requires certifications from four different organizations. The certified medical assistant (CMA) by American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) is one of the most widely recognized form of certification programs. American Medical Technologists (AMT), National Health career Association (NHA) and the National Center for Competency Testing are the other three of these certification bodies for medical assistants.
