subject: Medical Assistant Jobs - What Makes Them So Attractive? [print this page] A recent survey by a health organization has found that the medical assistant jobs are bound to grow by almost 34% in the next few years. Those looking for a career in the healthcare industry could not have a better proposition even in this slumping economy. Working in a clean environment with attractive compensations, an individual can build a reputable career through this opportunity.
Firstly, let us know what a medical assistant do in a clinical setting. It is important to understand the job description of a medical assistant that involves different types of clinical and administrative duties. These may include the scheduling of appointments along with updating of patients medical records. Other duties include handling billing, bookkeeping and filling insurance forms for various claims. The medical assistant also has to operate the desk, schedule admissions and answer telephone calls for patients.
Medical assistants also prepare the patients for collection and sterilization by taking their vital signs, preparing patients for x-ray procedures and physical examinations. Apart from these, a medical assistant requires good interpersonal and communication skills to communicate with the patients for resolving any of their queries.
An individual who is considering the role of a medical assistant in the healthcare industry should select an appropriate course program and have a good training. These courses can be of various types, either extensive, having duration of a couple of years or just a few weeks. Most training courses have an on the job training period where the candidates get firsthand knowledge of their jobs. In this slumping economy, it is quite surprising to have the demand for this profile rising. It is simply because most medical facilities are realizing the importance of empathetic patient care. Moreover, it is easy for a medical assistant to grow in this area and make a transition to other profiles in healthcare services.
The demand of the medical assistants is growing with an immense amount of competition in the healthcare arena. Those looking for medical assistant jobs should know that various factors such as training, location and the healthcare specialty would decide the profile as well as the compensation. For instance, small practices such as physician's clinics may have the medical assistants to perform large number of duties; on the other hand, those working in large facilities can take care of specific duties.
