Medical Assistants
Medical assistants perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Their administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Their clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by the physician.
Medical assistant jobs support physicians, healthcare personnel and patients. They are often the first go-to person which patients look for, for medical evaluation. Learning how to become a medical assistant is the first step toward this satisfying profession.
Learning how to become a medical assistant starts with the education, either the certificate of completion or the associate degree. Those who graduate from either one are qualified to work as medical assistants.
The medical assistant course involves using specialized communication and organizational skills, abilities and knowledge, which include communication, reading comprehension, providing satisfactory customer service, the ability to perceive, pay attention to detail, write reports and provide updates clearly and concisely and recognise when someone is in distress and comfort them.
Besides being knowledgeable in treatment and terminology, understanding medical administrative procedures and systems, and working with computers are other necessary skills that a medical assistant should be equipped with. With these skills, one can find a decent medical assistant salary in many of the specialities in the field of medicine.
To be a success in a medical assistant job, the three key factors of studying, practising, and repetition should be kept in mind.
Qualifications
Every career requires an element of study and academic qualification, and there can be several study routes and pathways you can take. In following any academic pathway you will study subjects that contribute to the specialised knowledge required to achieve your career goals. These qualifications provide a future employer with the evidence that you have the desired knowledge, understanding and experience of their industry, so it’s important to consider the various types of qualifications available to you and to understand how they can boost your career and create opportunities for you.
- Certificate Medical Nursing Assistant
- Diploma Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife
- Certificate General Duty Assistant
Tasks
- Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
- Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.
- Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.
- Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician.
- Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing.
- Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients.
- Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.
- Authorize drug refills and provide prescription information to pharmacies.
- Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
- Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
Progression Routes
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