You have a lot of career options within the health care field. The difficulty is deciding what medical career path you should join. Many medical professionals are very happy working as Medical Assistants, but do you think you will enjoy the work?
Choosing to become a Medical Assistant is not a decision to take lightly. It takes dedication, flexibility, and training to join this career field; so you should take the time to consider the career path before enrolling in a medical assisting course.
Spend some time thinking about the questions below. Your answers will help you decide whether Medical Assisting is the right career path for you.
Every medical assisting program is different, so your time in school will depend on the school. And depending on the school, medical assisting programs might include a lot of homework and training. Will you be committed to joining and completing medical assisting training?
Medical Assistants need to be flexible, and they need to have the ability to jump from one task to another fairly quickly. It’s very common for a Medical Assistant to work in a clinical task one minute (e.g. charting patient information and taking blood pressure) and then an administrative task (e.g. handing medical billing issues on the phone) the next minute. If you think you will enjoy working in a career that requires multitasking, then medical assisting might be for you.
A career as a medical assistant can be meaningful because you are helping people get the help they need. Some people don’t want to work in a job catering to other people’s needs, so it might not be for you. Many medical assistants enjoy their careers because they work to help others. Will you?
Medical Assistants can work with many types of medical professionals; this includes: doctors, nurses, x-ray technologists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and other medical specialists. Your working relationship with each of these professionals will depend on the health care facility you join. If you think working with a variety of medical professionals will be enjoyable, medical assisting might be the right career path for you.
These are just a few questions to think about as you decided whether or not you want to become a medical assistant. Many medical assisting professionals love what they do, but it doesn’t guarantee you will enjoy the work too. So spend some time thinking about the above questions. Make a list of the pros and cons, and then make an educated decision. You’ll be glad you did.
We have a list of accredited medical assisting schools available by state and city. Avoid diploma mills by selecting a school on this list.
U.S. Department of Labor: Medical Assistant
Find current data on medical assistant jobs, salary ranges, training, etc
American Association of Medical Assistants
Get details on medical assistant certification, test dates, and job information.
Accredited Medical Assistant Schools
Find accredited medical assistant training programs by visiting the CAAHEP and ABHES websites.
Medical Assistant Wikipedia Article
General information about medical assistant education, registration, and training.