Medical Assistant

Career Area: Health Care including Nursing

Occupation Group: Patient Care Technicians

Salary

Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.

An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

A typical Medical Assistant earns the following wages (national and state):

State

The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $32,396

National

The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $33,787

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Assists physicians and other medical specialists with routine administrative or clinical tasks. Organizes patient records, schedules appointments, and prepares medical equipment. May specialize in administrative or clinical work, or specialize in a particular area of medicine, i.e. assisting in the office of an ophthalmologist (eye specialist). Works in medical offices.

Employment Trends

The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.

Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:

Skills

A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:

Baseline Skills

The following are baseline skills every Medical Assistant is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:

• Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
• Computer Literacy: The ability to use computers and related technology efficiently for work tasks.
• Telephone Skills: Effective telephone skills are predicated on strong communications skills.
• Organizational Skills: Experience with a systematic process of structuring, integrating, co-ordinating task goals, and activities to resources in order to attain objectives.
• Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.

Specialized Skills

These skills are specific to working in this career:

• Patient Care: The services rendered by members of the health profession and non-professionals under their supervision for the benefit of the patient.
• Scheduling: Working experience making schedules, which are basic time-management tools, consisting of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place withing an organization.
• Vital Signs Measurement: Vital signs (often shortened to just vitals) are a group of the 4 to 6 most important signs that indicate the status of the bodys vital (life-sustaining) functions.
• Medical Assistance: A medical assistant is an allied health professional that supports the work of physicians and other health professionals, usually in a clinic setting.
• Appointment Setting: Working experience of Appointment Setting, which involves contacting individuals to generate appointments.

Distinguishing Skills

Any Medical Assistant that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:

• Venipuncture: In medicine, venipuncture or venepuncture is the process of obtaining intravenous access for the purpose of intravenous therapy or for blood sampling of venous blood.
• Vital Signs Recording: Vital signs(often shortened to justvitals) are a group of the 4 to 6 most importantsignsthat indicate the status of the bodysvital(life-sustaining) functions. These measurements are taken to help assess the general physical health of a person, give clues to possible diseases, and show progress toward recovery.
• Treatment Preparation:
• Urgent Care: Urgent care is a category of walk-in clinic focused on the delivery of ambulatory care in a dedicated medical facility outside of a traditional emergency room.
• Surgery: Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance or to repair unwanted ruptured areas (for example, a perforated ear drum).

Experience

This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Common Job Titles

It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:

• Medical Assistant
• Certified Medical Assistant
• Chiropractic Assistant
• Medical Office Assistant
• Online Medical Assistant Career Training - Learn Home