Because You Asked - A Medical Assistant Job Description
 

Medical assistants have one of the most expansive careers in the health profession. If one were to explain a medical assistant job description he or she would be hard pressed to keep it under one paragraph of words.

Medical assistants work with physicians as both administrative managers and in handling clinical type tasks. Most assistants work in a physician’s office but many do work in large and small hospitals and clinics. Medical assistant duties range from filing and phone calls to billing and dialogue between insurance companies and patients. Some will find in their medical assistant job description that book keeping and basic accounting is necessary while others will be performing vital checks on patients or taking x-rays throughout the day.

Some state laws do not allow a medical assistant to perform the more intense clinical examinations but most states do allow for it (as long as a physician is present). When a patient is first brought to the examination room, for example, the medical assistant is the staff member who is taking copious notes and measuring a patient’s height and weight and blood pressure. He or she is the person asking all of the questions for the doctor and updating a patient’s chart.

It’s common practice to find a medical assistant job description to include injection giving, bandage wrapping and x-ray taking, too.

Medical assistants are office managers with medical and wellness training in that they are able to run an office with efficiency and purpose. Medical assistant duties will include the ordering of office supplies and equipment and monitoring and providing a work schedule for other employees at the physician’s work place.

The greatest assistants out there wear all of the above hats but also have a warm and welcoming disposition for his or her patients. They are trained to work very objectively with equipment but how one treats a patient is a medical assistant’s strength if done right. Some patients will go to a specific doctor only if a specific medical assistant with interpersonal skills and the ability to work well under pressure and all personalities greet them.

A medical assistant job description is extensive but the hours are not too long. Most work weeks are forty hours with a week day schedule and once the day is over, a medical assistant will not be required to work on call (as most doctors do). In fact, medical assistant duties are completed during the workday and not at home.

A high school diploma combined with one to two years of training is required for any candidate entering the health profession as an assistant. Physicians and hospitals will require proper training from an accredited program and should a medical assistant decide to further his or her career, there is an option to receive more certification.

What is in the medical assistant job description? It’s a little bit of every thing necessary in order to run a smooth medical practice combined with a warm heart and the ability to multi task under pressure. One must be part scout, part saint and part diplomat.