The Medical Assistant Degree

The Medical Assistant Degree has gained prominence over the years, as the health care field has expanded into many different arenas. Doctors have become busier and depend on medical assistants to perform more duties to make sure that patient care is exceptional. The medical assistant career has many important skill sets that can be leveraged into other health care positions.

Originally, most medical assistants were unlicensed and received on-the-job training. Having a high school diploma was enough. If an applicant had a reasonable knowledge of biology, bookkeeping, health and mathematics; combined with computer, office and typing skills - that would suffice. Volunteer health care field experience was also helpful.

Over time, careers that were previously dominated by "hands-on-experience", such as business, added certification like the Masters of Business Management (MBA). The United States health field has followed this "certification development", as it expects more medical assistants to receive licenses, certificates or degrees for their careers.

Different states have varying requirements and even use different terminology for this position; for example, some states describe a "medical assistant" as more administrative and office support, while suggesting that the "physical assistant" is more involved in medical procedures. Other synonyms for the medical assistant include the "office administrative assistant" and "clinical assistant".

The primary Medical Assistant Degree accreditation bodies are the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education (CAAHE) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). An applicant should check to see if the program is included amongst the hundreds of accredited medical assistant academic programs.

There are many educational options available for the Medical Assistant Degree: vocational technical high schools, postsecondary vocational schools, community colleges and junior colleges. There are full time, part time and online choices available. There are also various time parameters from six-month, one-year, two-year to eight-year degrees. Many different licenses, certificates and degrees are available: Medical Assistant Certificate, Associate of Applied Science Degree and Physical Assistant Masters Degree to name a few.

Medical Assistant Degree courses cover the following: accounting, anatomy, bookkeeping, clinical procedures, ethics, first aid, insurance processing, laboratory techniques, medical law, medical procedures, medical terminology, medications, office practices, patient interaction, pharmaceutical principles, physiology, recordkeeping, scheduling, specimen collection, transcription and typing.

Basically, all medical assistants must pass a national certification test to be be certified or registered by the Association of Medical Assistants (AMA) or American Medical Technologists (AMT). This test measures technical training, medical knowledge and practical experience. Some turn to tutorial help in order to pass this certification exam.

Internships (paid or unpaid) are beneficial characteristics of many educational programs. These provide important career training, practical knowledge and medical experience. There is also a "job shadowing" possibility, called an "externship", which tends to be for shorter periods of time than internships.

The Medical Assistant Degree is a great stepping stone. It provides the basic understanding of the medical field's patient care. It allows for wonderful experiences and career possibilities.