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Medical Assistant Career – Opening doors to a profession in healthcare services.

Medical Assistant careers are gathering demand in the background of a healthcare industry boom worldwide.
A Medical Assistant essentially is a healthcare professional with multiple responsibilities and skill sets required to execute the same. Both administrative and medical tasks that do not need much medical proficiency fall into the ambit of a Medical Assistant.

Medical Assistants are indispensable in any modern day healthcare practice. Engaged under physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners. Medical Assistants attend to the complexities involved in delivering medical services.

By accomplishing administrative and other responsibilities, Medical Assistants make it easier for the practitioners to concentrate on attending to and treating patients.

Medical Assistants execute varied administrative, laboratory and clinical tasks in different health care institutions.

Often, Medical Assistants are seen as generalists who are involved with many aspects of the medical profession but do not specialize in them.

A detailed overview of the activities of a Medical Assistant is given here:

Administrative duties:

General administration which includes day-to-day activities and other tasks. These include:

Communication – both internal and external and office correspondence.

Patient welfare – maintenance of patient records, insurance forms, scheduling appointments, arranging for hospital admission.

Billing and bookkeeping.

Maintain medical and drug supplies.

Clinical duties:

Clinical duties require discreet manual dexterity and visual acuity. A Medical Assistant has to support the medical practitioner with the following:

Recording vital signs.

Preparing patients for examination, explaining treatment procedures to patients.

Assisting the physician during the examination.

Instructing patients about medications and special diets.

Preparation and administration of medications.

Laboratory tasks:

Laboratory tasks include:

Collection and preparation of laboratory specimens.

Performing basic laboratory tests on the premises.

Draw blood, prepare patients for X-rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures and change dressings.

Disposal of contaminated supplies and sterilization of medical instruments.

Medical Assistants employed at small medical outfits may undertake both administrative and clinical duties and report directly to the office manager or health practitioner.

Larger medical outfits have Medical Assistants reporting to department administrators and specializing only in a particular area.

Medical Assistant – Essential qualities and skills:

Duties entailed in medical assisting vary with the type of health care facility, size, location and specialisation.

A pleasant disposition is a must as Medical Assistants constantly interact with patients and public. Courteous manners, a well groomed personality and an aptitude for making people feel at ease are essential.

Simple medical and clinical skills and administrative abilities are integral to the profile of a Medical Assistant.

Traditionally, Medical Assistants did not need to be certified as they learnt on the job. This scenario has changed and contemporary medical practices prefer trained and certified Medical Assistant professionals to untrained individuals. Read more