Medical Office Assistant

A medical office assistant performs both clinical and administrative tasks in order to keep the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors and other health professionals running efficiently.  The duties of a medical office assistant can vary greatly, depending upon the size of the medical practice, the location and the focus of the practice.

In a large organization, the medical office assistant may specialize in a particular portion of the duties, such as clinical duties; while in a smaller practice the medical office assistant may help wherever needed.  Clinical duties can include collecting and preparing lab specimens, changing dressings, taking medical histories, and checking vital signs.  Administrative duties consist of preparing and recording information on patients’ charts, billing, scheduling and arranging for hospital admission

About 60 percent of medical office assistants in the work force today work in physician’s offices.  The work environment is clean, well-lighted and requires constant interaction with patients and other staff members.  A 40 hour work week is typical, but some medical office assistants work nights, weekends or part-time.

Most employers prefer medical office assistants to be graduates of some sort of training program with preference given to those persons with certification.  Training is offered by vocational-technical high schools, on-the-job training, community colleges, or vocational schools.  Online programs are also available and quite commonly accepted. 

Medical office assistant jobs are much in demand and growth is expected to continue through 2014.  Over 387,000 jobs were available in 2005. 

Average salary of a medical office assistant is in the range of $24-$25,000 annually

Further information may be found at the following websites.

American Association of Medical Assistants, 20 North Wacker Dr., Suite 1575, Chicago, IL 60606. Internet: http://www.aama-ntl.org.

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, 1361 Park St., Clearwater, FL 33756. Internet: http://www.caahep.org