Have you ever considered becoming a medical office assistant? Without having to devote the time or education necessary for becoming a doctor or a nurse you can still obtain a career in the medical field; one that will fulfill your desire to help others and to make the world a better place.
Medial office assistants are an important part of any medical practice. They perform a variety of clinical as well as administrative work that helps to keep a medical practice running smoothly. It doesn’t matter if the doctor specializes in podiatry, is a chiropractor, a pediatrician or even a general practitioner, the doctor cannot possibly do all of the work in his office himself, which is why these sorts of positions are needed.
The type of work done by these most necessary individuals ranges from taking a patient’s vital statistics and preparing them for an examination, to drawing blood, giving shots and explaining how certain kinds of medicine work. Of course it doesn’t end there; they may also be required to do things like medical billing, appointment setting, and records keeping.
While some of those who work in this field may perform a wide range of tasks (everything from administrative and billing tasks to helping patients get ready for their exam), this is usually only the case in smaller practices. In larger hospital settings those who work in this field are often assigned a specific duty or a specific area of work.
Sometimes you will see specialties assigned to an assistant’s title, such as “administrative” or “clinical” depending on what sorts of tasks the practice or office is looking for them to perform. Someone who is assigned to the administrative side of the business may work solely with updating patient’s medical records as well as working with insurance forms or doing the paperwork for lab work or even do receptionist style work such as answering telephones, sorting through email, appointment setting and other bookkeeping type work.
For those who get hired as a clinical assistant, the work will be more oriented towards the patients. You will be asked to do things like take medical histories, explain treatment procedures, prepare them for exams, record vital signs, collect and prepare lab samples and assist the doctor during an exam as well as explain to the patients how their medicines work. Of course you will also be asked to clean up after the exams, perhaps sterilize equipment or even dispose of things like used needles or tissue samples.
On the lighter side, clinical assistants also help explain to their patients how to adhere to certain diets or hand out telephone prescriptions to pharmacies or even help patients in obtaining an x ray or CAT scan. The chores on the clinical side are seemingly endless, but much more fulfilling if you like working with people.
Of course you don’t become a medical office assistant overnight. It takes time and training, though nearly not as much time and training as it would to become, say, a doctor, or even a nurse. The training involved is usually in the vicinity of a 12-month course that will prepare you take your certification exam.
While becoming certified is not a prerequisite to become a medical office assistant in the United States, many practices and institutions will not hire you unless you have achieved your certification. If you have your certification a potential employer not only knows that you are dedicated to your career, they also see it as a sign that you will come to them prepared to start work; to hit the ground running, something that is very important when it comes to running a medical practice.
And indeed, the training is comprehensive. During the 12 months that you are studying you will receive a wide variety of topics; things such as medical coding and billing, patient ethics and many other courses that will prepare you for your new job. There is even enough flexibility built into the programs that you can choose whether you would like to focus on the administrative or on the clinical sides of the job.
But once you have your certification in hand, you should have no problem finding a job as a medical office assistant, for they are in high demand in many areas of the country, and someone who is qualified and will work hard is always employable.
