Medical Assistants can be found in a wide variety of healthcare facilities including doctor’s offices, hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. As such, they are very important members of the healthcare team in whichever type of facility they are found. Often they are responsible for a mix of tasks that are both administrative and clinical. Throughout their day, they can be found taking care of patients and filing paperwork while also supporting the rest of the healthcare team including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Even with all their hard work and importance, there are a few things that people may commonly believe about a medical assisting career that aren’t true at all! We outlined some of them and busted those medical assistant myths!
Medical Assistants and Certified Nursing Assistants are the same.
Although Medical Assistants and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) may be found in the same facility, their jobs are actually quite different.
Both Medical Assistants and CNAs can provide direct patient care, but their responsibilities and duties differ. For example, CNAs may do a few patient-focused tasks like bedside assistance, feeding, or bathing. However, Medical Assistants are trained to be able to complete a wide array of both clinical and administrative tasks. So, they may be found helping to prepare patients for procedures, assisting in minor surgeries, performing injections, drawing blood, and more. Additionally, they may be found answering phones, filing patient charts, and much more.
Medical Assistants are only able to do clinical tasks.
As mentioned previously, this is simply not the case! Medical assisting is a dynamic career and those that are up for the challenge receive training in a variety of both clinical and administrative skills. In an office or other healthcare facility, a Medical Assistant may be taking phone calls, scheduling appointments, completing patient charts, medical coding, medical billing, filling out insurance forms, managing bookkeeping, or completing other administrative tasks. However, this is usually in addition to their clinical responsibilities. They really are indispensable!
Medical Assistants are only able to do administrative tasks.
Like the myth before, Medical Assistants are able to complete tasks on both sides of the office or other facility, both clinical and administrative. As a Medical Assistant, you may doing blood draws, giving injections, taking patient vital signs, applying splints or casts, obtaining EKGs, prepping patients for surgeries or other procedures, and much more. Often, a Medical Assistant is the first person that a patient interacts with and sets the tone for the visit or procedure.
There are limited opportunities for those with Medical Assistant training
This one couldn’t be further from the truth! As we have already outlined, Medical Assistants work in a variety of capacities on a daily basis in many different healthcare facilities. However, that’s just the beginning! Medical Assistants are also employed in various speciality offices and can receive additional training and certifications to become specialized Medical Assistants.
There are many fields to become specialized in. One field is podiatry. As a Podiatric Medical Assistant, you could assist doctors with various procedures and surgeries for the feet. You may even become certified through the American Society of Podiatric Medical Assistants. You may also decide to specialize as a EKG/Cardiology Technician. As an EKG/Cardiology Technician, you can perform electrocardiographs (EKGs) and may also be trained to administer other tests. There may be some additional training after your Medical Assistant program depending on your state and facility. Some other specialities that you may be interested in pursuing are Opthalmology Medical Assistant, Chiropractic Medical Assistant, Medical Administrative Assistant, and many others.
Are you interested in pursuing medical assisting training?
This one is no myth! At Ross Medical Education Center, we offer hands-on training for both the clinical and administrative tasks and information to help you achieve your medical assisting goals! Whether you want to start over in a new career or you are just getting started and want to join the exciting world of healthcare, we would love to have you join the Ross family! Find out more about our Medical assistant program today!