If you’re someone who has always loved helping others, working as a registered medical assistant may be the perfect fit.
Every day, you’ll get to see how much your hard work benefits others.
Before you make any plans, though, let’s take a closer look at what this job entails.
What Is a Medical Assistant?
As a registered medical assistant, you will perform any of a number of different tasks in order to help doctors and other health professionals better do their jobs. This will also include directly assisting patients.
Most medical assistants work at clinics and hospitals, but there are plenty of other options, too. Here are some of the most common alternatives:
- Community Health Centers
- Family Practices
- Hospitals
- Labs
- Nursing Homes
- Physical Therapist Offices
- Private Practices
- Sports Medicine Centers
- Veterinarian Offices
So while your job will always entail helping people feel better, how you do that will depend on where you work.
Medical Assistant Duties
Again, your specific duties will depend on where you perform them. Obviously, a registered medical assistant working at a hospital is going to have a very different day than someone working at a lab.
However, here are the most common tasks medical assistants tend to carry out on a regular basis:
- Carrying Out Injections
- Checking Blood Pressure
- Explaining Treatments/Care to Patients
- Measuring Vital Signs
- Patient Care
- Preparing Patients
- Setting Appointments/Scheduling
Contact us today for more information about how IntelliTec Colleges can help you pursue this career path and earn your certificate in as few as 10.5 months.
A Day in the Life of a Registered Medical Assistant
To better help you decide if you’d like working as a registered medical assistant, let’s look at what your day would entail based on some of the most common work environments. This will also give you a better idea of where you’d like to work if you decide to pursue this rewarding career.
1. Hospital
Given how busy they are, medical assistants working at hospitals always have a variety of tasks to carry out. While much of their work is similar to that of a nursing assistant, they’re also expected to keep things running smoothly.
This often means helping patients fill out forms, answering phones, scheduling appointments, and handling billing. During the same day, the medical assistant will also work directly with patients and may even have responsibilities to attend to in the lab. Many administer electrocardiogram readings, refer patients to specialists, and refill prescriptions, too.
So if you don’t like dull moments, consider the hospital environment.
2. Clinics
While many people think that clinics and hospitals are basically the same, they’re actually very different.
At clinics, registered medical assistants are required to fill in any gaps in order to ensure the physicians are able to perform necessary procedures.
This is why medical assistants are often called “generalists” in these settings. They greet patients and answer the phones, but they also dress wounds, remove sutures, and carry out other hands-on functions with patients. That includes talking to them about their diets, medicinal procedures, and general care requirements.
Although clinics are much smaller than hospitals, they can just as easily descend into chaos without qualified medical assistants who are able to successfully juggle priorities and keep things running smoothly.
3. Private Practice
For the most part, the more patients a physician can see at their private practice, the more likely they are to succeed.
This is why medical assistants are in such high demand at private practices. The more they can assist physicians in the running of their practice, the more patients they can see.
In this way, your job in this environment may be very similar to what it would be like to work at a clinic. The major difference is that your duties at a private practice will depend much more on its physician – what their specialty is and where they need the most help.
In some practices, this may mean taking on a more administrative role. In others, it will mean a lot more face-time with patients.
Is Being a Registered Medical Assistant Right for You?
First and foremost, do you like working with people?
That is the main requirement of succeeding as a registered medical assistant. You’ll almost always be the person a patient speaks to before they get to talk to their doctor or physician. This will mean answering a wide variety of questions but, in many cases, helping to keep them calm and comfortable, as well.
Second, as you’ve probably realized by now, working as a registered medical assistant means no two days are the same. While a big part of your job will be trying to maintain a schedule as much as possible, any medical assistant will tell you that it’s just as important that you’re able to adapt quickly and keep things running smoothly.
Finally, you must be a team player. Even if you’re the only medical assistant working at a small private practice, your ability to work well with the physician will make all the difference. Of course, if you’re at a hospital, you’ll frequently find yourself working alongside physicians, nurses, and other medical assistants.
Would You Like to Learn More as a Registered Medical Assistant?
Are you excited about the prospect of working as a registered medical assistant? It virtually guarantees you’ll never have a boring day, but you’ll always be helping people.
Contact us today and we’ll send you more information about how IntelliTec Colleges can help you pursue this career path and earn your certificate in as few as 10.5 months.