Why Not Become a Medical Assistant?

The healthcare industry has an immediate need for qualified, self-motivated personnel in all areas of the industry, especially nursing. Hospitals have cut back on scheduling because there are not enough staff members to cover the shifts available. This makes for increased workloads, overworked staff and insufficient personnel to cover patient needs.

Over the past ten to fifteen years, there has been a need to find well-educated, high-quality nursing staff who could be available to help carry the load since it appears that Registered Nurses seem to have become an endangered species. This is especially true in medical clinics and in private practice. In order to fill this need, the medical assistant role has been created to fill in the gap, allowing the more educated LPN and RN to fill positions in hospitals and surgical units where the need is greatest.

You may ask, "What does the medical assistant do to help fill that gap?" In doctors' offices, medical assistants perform a great majority of the detail work, both in the front and back office arenas. The front office personnel gathers patient information, inputs it into the computer, creates the bare bones of a patient chart, verifies insurance coverage, makes appointments and takes payments. They also handle requests for medical records, answer the phones and help patients with check-in procedures.

In the back office, MA's are responsible for obtaining pertinent patient information such as height and weight, blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respirations. They perform a number of necessary tests, such as glucose finger sticks, electrocardiograms, and blood draws. In addition, they are also responsible for phoning in requests for prescriptions at local pharmacies and are trained to assist the physician in hearing tests, eye screening, and physicals. Further education is required to become certified in urine drug screening and breath alcohol testing. They are the collectors of information. They do not diagnose nor do they offer advice. It is up to the doctor to evaluate the information and make a decision as to how to treat the patient.