Medical Assistant Job Description
The job of a Medical Assistant involves helping physicians perform administrative and clinic duties. They keep operations running efficiently in clinics, hospitals and doctor’s offices. Some assistants perform patient and lab work, while others are assigned to answer phones, handle bookkeeping and maintain medical records. Duties may vary according to the size of office or hospital, location, and job description.
Education/Experience Requirements for the job of a Medical Assistant: A successful candidate must possess a high school diploma and at least one-year vocational/community college certificate. Important courses in this field include physiology, anatomy, medical terminology, medical ethics, clinical procedures, first aid, laboratory techniques, accounting, insurance processing and computer. Certification and registration are not necessary for employment, but they can be an advantage.
Skills of a Medical Assistant include but are not limited to: Management and administrative skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal skills and knowledge of medical terminologies.
Specific work elements of the job as a Medical Assistant include but are not limited to: Handling phone calls, managing patient’s appointments, performing data entry tasks, getting and recording patient information, explaining hospital admission procedures; processing medical bills and medical insurance claims; drawing blood from patients and donors; working in laboratories; collecting urine or stool samples and sending them for diagnosis, applying or changing dressing and obtaining daily observations or progress of patient’s health.
