Medical Assistant Research Paper

Running head: Medical Assisting 1

Medical Assisting
Aycee C. Kaimo
Kaplan University

Medical Assisting 2

Abstract
Growing up in a family that loves to do public service, helping people specifically in medical field influenced me in my decision in choosing Medical Assisting as my profession. I feel that Medical Assisting is a good start in advancing my medical career. It has been said that the job of a medical assistant is expected to be one of the tenth fastest growing jobs through the year 2018. No matter what, there will always be a need for medical workers.

In this paper, I will discuss the overview of the profession I am pursuing, its educational requirements including any relevant certifications or credentials,
They usually work 40-hour weeks and maybe some weekends. The work is always in clean, air conditioned offices, which makes it a very comfortable work place. The medical assistants are always interacting with other people and they may have to handle a lot of responsibilities at once.
The work of medical assistants is always different. They are responsible for administrative and clinical tasks. Their administrative duties include updated files and patient records, scheduling appointments, handling telephone calls, and filling out insurance forms. Their clinical duties may include preparing patients for examinations, drawing blood, taking vital signs, giving medication, collecting lab specimens, and taking x-rays. This profession is very demanding.
Medical assistant’s salary varies depending on location, experience, and education. The more experience and/or training you have the more likely to make. That is why it is very important to obtain degree. The average salary is $25,240, although it can be as high as $29,720. This number is still rising due to the number of positions being made available for medical assistants.
Educational
There are currently about 700 Medical Assisting programs accredited by these two organizations. Some schools for medical assistants offer a one-year certificate program. The other option is to take a two-year program which will provide you with an associate’s degree at the end. Before you start looking for medical assisting colleges, be aware that you must enroll in a career college that is accredited. Accreditation means that the school has been given the stamp of approval by a higher organization. What this means for you is that you will be getting best education possible from the best medical assisting college around. Always make accreditation a top priority when you are researching medical assistant schools to attend.
Current Issues Relevant to Medical Assisting
As it continues to grow in size and importance within the healthcare landscape, the medical assisting field faces a number of challenges. (Taché & Chapman, 2004, 2006). These challenges will turn into issues that we will be facing as we progress on becoming a successful Medical Assistant. Some of the issues are: * Low pay relative to other Allied Health Profession. Medical Assistant received lower pay compared to LPNs/LVNs, medical clinical laboratory technician, radiology technologist or technicians, medical secretaries, and medical records and health information technician, all profession who perform function similar to those medical