Medical assistants play an exciting and important role in healthcare. With a combination of clinical and administrative tasks, medical assistants do a lot to help health outcomes on a patient’s care team. They keep things running smoothly and can also jump in to help with patient care. It’s a versatile career with unique opportunities for advancement. If you’re curious about this fast-paced job, read on to learn more about what do medical assistants do, and how you can get started on this exciting career path.

Learn more about Dorsey College’s medical assistant program!

What Does a Medical Assistant Do?

Medical assistants work in doctor’s offices, clinics, outpatient care centers, and other places. They help treat and monitor patients, assist with exams, compile patient histories, and more.

It’s important to note there are different kinds of medical assistants. Some work in a more clinical setting, where they perform clinical tasks, spend most of their day on their feet, and may manage multiple patients at once. Others work in more of an administrative setting. They spend most of their day sitting at a desk and helping with patient documentation and appointment scheduling. Some medical assistants do a mix of these tasks. What you do as a medical assistant depends a lot on where you work.

Clinical Responsibilities

On the clinical side, a medical assistant can do quite a lot! This is a great role for someone who wants to be involved in patient treatment and is comfortable with the human body.

Some of the clinical job duties of a medical assistant include:

• Measuring and recording vital signs
• Collecting patient medical histories
• Preparing patients for exams and procedures
• Drawing blood for testing, donations, transfusions, or research
• Performing electrocardiograms (EKGs)
• Collecting specimens for testing
• Helping doctors during procedures by handing instruments or positioning patients
• Administering injections

This part of what a medical assistant does requires a cool head and a strong stomach. You’ll need to be comfortable with needles, blood and other specimens, and you’ll need to have a strong understanding of how to perform these tasks. A medical assistant program can teach you these skills and more. You can learn how to:

• Read a patient’s medical chart
• Document medication
• Interpret a patient’s vital signs
• Learn the names of tools and techniques in procedures
• Proper wound care
• Sterilization techniques

Administrative Responsibilities

Some medical assistants choose to find jobs more on the administrative side of things. In these cases, a medical assistant can do a lot to keep a doctor’s office, clinic, hospital, or other setting organized and functioning.

Some of the administrative responsibilities a medical assistant can do include:

• Greeting patients and answering phones
• Scheduling patient appointments
• Managing and updating patient health records
• Verifying insurance coverage and billing patients
• Managing office and supply inventories
• Regulatory compliance
• Keeping medical equipment functioning and sanitary

This is a great role for someone who is well organized, enjoys structure, and works well with people. Medical assistants operating in an administrative role are often the first or last person a patient sees during their healthcare experience. Being calm, organized, and compassionate are key qualities of a medical assistant that you can learn.

In your medical assistant training, whether an education program or in your on-the-job training, you can also learn:

• Strategies for good digital organization
• How to manage patient records
• HIPAA standards to keep in mind
• Infection control measures

Skills and Qualities of a Successful Medical Assistant

As we mentioned, a medical assistant is sometimes the first or last person a patient works with as part of their care plan. If their first impression is working with someone cold or uncompassionate, it can make a difference in how the rest of their experience goes! Some of the top qualities you should learn to become a successful medical assistant include:

• Strong verbal and written communication
• Empathy and compassion
• Multitasking
• Technical proficiency
• Adaptability
• Interpersonal skills
• Organizational skills

It’s okay if you’re not a pro at these skills! Most of them can be developed, whether in an education program or by working with people on the job. If you’re willing to learn and grow, a medical assistant career is a great option.

Becoming a Medical Assistant Could Be a First Step in Your Medical Career

Your medical assistant career path can be a first step to opportunities for advancement. With additional education, you can go on to pursue different careers after earning your medical assistant degree, diploma, or certificate. These include:

• Phlebotomy technician
• Nursing
• Healthcare management
• Clinical supervisor
• And more

You can also choose a specialization as a medical assistant. After completing your MA program, you could enroll in another program to prepare you to work in a variety of settings. Some MAs work in dermatology offices and therefore learn extra skills in skincare. Others pursue specializations in pediatrics, ophthalmology, and more. If you’re interested in this career path, you can learn more about specializations (and the additional education required) during your medical assistant career training program.

Getting Started as a Medical Assistant

In order to seek employment and complete the basic duties of an assistant in the medical field, you will typically need to graduate from a postsecondary education program which leads to a certificate or a diploma1. Some states have specific requirements for certification, so a school with a strong hands-on component with experienced instructors could be beneficial to start your new medical assistant career. 1

What can you expect to learn? Your program should take you in depth on what a medical assistant does. Some of the courses you might take include:

• Anatomy and Physiology with Medical Terminology
• Health History and Physical Measurements
• Surgical Asepsis and Pharmacology
• Urinalysis, Venipuncture and Hematology
• Electrocardiography, Radiology, First Aid and CPR Lab
• Medical Insurance and Electronic Health Records Lab
• Medical Office Administration
• Interpersonal Skills
• …and more!

Explore Dorsey College’s Medical Assistant Program

Dorsey College offers a medical assistant program for people who want to work as MAs in Michigan. Our program was designed to help you learn the administrative and clinical tasks of a medical assistant to set you up for success. Graduates can sit for a national medical assistant certification exam, which can be required by employers. If you’re ready to start a career helping others, click the button below to learn more.

1.Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Medical Assistants, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-assistants.htm#tab-4