Six Top Reasons to Enter a Career in Medical Assisting

A medical assistant’s main job is to help out doctors and nurses in medical clinics. They’ll do basic tests like taking vital signs, gathering patient information, and asking about symptoms and health concerns. By collecting these information fragments, a medical assistant is then able to pass a more comprehensive patient summary on to the doctor.

Medical assistants speed up the diagnostic process, giving doctors all of the information that they need to draw conclusions about specific treatment plans. Alongside this, a medical assistant may also conduct administrative duties, helping the hospital or clinic to run as smoothly as possible.

This position is one of the faster ways into healthcare, with certification programs only lasting between 10 months and two years. Due to this, people that want to get into healthcare to make an active difference in their communities are flocking to this field.

In this article, we’ll be covering the top six reasons to study medical assisting, breaking down exactly why students and healthcare professionals-to-be are moving into this field. We’ll be discussing:

  • The increasing job demand
  • Rapid entry pathways
  • Ability to work in a range of settings
  • Predictability of hours and schedules
  • Qualification advancement
  • Career fulfillment

Let’s break these down further.

Increasing Job Demand

If COVID showed the working world one thing, it’s that there is a serious job instability that can strike any career field at any time. Yet, one field has been mostly untouched by the pandemic. Healthcare is actually one of the strongest industries in terms of growth across the past few years, with medical assistants also benefiting from this increase, as seen by dramatic increases in the healthcare job market, reported by credible sources.

Currently, it’s predicted that the need for medical assistants will increase by 18% from 2020 to 2030, demonstrating the stability of this career. 18% is much faster than the national average, with over 104,000 new job opportunities being launched into this field every single year. If you’re looking for a job that has incredible stability and is likely to be around long into the future, then aiming to become a medical assistant could be the option for you.

Rapid Entry Pathways

If you’re interested in a career within the medical field, then you’d be hard-pressed to find a job that allows you faster entry into the world of medicine. When taking a medical assisting program, you’ll be able to learn key concepts and get your feet wet in the healthcare industry almost instantly.

One of these said programs, the ASA College medical assisting program, can give students all the information they need for this career, providing the perfect foundation that launches a student into medical assisting. What’s more, the shorter study times for this degree mean that a student can get into a career in medical assisting within two years.

The speed with which one can access this career, especially when compared to other careers in the medical field, is astounding, helping people to start their careers in record time.

Range of Work Locations

When one thinks of the healthcare industry, their mind automatically goes to hospitals. Yet, this isn’t actually the only location that someone working as a medical assistant will be frequenting.

Medical assistants can work in a range of different settings, including hospitals but going far beyond that.

Typically, you’ll find medical assistants in:

  • Colleges and universities
  • Medical research centers
  • Nursing care facilities
  • Outpatient care centers
  • Clinics

Clinics are actually one of the most frequented places where you can expect to find a medical assistant, showing the diversity of workplace you’ll be able to encounter in this career. With ease, you can choose where you want to work, applying to different facilities based on what your interests are.

Predictable Hours

When you ask someone that doesn’t work in healthcare what the schedule of a doctor is, they probably imagine a 24/7/365 job with almost no breaks. While this can certainly be true in regards to being a doctor, the same can’t be said for medical assistants.

A medical assistant, especially those that work in facilities that have opening hours, like a clinic, may often only work daylight shifts. It’s much less common to find a medical assistant pulling crazy hour shifts or working through the night. While this does indeed happen, it’s something you can actively avoid if you select certain facilities to work in.

If you’re looking for a career that has stable hours that won’t destroy your personal life or work-life balance, then medical assisting is an excellent option for you.

Advancement Opportunity

After graduating from a medical assisting program, a student is then perfectly set up to go on and do more certifications. These can boost the amount of money the person makes, as well as provide them with advanced or specialized knowledge which can both be useful and incredibly interesting.

If a medical assistant finds a true passion for a particular area of medicine, they’ll be able to do specialized tests that push them even further into this field. There is a range of medical assistant certifications that someone with a base qualification can then take. For example:

  • AMT, American Medical Technologists – This exam helps medical assistants become Registered Medical Assistants (RMA).
  • AAMA, American Association of Medical Assistants – Completing this exam will award the student a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) title.
  • NCCT, National Center of Competency Testing – This test will give the student a qualification as a National Certified Medical Assistant.

These are only three of the many different qualifications that a medical assistant can pursue at any point in order to further their career.

Career Fulfillment

Behind everything else, the healthcare industry is run purely on making a positive difference in the world. While some careers hark back to capitalistic roots, healthcare is, at the core, about saving lives and making sure people are healthy. By entering this career field, you’ll be becoming one of the 22 million healthcare workers that are devoted to a selfless field.

Due to these ideas being at the core of healthcare, many people that go into this field get a great deal of satisfaction from their jobs. Although it can be difficult at times, and certainly overwhelming, healthcare ensures that when you go to sleep at night, you can be proud of the work you’re doing in the world.

When searching for a career that gives you a sense of fulfillment and purpose, you can’t do much better than healthcare. A career in medical assisting can allow you to enter into this world as quickly as possible, making a difference and helping to save lives every single day.

Final Thoughts

Medical assisting is an excellent career choice if you’re looking to enter the world of healthcare with early job prospects. While other career paths require many consecutive years of grueling study, medical assisting provides a much more direct pathway. Additionally, considering the job stability of medical assisting as a career, it’s no wonder that people are turning to this field. With a good salary, the ability to work in a range of facilities, and the fulfillment that comes with a job in healthcare, medical assisting is definitely an excellent career to consider.

Hope this article will help you.

Author name:

Marisa Souza Carvalho

Author bio:

A career counselor based in Milwaukee, Marisa Souza Carvalho is passionate about helping young adults connect with the work that inspires them.

If you are facing problems on choosing the right college, career paths or If you need any help on the college application process, essay/SoP/or reviews, please schedule a 30 or 60 minutes online 1-on-1 interactive session with any of our experienced counselors OR send an email at customer.support@stoodnt.com

Our counselors include Ex-Harvard, Ex-Stanford, Ex-Oxford, Ex-Cambridge, Ex-ESADE, Ex-UT Austin, Ex-IIM, Ex-ISB, etc.

Sandipan Mukherjee

Recent Posts

Exploring the World of Engineering: A Guide for High School Students

As a high school student, the decision to pursue a career in engineering can be…

2 weeks ago

Navigating the Path to a Career in AI, ML, and NLP: A Guide for College Students

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, fields like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and…

2 weeks ago

Navigating Study Abroad: A Comprehensive Guide for College Students in the US

Studying abroad during college is a transformative experience that offers students the opportunity to immerse…

2 weeks ago

Unlocking ChatGPT: How AI Transforms Your Questions into Answers

Hey there, high school scholars! If you've ever marveled at how technology seems to understand…

2 weeks ago

Top 10 FAQs for GRE Preparation:

What is the GRE, and why is it important? The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is…

3 weeks ago

Crack the MCAT: Your Ultimate Guide to Success

Preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) can be a daunting task, but with…

3 weeks ago