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Day in the Life
 Medical assistants
work in well-lighted, clean environments. They constantly interact with
other people and may have to handle several responsibilities at once. Most
full-time medical assistants work a regular 40-hour week. However, many medical
assistants work part time, evenings, or weekends.
Medical
assistants complete administrative and clinical tasks in the offices of
physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Their duties
vary with the location, specialty, and size of the practice.
Medical assistants may advance to other occupations through
experience or additional training. For example, some may go on to teach
medical assisting, and others pursue additional education to become nurses
or other health care workers. Administrative medical assistants may advance
to office manager, or qualify for a variety of administrative support
occupations
Medical
assistants take and record patients' personal information. They must be
able to keep that information confidential and discuss it only with
other medical personnel who are involved in treating the patient.
Electronic health records (EHRs) are changing some medical assistants'
jobs. More and more physicians are adopting EHRs, moving all their
patient information from paper to electronic records. Assistants need
to learn the EHR software that their office uses.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
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