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Medical Assistants

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician.

Related: Cardiovascular Technologists & Technicians Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses Ophthalmic Medical Technicians Registered Nurses Surgical Assistants

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing.
Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.
Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
Greet and log in patients arriving at office or clinic.
Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
Schedule appointments for patients.
Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.
Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.
Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.
Authorize drug refills and provide prescription information to pharmacies.
Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing.
Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
Set up medical laboratory equipment.
Perform general office duties, such as answering telephones, taking dictation, or completing insurance forms.
Operate x-ray, electrocardiogram (EKG), or other equipment to administer routine diagnostic tests.
Greet and log in patients arriving at office or clinic.
Perform general office duties, such as answering telephones, taking dictation, or completing insurance forms.
Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.
Keep financial records or perform other bookkeeping duties, such as handling credit or collections or mailing monthly statements to patients.
Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician.
Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.
Inventory and order medical, lab, or office supplies or equipment.
Perform routine laboratory tests and sample analyses.
Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients.
Change dressings on wounds.
Contact medical facilities or departments to schedule patients for tests or admission.

Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.

Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Education

Postsecondary certificate

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

55120/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

26.5/hr

Currently Employed

20,030

Yearly Projected Openings

3010

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Concern for Others
Adaptability/Flexibility
Cooperation

Alcohol analyzers
Audiometers
Bedside pulmonary function screeners
Benchtop centrifuges
Binocular light compound microscopes
Blood collection needles
Body plethysmographs
Canes
Capillary or hematocrit tubes
Cast cutters or saws
Chemistry analyzers
Crutches
Dictation machines
Dropping pipettes
Electrocardiography EKG units
Electronic blood pressure units
Electrosurgical or electrocautery equipment
Endotracheal tubes
Enema kits
Eye charts or vision cards
Eye occluders
Gait belts for rehabilitation or therapy
Hearing aid
Hypodermic needle
Keratometers
Lancets
Lap mayo trays or mayo stands for surgical use
Laser printers
Magnetic stripe readers and encoders
Medical acoustic stethoscopes
Medical gas cylinders or related devices
Medical imaging wet darkroom or daylight processors
Medical or surgical suction or vacuum appliances
Medical or surgical suction tubings
Medical oxygen masks or parts
Medical radiation films or badges
Medical syringes with needle
Medical syringes without needle
Medical x ray units for general diagnostic use
Mercury blood pressure units
Microscope slides
Nebulizers
Non vacuum blood collection tubes or containers
Notebook computers
Ophthalmic lensometers
Ophthalmic retinoscopes
Ophthalmic tonometers
Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets
Opticians tools
Orthopedic splint systems
Oxygen therapy delivery system products
Personal computers
Phlebotomy trays or accessories
Scanners
Sigmoidoscopes
Skin staple removers or kits
Specimen collection container
Spirometers
Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
Suture removers
Tablet computers
Tourniquets
Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation units
Tuberculin syringes
Vacuum blood collection tubes or containers
Walkers or rollators
Wheelchairs
Winged infusion needle set

Accounting software
Calendar and scheduling software
Categorization or classification software
Data base user interface and query software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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