What is a Medical Assistant?

What is a Medical Assistant?

Medical assisting is a field full of opportunity for those who enjoy working side by side with physicians and others in a medical office or clinic, regardless of gender. Traditionally, medical assisting has been a profession dominated by women, mostly because of biased counseling and recruiting, and misconceptions about the workforce. A study called "Title IX and Equal Opportunity in Vocational and Technical Education" conducted in June 2002 showed that male students made up less than 14 percent in courses offering medical assisting training in the 12 states surveyed.

However, contrary to certain stereotyped preconceptions and believes male medical assistants are highly valued and respected colleagues. Just like their female counterparts they usually are very much liked by the patients in a modern healthcare facility and it is encouraging to see that recently more and more male medical assistants are beginning to enter into this very rewarding profession!

Medical assisting is a dynamic field that is always changing and always growing. In this day and age where medical assistants are being asked to undertake increasingly complex tasks in either the front or back office there is room for everybody! The common goal of all medical assistants, whether male or female is the care and treatment of patients.

Front office tasks mostly consist of administrative duties, such as answering the phones, scheduling appointments, and assisting patients to fill out their information forms; whereas back office duties consistsof clinical tasks, revolving around patient care, such as taking vital signs, performing simple diagnostic tests, and sterilizing and cleaning equipment and examination rooms.

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Danni R., CMA, CCMA, CMAA Founder/Owner/Web Site Maintenance: Advanced Medical Assistant of America http://www.certmedassistant.com Medical Assistant Net http://www.medicalassistant.net

About the author: Danni R. is a certified medical assistant through the AAMA and NHA, and MA Instructor at such well known vocational training institutions. Her background is a unique blend of healthcare sciences and freelance web design and graphic arts, which makes her the ideal author for medical assisting articles and online courses. It is this fusion of contrasting disciplines that makes her work so successful on the Internet!