How to Become a Medical Office Assistant

By: Kelli Hansen, RN

Last Updated: December 16, 2018

Doctors and patients alike rely upon medical office assistants to bring order to the complex world of medicine. As a medical office assistant – often called a medical assistant, or MA – you are the first point of contact between patient and office, and as such, set the tone for the patient’s experience. In addition to guiding patients, MAs also work behind the scenes to coordinate referrals, lab test reviews, chart updates, insurance reimbursements and other functions that keep a medical office running smoothly.

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A medical office assistant can be given great leeway by a doctor who trusts in his or her integrity and judgment, particularly in smaller practices where an MOA must inevitably fill a wide variety of roles that span administrative and patient care duties. The latter might include such responsibilities as measuring and recording patient body weight and blood pressure.

Larger medical practices or hospitals rely on medical office assistants, too, but typically in more specialized capacities. Regardless of the size of the practice, medical office assistants are an integral part of any medical office, and can tip the balance of a patient’s experience from mundane to superlative.

Workplace Details

Medical office assistants most often work in doctors’ or dentists’ offices, hospitals, and surgical centers and less often in insurance companies and government agencies. An MOA interacts with people all day long, including patients, doctors, nurses and other staff. In smaller practices, an MOA may take patients to their exam rooms, record their weight, take their blood pressure and act as a chaperone for opposite sex exams. MAs must be consummate multi-taskers, as frequent interruptions of one task to perform another are commonplace.

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average MA’s salary is $31,910 per year. The middle fifty percent of MAs earn between $26,080 and $36,800 per year. Salaries improve with more experience and/or education, and also according to geography and cost of living. Those living in larger cities and towns, particularly along both coasts, will earn more. The top three employers for MAs are doctors’ offices, hospitals and dentists’ offices.

Available positions for MAs are increasing, driven by the ongoing retirement of the baby boom generation and general increases in population. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 23% growth in jobs for medical office assistants from 2014 to 2024, which is far faster than average.

A high school diploma or graduation equivalency degree (GED) is sufficient for an entry-level medical office assistant position, with further training done on the job. However, many employers prefer to hire MAs with a certificate or associate’s degree in medical assisting, which are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

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Many accredited programs provide opportunities for their students to gain experience in the medical setting. Students benefit greatly from this experience not only because hands-on learning helps to reinforce lessons from the classroom, but also because students who’ve already gained some real-life experience in the workplace tend to be more desirable to employers after graduation. If your program doesn’t offer this, look for internships in your area.

Certification as a certified medical administrative assistant (CMAA) will increase your chances of getting hired, as employers prefer the stamp of approval it bestows. Practice tests and other test preparation materials are available online at either of the links above.

Since every office varies in its procedures, a certain amount of on-the-job training is inevitable. On-the-job training for smaller practices will be more extensive due to the need for an MA to cover a greater variety of tasks.

Aspiring medical assistants have two possible educational routes: a certificate or an associate degree. Both typically include lots of hands-on experience and an externship component. They differ in length, cost and transferability – read on to determine which one is best for you!

A typically one-year certificate program in medical assisting is often a great choice for students who want a less expensive program that prepares them strictly for the duties of a medical assistant. It’s not for everyone, though – if you anticipate that you may want to go back to school within five years or so in order to advance your career further, you should consider an associate degree instead, since credit earned from the associate degree is often transferrable toward a bachelor’s degree later. By contrast, certificate programs often cannot be counted as college credits later.

Certificate programs in medical assisting are hands-on and intensive.

An associate of applied science (AAS) degree in medical assisting requires two years, which makes it longer in duration and often more expensive than the certificate. However, on this path, you will gain a broader education that can make you more desirable in a competitive employment landscape. Additionally, your coursework can often be applied as college credit if you pursue a higher degree in the near future. The associate degree in medical assisting consists of courses in biology and medical terminology along with record-keeping, accounting and insurance practices, and liberal arts courses.

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Curriculum commonly includes courses such as: