Given the current state of the world, building a career in healthcare is a heroic act. Working alongside doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals is an honor that requires compassion and a strong desire to help others. If you want to build a career in healthcare, you may want to consider becoming a medical assistant. This job remains in high demand nowadays and remains a fast-growing career path in the field of healthcare.
What Does a Medical Assistant Do?
Medical assistants are tasked with a variety of activities. This includes recording the personal information and history of the patient, preparing samples for laboratory tests, measuring vital signs, scheduling appointments, and assisting physicians in examining the patients.
The roles of a medical assistant can differ depending on the setting and the needs of the organization, which opens them up to diverse skill sets and environments. There are plenty of opportunities to grow as a medical assistant, and there are also plenty of reasons to choose this career path. If you want to build a career in healthcare, here are the main reasons why becoming a medical assistant is one of the best career paths for you:
Reason #1: The Job Is in High Demand Everywhere
By becoming a medical assistant, you can rest assured that you’ll be in high demand. With the steady growth of the population comes the bigger demand for professionals who can cater to their healthcare needs. It’s a stable career path that will likely not fall in demand any time soon.
You’re not restricted to certain places if you choose to become a medical assistant. You can work in a wide range of settings such as clinics, hospitals, retirement homes, palliative care facilities, rehabilitation centers, psychiatric facilities, and even home healthcare.
Many medical assistants build a lifelong career in this job, and you can also use your certification to give yourself a boost if you’re looking into other careers in healthcare, such as nursing or medical coding.
Reason #2: Medical Assistants Gain Exposure to a Diverse Skill Set
The role of a medical assistant is a diverse one, and you’re guaranteed to learn a lot of skills along the way. Medical assistants who choose to work in larger settings such as clinics, healthcare centers, and hospitals typically have to choose either an administrative or clinical role.
Administrative medical assistants play more of a role in administrative tasks like scheduling patient appointments, assisting patients with forms, and taking care of billing. Medical assistants with a clinical role, on the other hand, focus more on patient care. They are in charge of recording vital signs, patient medical history, and administering medications under the supervision of a physician. It’s not uncommon for medical assistants to handle both roles, however.
By working in such varied roles, medical assistants build a diverse skill set that’s useful in jump-starting their career in healthcare. It’s a job that’s filled with numerous opportunities.
Reason #3: It’s a Fulfilling Career Path
Becoming a medical assistant is undoubtedly fulfilling. Medical assistants are doing their best to keep up with the demands of the continuing pandemic and the growing population needing medical attention.
Aside from having a lucrative and stable job, medical assistants also get to help countless people. They get to deliver the best healthcare and provide compassion during the patients’ most vulnerable moments. It’s a career that’s definitely worth pursuing.
Starting Your Medical Assistant Career
Becoming a medical assistant is a fulfilling and honorable career path. By starting a career as a medical assistant, you’ll be starting a stable job that’s in demand in a wide range of settings. Moreover, you’ll gain numerous essential skills along the way, which will be useful in any career path you’ll take in the future.
If you’re looking for a medical assistant school in Rolling Meadows, IL, Northwest Suburban College is the place to go. Our 8-month medical assistant program provides top-notch education and real-world experience that can help you start your medical assistant career. Admissions are open every month, so apply now!
