Medical Assistant Careers are on the Rise
February 26, 2009
•SBC-Houston
• 0 Comments
If you are looking for a new career in the healthcare field, perhaps you should consider pursuing a career as a medical assistant. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics medical assistant jobs are on the rise. In fact, employment of medical assistants is expected to rise 35 percent from 2000 to 2016. Job opportunities are predicted to be excellent, particularly for those with formal training or experience.
Just what do medical assistants do? Well medical assistants play a vital role in hospitals, physicians’ offices and other healthcare facilities. Medical assistants can work in both clinical and administrative settings to assist doctors and patients. Some common tasks include:
- Greeting patients and prepping them for their appointment
- Taking phone calls and scheduling appointments
- Updating patient records
- Educating patients on medicine and treatments
- Basic laboratory preparation
- Validating patient insurance
- And more
Medical assistants help keep healthcare facilities operating smoothly and allow doctors to focus their efforts on patient care, rather than manning the phones and filing paper work. Doctors rely on medical assistants to keep their offices functioning. With new medical technology and the advent of new treatments for new diseases, the healthcare industry is growing. With life expectancies at an all time high, more and more individuals are in need of medicine and healthcare administration. This has helped make the need for trained medical assistants grow in recent years. The healthcare industry needs medical assistants now, more than ever. The baby boomer generation has been hiring healthcare facilities to provide care for their parents. These facilities require trained staff members like medical assistants to help keep their facilities operating and providing care for those who are in need.
Also helping to drive job growth is the increasing number of group practices, clinics, and other healthcare facilities that need a high proportion of support personnel, particularly medical assistants who can handle both administrative and clinical duties. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical assistants work primarily in outpatient settings, a rapidly growing sector of the health care industry. Emerging professionals with proper medical assistant training through medical assistant courses will have the opportunity to pursue this growing career.
Medical assistant classes and courses are available throughout the country. These courses can help train students to perform the daily tasks medical assistants are responsible for. Some programs will allow students to participate in an externship program. These programs allow students to gain some hands-on experience in the field, which is also very attractive to medical employers. To learn more about medical assistant courses in the Houston area and how you can prepare to pursue a career as a medical assistant, click here.
Sanford-Brown College - Houston is close to many locations:
Bellaire, TX - approximately 11.7 miles
Crabb, TX - approximately 13.8 miles
Peters, TX - approximately 52.9 miles
Heights, TX - approximately 48.4 miles
Source:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Medical Assistants, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos164.htm (visited January 25, 2009).