Medical assistants are individuals who help doctors to manage a variety of clinical and office duties in their practices. These people need to have strong communication skills and possess solid manual dexterity. If you aim to become a medical assistant/receptionist, you must complete a year of training after high school during which you study both health-related and administrative topics in the classroom. You can then acquire industry experience via an internship and seek certification to improve your chance of getting hired in this line of work.
An individual who wishes to become a medical assistant/receptionist should complete a diploma program in the field, which typically requires a year of study. To get into this type of program, you need to fill out an admission application at the institution at which you want to study. The school will also want to see your high school diploma or the equivalent certification along with your high school transcript and current standardized test scores.
A combination of healthcare and office courses prepares you to claim a role in this career area. Your instructors teach you how to complete duties such as drawing blood, taking out sutures, and sterilizing medical tools — duties that you will perform when you become a medical assistant/receptionist. Other classes cover how to greet patients, respond to telephone calls, and schedule patients for appointments, which are other essential requirements of the job.
A post-secondary training program in this industry usually requires that you complete an internship to gain practical experience in a medical setting. These establishments could include outpatient facilities, hospitals, or even nursing homes. While working as an intern, you need to sharpen your skills by completing clinical tasks such as running laboratory tests and sanitizing patient examination rooms. Other important areas to master as you strive to become a medical assistant/receptionist are typing correspondence to other physicians and performing bookkeeping duties.
Although licensure is not required to work in this aspect of the healthcare field, earning voluntary certification does improve your job prospects in this vocational area. You can pursue this type of credential through an industry association by taking and passing a comprehensive examination. Earning a designation is helpful as you search for a job to become a medical assistant/receptionist because certification demonstrates to potential employers that you are qualified to work in the field, and this could result in a higher wage. Completing continuing education courses at colleges or industry conferences allows you to maintain your certification.
