Medical assistants keep the offices of doctors, medical centers, and clinics running smoothly. Depending upon their employer’s needs, they can perform clerical, administrative, or clinical functions—or all three. Their duties vary by office type, location, and size of practice.

In small practices, medical assistants usually perform a mixture of administrative and clinical tasks. In large practices, where there may be several medical assistants, they tend to specialize in a particular area. There are generally three, and sometimes four, types of medical assistants—clerical, administrative, clinical, and specialists.

Clerical Medical Assistants

Clerical medical assistants perform routine duties that are repetitive but are, nonetheless, essential to the smooth running of any office. They answer phones, schedule appointments, greet patients, sort mail, and type the doctor’s letters and memos. Their tasks are not much different than clerical personnel in any other kind of an office setting.

Administrative Medical Assistants

Administrative medical assistants tend to handle tasks that are medical-related. They submit medical claim forms, update patient files, schedule medical tests, and arrange for hospital admissions. They also frequently do the billing and the bookkeeping for the medical facility or practice. Finally, they can (and often do) assume any or all of the general clerical duties within the office.

Clinical Medical Assistants

The job description of clinical medical assistants depends upon the laws of their specific states. Their role is more highly medical-related than are clerical or administrative medical assistants. The tasks of clinical medical assistants may include preparing patients for examinations, taking medical histories, and assisting the physician during the examination. They may also explain medical procedures to patients, call in prescriptions to pharmacies, collect laboratory specimens, and sterilize medical instruments. They may even draw blood, remove sutures, and take electrocardiograms.

Specialized Medical Assistants

Many medical assistants specialize in a particular area. They have extra duties that reflect their areas of expertise. For example, optometric assistants work closely with optometrists in testing patients eyes, instructing patients on the proper use of contact lenses, and providing basic assistance during eye exams. Podiatric medical assistants may make castings of feet and assist the podiatrist during surgery.

Employment Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that job opportunities for medical assistants will be plentiful for many years to come. They see enormous growth in the medical assistant field and predict that this growth will continue into the next decade and beyond. There’s a reason for this growth.

The health care field is continuously expanding due to the aging population and technological advancements in treating certain diseases. There is also a trend toward preventative medicine, which encourages people to get more regular medical checkups.

But the biggest reason for the enormous growth of the medical assistant profession may be due to the growth of outpatient treatments facilities in the United States.

In 2006, there were 417,000 medical assisting jobs. An overwhelming majority of these assistants—62 percent—worked in physician’s offices. Only 12 percent worked in hospitals.

Medical assistants may also, with extra training and education, advance to the nursing field or other health-related occupations.