| Medical assisting as a vocation came into its own in | | | | complaint, administer medication and vaccinations, |
| the early 1980's when physicians began looking for a | | | | perform ear lavage and prepare cultures and |
| way to streamline their budgets. A position once | | | | specimens. |
| reserved for registered or licensed practical nurses | | | | Medical Terminology |
| (R.N. or L.P.N.), medical assistant jobs rarely call for skills | | | | Jobs may also include transcribing what the doctor |
| that necessitated a nurses' training. In an age of | | | | records on a hand held recorder. Physicians typically |
| specialization, medical assisting was created to fulfill the | | | | record their notes on a small cassette tape that is then |
| special needs that physicians have in their offices such | | | | handed over to the medical assistant for transcription. |
| as taking a patient's history, assessing and recording | | | | They will use a machine to listen to the recordings and |
| vital signs, performing EKG and blood tests and other | | | | transcribe them into the patient's record. This |
| specialized skills. | | | | undertaking requires the use of medical terminology |
| Front Office | | | | and knowledge of pharmacology. This could also be |
| The beauty of medical assistant jobs is that there is | | | | the sole job of someone in this trade, who does this full |
| diversity in the position, insuring that medical assistants | | | | time in the office or at home as an independent |
| who are cross-trained will never get bored and will | | | | contractor. With nothing more than a transcriber and a |
| always be in demand. Those who are averse to body | | | | computer, a person trained in medical assistance can |
| fluids or are not comfortable with direct patient | | | | start his or her own business as a medical transcriber |
| interaction may be more suited to taking a front office | | | | and work from home, quite a benefit when jobs are |
| position. These jobs entail scheduling, coding and billing. | | | | hard to find. |
| Coding is a precise skill whereby the medical assistant | | | | Jobs |
| learns the diagnostic codes of all of the diseases and | | | | Medical assistants can also use their training to cross |
| disorders and is able to use those codes in billing and | | | | over to other fields. Since veterinary technician training |
| record keeping. Coders are in high demand and it is | | | | courses are tough to find, many veterinarians will hire a |
| just one of the skills learned in a medical assisting | | | | medical assistant because they recognize the training |
| course. | | | | is virtually the same with a few minor exceptions. The |
| Back Office | | | | anatomy and physiology, diseases and disorders and |
| Those who prefer to be involved in nursing are drawn | | | | medical terminology is all the same. In some cases, |
| to these kind of jobs because there are plenty of | | | | even the pharmacology is the same. Medical assistant |
| crossover skills in the position. Medical assistants are | | | | jobs are also available in assisted-living facilities, nursing |
| trained to draw blood, perform electrocardiograms | | | | homes, hospitals, cruise ships and vocational schools, |
| (EKG), and take a blood pressure, pulse and respiration | | | | making it one of the careers that will always survive in |
| reading, collectively known as "vitals". They may also | | | | a bad economy. |
| interview a patient for past history and present | | | | |