Advancing Your Medical Assistant Career

Choosing a career path that will offer you diverse job opportunities, daily challenges and responsibilities, and a potential for career growth is a tall order. There are so many options out there, and no one wants to finish with thousands of dollars of student loan debt and no hope for a successful career when their education is finished. 

However, if you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of people considering a career in the medical field, a job as a medical assistant may be the perfect place to start.

A Career Path of Your Choosing

When you receive your certification or associate degree in medical assisting, you’ll already have plenty of career opportunities at your fingertips. You’ll be qualified to work in hospitals, medical offices, clinics, and other similar facilities. Although your median pay as a medical assistant will fall somewhere around $16 an hour, your pay will depend on many factors including the type of facility you’re working in and the region you’re living in. But once you get started, your opportunities for job growth as a medical assistant will only open up more and more as you gain more experience in the field.

Once you begin working as a medical assistant, start looking for ways to learn as much as you can right where you’re working. Added job responsibilities will help you gain management experience and specialized training that will aid you as you transition into other medical fields. Many employers will offer educational opportunities, and ways to earn training certificates in other specialized areas. Are you interested in geriatrics or pediatrics? Mental health or general medicine? This will help you as you establish a foundation for growth in the medical career and will provide you with better job security and higher pay along the way.

Your Next Steps for Career Growth

Higher education is your next step for career growth. Your entry into the medical field through medical assisting will help point you into the direction best suited for your skills and interests. Because the medical field is so broad and offers a wide variety of office jobs, hands-on medical careers, and nursing opportunities, further education will be your key to career advancement, higher pay, job security and industry recognition. As you develop a broader range of specialized skills, greater job opportunities will open up for you along the way.

Some of the most common avenues for higher education and career advancement in the medical field include:

• Medical Administration and Management- Hands-on training that comes from medical assisting will offer you a great foundation for becoming an office manager, supervisor, or department lead in a variety of medical settings.
• Medical Records, Billing, and Health Information- If you’re interested in a behind-the-scenes career in the medical field, medical billing and coding is one popular option to consider. You’ll have the experience needed to work in a wide range of environments (hospitals, offices, clinics, residential care facilities, insurance companies, etc.) all of which can offer you job flexibility and security.
• Technicians- There are many types of career opportunities available for technicians in the medical field. Surgical technicians, ultrasound technicians, lab technicians, medical technicians, cardiovascular technicians and vascular technicians are just a few of the potential career opportunities available to advance in the medical field.
• Nursing- One of the most diverse pathways in the medical industry is nursing. With higher education, you could become an STNA, LPN, registered nurse, nursing assistant, certified nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, or any other type of nurse you’d prefer. There are specialties in fields like Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Geriatrics, Cardiology, Maternity, or Emergency Room, for example. You can determine your path in nursing based on the amount of education you’re willing to invest in.

Any of these career paths in the medical field can offer you great professional pride, job security, greater job responsibility, and higher salaries. Your experience as a medical assistant will offer you the early foundation necessary for success in nearly any medical career you’re interested in pursuing.

Athena Career Academy proudly prepares students throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan for exciting careers in the medical field through specialized courses designed to fit your schedule and life. Call us today to learn more!