Why a career as a Medical Assistant is the right one for you.

Finding a career path that is personally fulfilling is important, but so is choosing a career that will provide you with plenty of job opportunities. It can sometimes be difficult to find a career that is able to do both. Fortunately, if you're interested in helping people, you can find job security as well as room for advancement in the medical field. Even if you don't have the time or money to attend several years of school, you can still become a medical assistant.

What Does a Medical Assistant Do?

The job of a medical assistant is to perform any number of clinical as well as administrative tasks in a variety of healthcare facilities. The duties vary based on who you'd be working under and where you will be working. Some of the common responsibilities include:

• Recording a patient's medical history and personal information
• Entering patient information into medical records
• Measuring a patient's vital signs
• Assisting physicians in the examination of patients
• Giving injections to patients
• Providing patients with medications
• Scheduling appointments
• Preparing blood samples taken from patients for lab tests
• Filling out insurance forms
• Answer telephones

Reasons to Pursue a Career as a Medical Assistant

The following are a few reasons why a career as a medical assistant might be right for you:

1. You can become a medical assistant quickly

Unlike other medical professions, you don't have to spend upwards of a decade in graduate school studying. There are many medical assistant programs out there that you can enroll in that take one to two years to complete -- in some cases, you may even be able to get a degree in less than a year. This means that you won't have to spend a lot of time and money waiting to get started on your career.

2. Provides a personally fulfilling experience

If you are a people person or like helping people, then there are few careers as rewarding as those in the medical field. As a medical assistant, you'll be engaging with patients on a day-to-day basis. Knowing that you're helping these patients is an incredibly fulfilling experience that not many other careers can offer.

3. The job outlook is incredibly positive

People are living longer than ever. This means that the senior population is only going to grow bigger and bigger over the years. As a result, there will be an increasing demand for medical assistants. If you become a medical assistant, you should have no trouble finding work--especially if you decide to obtain additional certifications. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for medical assistants from 2016 to 2026 is expected to grow 29 percent, which is way faster than average.

4. There are many settings you can work in

You can find work as a medical assistant in many different settings, including hospitals, research centers, colleges, outpatient care centers, medical research centers, diagnostic laboratories, nursing care facilities, and physician's offices.

5. Opportunities for advancement

Once you gain experience as a medical assistant, you'll find that it will be much easier to pursue other career opportunities in the future. For example, you could decide to go back to school for a nursing degree or you could advance to the position of a medical office manager.

Pursue a Career as a Medical Assistant Today

If the career of a medical assistant is something that interests you, then be sure to read more about our clinical medical assistant program here at Athena Career Academy. Contact us at Athena Career Academy for more information about our program or on how to enroll today.