Why Medical Assistants Are Always Listed in Job Growth Top 10 Lists

When deciding whether to go to school in order to pursue a specific career path, you should always take a look at the expected job growth over the next decade. This information isn't that difficult to find (the Bureau of Labor Statistics site provides job outlook numbers for every job it lists) and will give you an idea of how difficult it will be to find a job in your chosen career in the near future. If you're thinking about becoming a medical assistant, then you'll be pleased to know that not only is the job outlook excellent, but the medical assistant position is commonly listed in job growth top ten lists.

Medical Assistant Job Outlook

The Bureau of Labor predicts that starting from 2016, the job outlook for medical assistants should increase by 29 percent over a ten-year period (to 2026). This is much faster than the average growth for all other jobs. In fact, they've also noted that in 2016 there were 634,400 medical assistant jobs, and this number should increase by 183,900 by 2026. When looking at top ten lists of fastest-growing jobs, you'll not only find medical assistants on many of them, but you'll find a lot of health care-related positions in general, including home health care positions, physician assistant positions, physical therapy assistant positions, and nurse practitioner positions.

Why is the Expected Job Growth for Medical Assistants so High?

First of all, the job of a medical assistant isn't super specialized, meaning that they can work in a number of different settings throughout the health care industry. For example, they can work for family physicians, hospitals, colleges and universities, diagnostic laboratories, medical research centers, nursing care facilities and more. The need for medical assistants at settings like these will always exist. The health care professionals that work at these locations simply cannot function without the aid of a medical assistant.

Secondly, there will be more patients, which means that the health care industry will be forced to expand no matter what. As it expands, the need for medical assistants will increase as well. The reason why there will be more patients is simple. The population is growing exponentially from one generation to the next. The Baby Boomer generation is the second largest generation behind the Millennial generation. It's the Baby Boomers who are currently reaching old age. It won't be long until they are in their 70s and 80s--and as you know, the older you get, the more health issues you'll begin having. This means that as they age, they will need more health care attention.

Additionally, people live longer than they used to, which means that they will need medical care for longer. This means that more and more medical assistants will be needed as the senior population grows bigger and bigger. The demand for medical assistants won't just stop after ten years either. Every generation following the Baby Boomers will be a bit larger, which means the demand for medical assistants will only continue to grow.

Becoming a Medical Assistant

Knowing that there is a demand for the career that you have chosen should provide you with some peace of mind in terms of job security. If you're interested in becoming a medical assistant, then be sure to look into our medical assistant program, which can be completed within 7 1/2 months (not including a 6-week externship). For more information about our medical assistant program, be sure to contact us at Athena Career Academy today.