Typical Job Activities: Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician. Exclude "Physician Assistants". How can I decide if the Medical Assistant profession is for me? The links below will help you make an informed decision. Be sure to take the Career Assessments further down the page to investigate your "match" with this profession.   Holland Code: SCR     /     SOC Code: 31-9092     Typical Educational/Training Level from America's Career InfoNet: Moderate-term or on-the-job training Career Video: View Career Video View a Summary Report from ONET Outlook: Read more about the outlook for this occupation in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Use the Certification Finder http://www.careertools.org/certification to find out what state and national certifications are offered in this field. Job Growing or Declining: Find out if the job you want to pursue is growing or declining by using the Demand Decline List: http://www.wilma.org/wdclists Medical Assisting training is offered at the following colleges in the Northwest: Skagit Valley College / Whatcom Community College Search for additional colleges in Washington State offering training as Medical Assistants: Eligible Training Providers See what graduates from the Medical Assisting programs are earning by going to the Job Training Results Employers in Washington: Search by Industry   /   Search by Occupation Create new networking opportunities by finding Professional Associations in the area. Volunteer Opportunities may open new doors to new contacts. Student Budget Calculator  http://www.javacalc.com/java/StudentBudget.html Lunch Savings - Bring that Brown Bag http://www.javacalc.com/java/LunchSaver.html Financial Aid Finder http://www.hecb.wa.gov/Paying/index.asp

Growth Rates

Explore Medical Assistant on Workforce Explorer

Search Wages by State or Local Area
State Profile with Occupational Rankings: Washington
 

Wages for Medical Assistants

A percentile wage shows what percentage of workers in an occupation earn less than a given wage and what percentage earn more. The Median Wage is the estimated 50th percentile of the distribution of wages; fifty percent of workers in an occupation earn wages below and fifty percent earn wages above the median wage. For the estimated 10th percentile of the distribution of wages, ten percent of workers in an occupation earn below and 90 percent earn wages above the estimated wage value. The 25th percentile estimate has 25 percent earning less than the estimate; 75 percent earn more. The 75th percentile estimate has 75 percent earning less than the estimate; 25 percent earn more. The 90th percentile estimate has 90 percent earning less than the estimate; 10 percent earn more.

Career Paths showing some lateral movement between related occupations. along with training needed
 

	Interest Profiler and Work Importance Locator
	Work Interest Quiz
	The Princeton Review Career Quiz
	The Career Key Test (top left hand column on the following web page)
	What's Your Personality Type?

The most important knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are listed for Medical Assistants.

Career Video: View Career Video
Knowledge:

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Skills:

• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
   

for additional information on Medical Assistants.