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What does a typical day look like as a medical assistant in a hospital like Kaiser?
I would like to know a short summary of what duties or responsibilities a medical assistant does throughout the day?
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Joan’s Answer
Hello Jana!
Imagine a day in the life of a medical assistant, a dynamic role that beautifully blends clinical and administrative duties. As outlined by the National Career College, a medical assistant's clinical tasks can be quite engaging:
*Warmly greeting and making patients feel comfortable
*Efficiently scheduling appointments
*Accurately recording vital signs such as temperature and blood pressure
*Preparing patients for exams with care and professionalism
Beyond these hands-on clinical duties, a medical assistant also gets to exercise their organizational skills through administrative tasks. These can range from managing paperwork, ensuring accurate billing, handling phone calls with grace, scheduling appointments, to maintaining patient charts. A typical day for a medical assistant usually kicks off around eight or nine in the morning.
Remember, this is a general depiction of a medical assistant's day, and the specifics can vary based on the job, the organization, and the location.
I hope this paints an encouraging picture for you!
Imagine a day in the life of a medical assistant, a dynamic role that beautifully blends clinical and administrative duties. As outlined by the National Career College, a medical assistant's clinical tasks can be quite engaging:
*Warmly greeting and making patients feel comfortable
*Efficiently scheduling appointments
*Accurately recording vital signs such as temperature and blood pressure
*Preparing patients for exams with care and professionalism
Beyond these hands-on clinical duties, a medical assistant also gets to exercise their organizational skills through administrative tasks. These can range from managing paperwork, ensuring accurate billing, handling phone calls with grace, scheduling appointments, to maintaining patient charts. A typical day for a medical assistant usually kicks off around eight or nine in the morning.
Remember, this is a general depiction of a medical assistant's day, and the specifics can vary based on the job, the organization, and the location.
I hope this paints an encouraging picture for you!
Updated
Matthew’s Answer
Hi Jana,
Joan's answer is spot on for most MA's! A facility as large as most major Kaiser hospitals in California will have a wide range of tasks depending on the department you are working in.
Slower paced departments like primary care or oncology will probably have you doing many of the tasks Joan listed. More fast paced departments like the ED or Urgent Care may have you performing more direct patient care tasks. These can include anything from wound care to basic x-ray imaging in some states. In all cases, you will always be taking direct instruction form a physician (MD, PA, NP) or a nurse.
Becoming an MA is a great way to see if you would enjoy working full time in the medical field. It's also a great way to see which departments you enjoy working in. In many cases it is a starting point for most nurses and other healthcare professions as well. Most programs prefer extensive clinical experience nowadays anyways. Good luck with everything and keep moving forward!
Cold call some smaller facilities to see if you can shadow an MA and ask questions.
Call/Email MA program directors to see if the program/career is right for you.
Joan's answer is spot on for most MA's! A facility as large as most major Kaiser hospitals in California will have a wide range of tasks depending on the department you are working in.
Slower paced departments like primary care or oncology will probably have you doing many of the tasks Joan listed. More fast paced departments like the ED or Urgent Care may have you performing more direct patient care tasks. These can include anything from wound care to basic x-ray imaging in some states. In all cases, you will always be taking direct instruction form a physician (MD, PA, NP) or a nurse.
Becoming an MA is a great way to see if you would enjoy working full time in the medical field. It's also a great way to see which departments you enjoy working in. In many cases it is a starting point for most nurses and other healthcare professions as well. Most programs prefer extensive clinical experience nowadays anyways. Good luck with everything and keep moving forward!
Matthew recommends the following next steps: