What are the pros and cons of being a medical assistant?

Pros:

• Minimal education and training requirements

  Compared with many other professions in the medical field, the education career path for medical assistants is not very long or very difficult. In general, most medical assistants start their career by earning an associate's degree in two years from a community college or a certificate in sometimes a shorter amount of time.

• Varied working environments and tasks

  Medical assistants may work in doctors' offices, hospitals, or other medical facilities. Their job centers around many administrative duties, and also doing some patient-care-related tasks. They often reach out to patients to schedule appointments or follow-up care. Medical assistants can also have a role in bookkeeping and billing.

• The opportunity to specialize

  Medical assistants have the opportunity to specialize in certain areas. Examples include pediatrics, geriatrics, cardiology, and oncology. Professional certifications are normally needed for specialization, but when a medical assistant specializes, they increase their skills and job prospects, and might also be able to obtain higher annual salaries.

• Work that has an impact

  Medical assistants are a crucial part of the medical field. They assist nurses and doctors in providing thoughtful and empathetic patient care. Improving or maintaining a patient's health can give a medical assistant a strong sense of pride and fulfillment.

• Job growth

  The medical field is constantly expanding and this is no different for medical assistants. The United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics predicts the role of medical assistants to grow by 18% by the year 2030.

Cons:

• Medical hierarchy

  Medical assistants are some of the lowest-level roles in hospitals, medical clinics, doctors' offices, urgent care facilities, rehabilitation centers, and other medical locations. Because of this medical assistants are not given very much autonomy and almost always report to a nurse or doctor.

• Long working hours

  Most medical assistants work full-time jobs for five days a week with eight-hour or sometimes longer shifts. Some can put in work shifts of up to 12 hours. Their work schedules can often be grueling and stressful.

• Chances of getting ill

  Like most professionals in the medical field, medical assistants can often get sick due to their working environment. Being around and assisting ill patients increases the chances of medical assistants getting ill themselves. They also might assist in other hazardous tasks, like taking a patient's blood.

• Being a medical assistant can be a stressful job

  Many can feel overwhelmed daily, especially if they work in large hospitals or emergency rooms. In these environments, lives often hang in the balance, and mistakes can cause deaths. This weighs heavily on the medical assistant population as a whole, and the stress of it can cause anxiety, depression, and other mental issues.