Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between assistants-at surgery and medical assistant externships can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an assistant-at-surgery and a medical assistant externship. Additionally, an assistant-at-surgery has an average salary of $81,630, which is higher than the $35,460 average annual salary of a medical assistant externship.
The top three skills for an assistant-at-surgery include patients, surgical procedures and HIPAA. The most important skills for a medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Assistant-At-Surgery | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $81,630 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $39.25 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 154,070 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
An assistant at surgery is a medical professional who assists surgeons and nurses during surgical operations and other procedures. They are responsible for setting up and maintaining the cleanliness of operating rooms, preparing and sanitizing tools and equipment, understanding the operations' course, and preparing the patients pre-surgery through interviews and assessments. During the surgery, they provide direct assistance to the surgeon by handing the correct tools, monitoring the patients' vital signs, attaching tubes, and even closing wounds. Moreover, as an assistant at surgery, it is essential to be proactive and have a clear mind presence.
Medical assistant externs are medical school students who took the opportunity to get on-the-job training at a medical facility, usually a hospital. They spend a set amount of time in the facility. Medical assistant externs do job shadowing. They join their mentors, who are usually doctors or other health professionals, in their daily activities. Unlike usual on-the-job trainees, medical assistant externs do not really work on administrative activities. Instead, they are given the opportunity to truly be exposed to the actual work in a medical facility. They experience talking to patients and their families, performing basic medical tasks under the supervision of a doctor, and interpreting laboratory results with their mentors.
Assistants-at surgery and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant-At-Surgery | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $81,630 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $215,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | - |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | - |
| Best paying company | Physician Affiliate Group of New York | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between an assistant-at-surgery and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Assistant-At-Surgery | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 30% | Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between assistants-at surgery' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Assistant-At-Surgery | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 25.5% Female, 74.5% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 23.3% Asian, 9.7% White, 51.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.9% Asian, 9.3% White, 50.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |