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The differences between certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants and patient care technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $32,806 average annual salary of a patient care technician.
The top three skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a patient care technician are patients, vital signs, and phlebotomy.
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $36,382 | $32,806 |
| Hourly rate | $17.49 | $15.77 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 350,499 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | 3.5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 27% |
| Average age | 42 | 34 |
| Years of experience | 3 | - |
A certified medical assistant (CMA) or certified nurse assistant (CNA) is a healthcare professional who performs clinical and administrative duties in clinics or medical facilities. Certified medical assistants provide excellent customer service to patients arriving and departing from the medical facility and administer injections or medications to their patients. In administrative duties, certified medical assistants are tasked to help clients submit insurance claims and encode medical records to the computer system. They also can work with specialized physicians such as ophthalmologists and podiatrists.
Patient care technicians are medical workers who work in clinics, hospitals, or other medical facilities under the supervision of doctors or other health professionals. They provide assistance to health professionals and patients. They help patients with mobility concerns get into hospital beds, bathrooms, wheelchairs, and more. They also help patients with their physical therapy sessions and other physical needs. They handle patient concerns and communicate these to attending physicians. They may be assigned to administer basic medical procedures such as checking vital signs and collecting samples from patients, among others.
Certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants and patient care technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Average salary | $36,382 | $32,806 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $47,000 | Between $24,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | Rochester, NH |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Vermont |
| Best paying company | Aya Healthcare | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant and a patient care technician in terms of educational background:
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 27% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | Emory University |
Here are the differences between certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' and patient care technicians' demographics:
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Patient Care Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 34 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% | Male, 19.0% Female, 81.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 15% |