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The differences between certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants and unit assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-3 months to become a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant, becoming a unit assistant takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $33,802 average annual salary of a unit assistant.
The top three skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant include patients, vital signs and CPR. The most important skills for a unit assistant are patients, customer service, and HIPAA.
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Unit Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $36,382 | $33,802 |
| Hourly rate | $17.49 | $16.25 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 350,499 | 174,425 |
| Job satisfaction | 3.5 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 42 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 12 |
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.
A unit assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties within a department of a health care institution, ensuring that the patients receive the highest quality care services for their concerns and needs. Unit assistants assist the patients and the visitors, confirm their appointments, and direct them to the correct personnel or medical department. They also manage the adequacy of medical supplies and report defective equipment and machine to the maintenance for immediate repairs or replacements. A unit assistant must be highly organizational, especially on storing medical records and updating patients' information on the database.
Certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants and unit assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Unit Assistant | |
| Average salary | $36,382 | $33,802 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $47,000 | Between $25,000 And $44,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | Westfield, MA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Aya Healthcare | UC Santa Barbara |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Non Profits |
There are a few differences between a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant and a unit assistant in terms of educational background:
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Unit Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 26% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' and unit assistants' demographics:
| Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | Unit Assistant | |
| Average age | 42 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% | Male, 30.0% Female, 70.0% |
| 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, 10.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 9.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |