Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between dental assistant/receptionists and medical assistant externships can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a dental assistant/receptionist, becoming a medical assistant externship takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a dental assistant/receptionist has an average salary of $38,823, which is higher than the $35,460 average annual salary of a medical assistant externship.
The top three skills for a dental assistant/receptionist include patients, customer service and dental procedures. The most important skills for a medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Dental Assistant/Receptionist | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $38,823 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $18.66 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 80,317 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 25% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 38 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
A dental assistant/receptionist is responsible for managing dental appointments, including scheduling or canceling patients' dental sessions. Dental assistants/receptionists inform patients ahead of time if the dentist is out to reschedule another appointment. They also process payments, respond to customer's inquiries about dental services the clinic offers, updating patient information on the database, and creating a patient chart and visiting records for the dental staff's reference. A dental assistant/receptionist must have excellent communication and organization skills to assist patients efficiently and perform administrative tasks as needed.
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.
Dental assistant/receptionists and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Dental Assistant/Receptionist | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $38,823 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $57,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Minneapolis, MN | - |
| Highest paying state | Minnesota | - |
| Best paying company | Mount Sinai Health System | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a dental assistant/receptionist and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Dental Assistant/Receptionist | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 25% | Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Dental Assisting | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between dental assistant/receptionists' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Dental Assistant/Receptionist | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 38 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 6.7% Female, 93.3% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 24.8% Asian, 8.8% White, 52.3% 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 | 4% | 6% |