Md vs medical assistant

The differences between mds and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both an md and a medical assistant. Additionally, an md has an average salary of $75,011, which is higher than the $34,900 average annual salary of a medical assistant.

The top three skills for an md include patients, customer service and surgical procedures. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.

Md vs medical assistant overview

	MD	Medical Assistant
Yearly salary	$75,011	$34,900
Hourly rate	$36.06	$16.78
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	58,569	189,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 24%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	12	12

What does an md do?

A Doctor of Medicine or MD is the designation of a person who completed medical education. Generally, MDs focus on the treatment of conditions in need of medication. These doctors do health assessments, prescribe medication, run diagnostic tests, treat patients, and offer health and wellness advice. Among their health specialties are in the areas of neurology, gynecology, and dermatology. They may also perform surgery when necessary. All these are made possible with their knowledge and skills in medicine.

What does a medical assistant do?

Medical assistants provide support to medical practitioners in both administrative and clerical tasks. They keep and update the patient's medical records, administer medicines under the supervision of a physician, assist during medical examinations, prepare medical samples for laboratory testing, manage the schedule of appointments, and assist the patients with their bills and in filling out needed forms, such as insurance-related documents. Medical assistants should have good communication skills and analytical skills, be organized, and be flexible. They should also have knowledge of how to operate some medical equipment such as x-ray machines.

Md vs medical assistant salary

Mds and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	MD	Medical Assistant
Average salary	$75,011	$34,900
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $224,000	Between $27,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Vancouver, WA	Vancouver, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Alaska
Best paying company	Atrium Health Floyd	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between md and medical assistant education

There are a few differences between an md and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:

	MD	Medical Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 24%
Most common major	Nursing	Medical Assisting Services
Most common college	-	-

Md vs medical assistant demographics

Here are the differences between mds' and medical assistants' demographics:

	MD	Medical Assistant
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5%	Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 9.1% White, 47.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 25.7% Asian, 8.8% White, 49.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between md and medical assistant duties and responsibilities

Md example responsibilities.

Manage the office regarding Clia and OSHA laws and regulations
Manage on call pager for after hours triage and urgent matters while staying in complete communication with the physician.
Manage patient files by making new charts, keying all encounters through ICD-9 coding procedures and posting in patient database.
Operate electrocardiograph (EKG), call to schedule test for patients and routine office visits.
Back office responsibilities include rooming patients, obtaining vitals, chief complaint and documenting into EMR system.
Assist physicians in exams rooms, administer intramuscular injections and perform venipuncture on adult and pediatric patients.

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Medical assistant example responsibilities.

Create and maintain confidential patient files; implement EHR systems to automate patient records management for the purposes of meaningful use.
Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Participate in emergency surgical intervention in obstetrics and gynecology patients.
Demonstrate proficiency in taking patient history and vitals, venipuncture, injections, urinalysis and preparing examination trays.
Attend to new out patients in gynecology clinic, make clinical diagnosis and follow up.
Provide RMA support to physician, and patients, including but not limit to vitals and patient history.

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Md vs medical assistant skills

Common md skills

Patients, 33%
Customer Service, 8%
Surgical Procedures, 6%
Surgery, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Vital Signs, 4%

Common medical assistant skills

Patients, 20%
Vital Signs, 10%
Patient Care, 9%
Phlebotomy, 4%
CPR, 4%
EKG, 4%

MD vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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