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The differences between medical assistant externships and medical record assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a medical assistant externship and a medical record assistant. Additionally, a medical assistant externship has an average salary of $35,460, which is higher than the $34,870 average annual salary of a medical record assistant.
The top three skills for a medical assistant externship include patients, vital signs and EKG. The most important skills for a medical record assistant are patients, data entry, and HIPAA.
| Medical Assistant Externship | Medical Record Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $35,460 | $34,870 |
| Hourly rate | $17.05 | $16.76 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 172,671 | 91,238 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Diploma, 31% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 37 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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.
A medical record assistant is responsible for the proper documentation of the patients' information and medical records for reference to the attending physician or other medical professionals. Medical record assistants also track the patient's medical treatments and progress, as well as their health insurance details and coverage. They also respond to the patient's inquiries and concerns, including scheduling physician's appointments and updating the patients for any released medical results. A medical record assistant must have excellent communication and organizational skills, categorizing documents, and retrieving files for medical needs.
Medical assistant externships and medical record assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Assistant Externship | Medical Record Assistant | |
| Average salary | $35,460 | $34,870 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $54,000 | Between $28,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Napa, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a medical assistant externship and a medical record assistant in terms of educational background:
| Medical Assistant Externship | Medical Record Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Diploma, 31% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Business |
| Most common college | - | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between medical assistant externships' and medical record assistants' demographics:
| Medical Assistant Externship | Medical Record Assistant | |
| Average age | 37 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% | Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.5% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 9% |