Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between medical assistants and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a medical assistant, becoming a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant takes usually requires 1-3 months. Additionally, a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant has an average salary of $36,382, which is higher than the $34,900 average annual salary of a medical assistant.
The top three skills for a medical assistant include patients, vital signs and patient care. The most important skills for a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $34,900 | $36,382 |
| Hourly rate | $16.78 | $17.49 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 189,915 | 350,499 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 24% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Average age | 37 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 3 |
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.
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.
Medical assistants and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average salary | $34,900 | $36,382 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $43,000 | Between $27,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Vancouver, WA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Columbia University in the City of New York | Aya Healthcare |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a medical assistant and a certified medical assistant/certified nurse assistant in terms of educational background:
| Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 24% | Associate Degree, 26% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Nursing |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medical assistants' and certified medical assistants/certified nurse assistants' demographics:
| Medical Assistant | Certified Medical Assistant/Certified Nurse Assistant | |
| Average age | 37 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% | Male, 10.5% Female, 89.5% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |