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The differences between medical assistants and emergency medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an emergency medical technician has an average salary of $39,743, 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 an emergency medical technician are patients, CPR, and EMS.
| Medical Assistant | Emergency Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $34,900 | $39,743 |
| Hourly rate | $16.78 | $19.11 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 189,915 | 137,617 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 24% | Bachelor's Degree, 36% |
| Average age | 37 | 36 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
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.
Emergency medical technicians or EMTs are skilled medical professionals who act as first responders to injured or sick patients. They apply first aid or do emergency medical procedures upon arriving at the area where the emergency happened. For serious or grave injuries, they do not have complete medical equipment at their disposal, so they have limited capacities on the field. Despite that, EMTs do their best to ensure that patients would reach the hospital for such high-risk cases. EMTs are expected to be calm under pressure and have extensive knowledge of first aid and of basic medical procedures.
Medical assistants and emergency medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Assistant | Emergency Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $34,900 | $39,743 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $43,000 | Between $26,000 And $59,000 |
| Highest paying City | Vancouver, WA | New Brunswick, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Columbia University in the City of New York | Lewistown Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Government |
There are a few differences between a medical assistant and an emergency medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Medical Assistant | Emergency Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 24% | Bachelor's Degree, 36% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Medical Technician |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medical assistants' and emergency medical technicians' demographics:
| Medical Assistant | Emergency Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 37 | 36 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% | Male, 60.9% Female, 39.1% |
| 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, 6.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 4.5% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |