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The differences between medical assistants and medical assistant externships 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 and a medical assistant externship. Additionally, a medical assistant externship has an average salary of $35,460, 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 medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $34,900 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $16.78 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 189,915 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 24% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 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.
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.
Medical assistants and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $34,900 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $43,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Vancouver, WA | - |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | - |
| Best paying company | Columbia University in the City of New York | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a medical assistant and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 24% | Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medical assistants' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| 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, 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 | 6% | 6% |