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The differences between medical interns 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 internship and a medical assistant externship. Additionally, a medical internship has an average salary of $50,843, which is higher than the $35,460 average annual salary of a medical assistant externship.
The top three skills for a medical internship include patients, patient care and vital signs. The most important skills for a medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Medical Internship | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $50,843 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $24.44 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 127,692 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
When it comes to a medical internship, one of the primary duties is to attend to the patients' needs while under a more experienced physician's supervision. During this period, the medical interns must rotate in various fields of specialties or departments for exposure. Aside from learning and observing, there are also instances when medical interns are required to produce necessary reports and documentation, communicate with patients and families, and take part in more challenging cases.
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 interns and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Internship | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $50,843 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $77,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | - |
| Highest paying state | New York | - |
| Best paying company | Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a medical internship and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Medical Internship | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Health Care Administration | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medical interns' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Medical Internship | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.2% Asian, 9.7% White, 50.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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% |