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The differences between medical office administrative 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 office administrative assistant and a medical assistant externship. Additionally, a medical assistant externship has an average salary of $35,460, which is higher than the $33,856 average annual salary of a medical office administrative assistant.
The top three skills for a medical office administrative assistant include patients, CPT and patient care. The most important skills for a medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Medical Office Administrative Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $33,856 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $16.28 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 136,278 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 28% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Medical Office Administrative Assistants are responsible for providing administrative support to a medical facility. Their duties include documenting case histories through patient interviews, updating patient health records, scheduling appointments, processing insurance claims adhering to legal regulations, assisting patient paperwork, and managing receivables and payables accounts. They also attend to patient inquiries and assist nurses and doctors with test scheduling, supplies ordering, and medical examinations. Medical Office Administrative Assistants use medical software to process transactions and keep abreast with changes in insurance and medical legislation.
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 office administrative assistants and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Office Administrative Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $33,856 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $41,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | - |
| Highest paying state | - | - |
| Best paying company | - | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a medical office administrative assistant and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Medical Office Administrative Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 28% | Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Health Care Administration | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medical office administrative assistants' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Medical Office Administrative Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.6% Female, 89.4% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 23.2% Asian, 9.3% White, 50.7% 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% |