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The differences between medical office 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 assistant and a medical assistant externship. Additionally, a medical assistant externship has an average salary of $35,460, which is higher than the $33,025 average annual salary of a medical office assistant.
The top three skills for a medical office assistant include patients, patient care and vital signs. The most important skills for a medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Medical Office Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $33,025 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $15.88 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 199,611 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 28% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A medical office assistant, or sometimes known as a medical administrative assistant, is an individual who performs administrative functions for a hospital or clinic. Medical office assistants are responsible for all office duties such as accounting, medical transcription, and filing insurance claims. They interview their patients about medical case history and critical information and must also compile their medical records. They must also possess knowledge in topics such as medical terminology and medical law and ethics.
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 assistants and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Office Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $33,025 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $38,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | - |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | - |
| Best paying company | Erickson Senior Living | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a medical office assistant and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Medical Office 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 assistants' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Medical Office Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 9.0% White, 52.4% 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% |