Medical supervisor vs medical assistant

The differences between medical supervisors and medical assistants 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 supervisor and a medical assistant. Additionally, a medical supervisor has an average salary of $51,487, which is higher than the $34,900 average annual salary of a medical assistant.

The top three skills for a medical supervisor include patients, patient care and medical procedures. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.

Medical supervisor vs medical assistant overview

	Medical Supervisor	Medical Assistant
Yearly salary	$51,487	$34,900
Hourly rate	$24.75	$16.78
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	69,951	189,915
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 24%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	12	12

What does a medical supervisor do?

A Medical Supervisor oversees medical facilities' daily operations, focusing on the workforce's performance to ensure that patients receive optimal care and services. They are often in charge of establishing employee schedules, coordinating with internal and external parties to facilitate various programs, participating in the recruitment and hiring procedures, and evaluating and training the employees to ensure that they comply with facility and government standards. Moreover, a Medical Supervisor participates in establishing guidelines and budgets, setting daily objectives, and implementing the facility's policies and regulations.

What does a medical assistant do?

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 supervisor vs medical assistant salary

Medical supervisors and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Supervisor	Medical Assistant
Average salary	$51,487	$34,900
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $89,000	Between $27,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Vancouver, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	University Health	Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between medical supervisor and medical assistant education

There are a few differences between a medical supervisor and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:

	Medical Supervisor	Medical Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Associate Degree, 24%
Most common major	Nursing	Medical Assisting Services
Most common college	-	-

Medical supervisor vs medical assistant demographics

Here are the differences between medical supervisors' and medical assistants' demographics:

	Medical Supervisor	Medical Assistant
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 40.0% Female, 60.0%	Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 8.9% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between medical supervisor and medical assistant duties and responsibilities

Medical supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage GEMBA projects and maintain supply for general lab, microbiology and molecular departments.
Maintain department charge masters to include annual CPT updates.
Set office up for/scan in all patient documents for EMR.
Review charts and assign CPT and ICD-9-CM codes and claim rejections.
Provide training to medication room staff on the newly introduce EMR system.
Ensure quality and accuracy of labeling content to conform with FDA and MDD regulatory requirements.

Medical assistant example responsibilities.

Create and maintain confidential patient files; implement EHR systems to automate patient records management for the purposes of meaningful use.
Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Participate in emergency surgical intervention in obstetrics and gynecology patients.
Demonstrate proficiency in taking patient history and vitals, venipuncture, injections, urinalysis and preparing examination trays.
Attend to new out patients in gynecology clinic, make clinical diagnosis and follow up.
Provide RMA support to physician, and patients, including but not limit to vitals and patient history.

Medical supervisor vs medical assistant skills

Common medical supervisor skills

Patients, 25%
Patient Care, 11%
Medical Procedures, 8%
CPT, 6%
Medical Terminology, 5%
Physical Exams, 4%

Common medical assistant skills

Patients, 20%
Vital Signs, 10%
Patient Care, 9%
Phlebotomy, 4%
CPR, 4%
EKG, 4%

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Medical Supervisor
Medical Supervisor vs Medical Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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