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The differences between oral surgery assistants and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an oral surgery assistant, becoming a medical assistant takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an oral surgery assistant has an average salary of $44,205, which is higher than the $34,900 average annual salary of a medical assistant.
The top three skills for an oral surgery assistant include patients, infection control and patient care. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.
| Oral Surgery Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $44,205 | $34,900 |
| Hourly rate | $21.25 | $16.78 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 19,858 | 189,915 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 28% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Average age | 38 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
An Oral Surgery Assistant prepares patients for surgery and provides them with needed care. They also make notes about performed procedures, progress, recommendations, and other subjects in the patient's charts.
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.
Oral surgery assistants and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Oral Surgery Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Average salary | $44,205 | $34,900 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $77,000 | Between $27,000 And $43,000 |
| 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 an oral surgery assistant and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:
| Oral Surgery Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 28% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Most common major | Dental Assisting | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between oral surgery assistants' and medical assistants' demographics:
| Oral Surgery Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Average age | 38 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 11.1% Female, 88.9% | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 22.3% Asian, 8.4% White, 55.4% 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 | 4% | 6% |