Registered medical assistants are professionals who perform both administrative and clinical patient care duties in a healthcare facility.

They prepare patients for treatment and exams and assist physicians during patient visits by obtaining medical information such as vital signs, weight, and height, collecting blood samples, and conducting basic lab tests. They also commonly perform electrocardiograms and prepare and administer medications or injections as directed by the physician.

Registered medical assistants' administrative duties include scheduling appointments, answering phones, and updating electronic health records with patient medical histories, vital statistics, and test results. They also manage medical billing needs, fill out insurance forms, handle patient correspondence, perform bookkeeping and accounting tasks, and use administrative medical software.

Registered medical assistants need an associate's degree or a medical assistant certification. Degree in hand, they're then qualified for other certifications. These include Registered Medical Assistant (RMA), National Certified Medical Assistant NCMA), Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), and Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA).

On average, registered medical assistants earn about $15.42 an hour or $26,000 to $41,000 a year.

What Does a Registered Medical Assistant Do

There are certain skills that many registered medical assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, detail oriented and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Registered Medical Assistant does

How To Become a Registered Medical Assistant

If you're interested in becoming a registered medical assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 7.0% of registered medical assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.7% of registered medical assistants have master's degrees. Even though some registered medical assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Registered Medical Assistant
Top Registered Medical Assistant Jobs Near You

Registered Medical Assistant Career Paths

Average Salary for a Registered Medical Assistant

Registered Medical Assistants in America make an average salary of $36,580 per year or $18 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $49,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $26,000 per year.
Average Registered Medical Assistant Salary
$36,580 Yearly
$17.59 hourly

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Roles and Types of Registered Medical Assistant

The role of a registered medical assistant includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general registered medical assistant responsibilities:

  • Collaboration with the physician and nursing staff regarding patient care; holistic care involving patient families; proficiency in order entry
  • Under the direct supervision of a physician, pa/np, or registered nurse: interview patients, measures vital signs, such as pulse rate, temperature, blood pressure, weight
  • Maintains knowledge of, and complies with, all relevant laws, regulations

There are several types of registered medical assistant, including:

Medical Assisting Extern

Role:

So you've decided that you want to pursue medical assisting as a profession. There's an easy way to find out if that's the career for you. The simple answer is to become a medical assisting extern.

Whether you're trying to decide if that's truly what you want to become or if you're just working toward an education for that career, you should highly consider becoming a medical assisting extern. It's a great way to gain experience, which looks great on a resume. Plus, it won't take up a lot of your time.

As a medical assisting extern, you'll gain experience providing patient care, performing treatments and educating patients on procedures. Typically, an extern is much shorter than an internship so if you end up not enjoying yourself, then you can move on without wasting six months.

  • Average Salary: $35,737
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Medical Office Administrator

Role:

The duties of a medical office administrator revolve around financial, infrastructural, human resources, and record-keeping tasks. A medical office administrator oversees the daily record keeping of the income and expenses of the office. He/She supervises employees like nurses and ward boys. Furthermore, he/she oversees all aspects of a medical office like financial transactions, necessary drugs, and other medical equipment, office infrastructure, and other office requirements. Asides from that, he/she handles client accounts and communicates with insurance companies. He/She may be tasked with ensuring all doctors' licenses are up to date. Additionally, he/she administers payroll, collects patient information, and schedules appointments.

To qualify for this position, you need at least an associate's degree in a relevant discipline. Having relevant certifications is a plus. Key skills include problem-solving, communication, attention to detail, analytical, troubleshooting, interpersonal, computer, and management skills. These administrators are paid around $43,109 a year. This varies between $24,000 and $79,000.

  • Average Salary: $34,252
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Medical Scribe

Role:

A Medical Scribe acts as support for the doctor, a kind of a personal assistant, filling out paperwork, taking notes during patient interviews, monitoring some test results, and generally getting the non-clinical tasks and paperwork out of the way of the physician they work with. The role of such a Scribe is important because it allows the doctor to focus on treating and working with patients.

An ideal candidate for this position should have prior experience and knowledge of medical paperwork and a passion for medicine. A Scribe need not have any sort of college degree or be attending a university of any sorts to begin their career, but many employers prefer hiring people who do so.

A Scribe generally works twice a week, alongside their doctor, who works either eight, ten or 12-hour shifts.

  • Average Salary: $30,045
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Registered Medical Assistant Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active registered medical assistant jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where registered medical assistants earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Registered Medical Assistant Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,770$48,109
2Florida5,384$35,498
3Pennsylvania3,478$39,210
4Texas3,447$33,578
5Illinois3,374$32,793
6Georgia2,957$32,190
7Ohio2,815$35,070
8Massachusetts2,626$53,218
9Minnesota2,571$37,352
10Michigan2,525$31,763
11New York2,409$50,375
12Washington2,350$45,400
13North Carolina2,292$33,464
14Indiana2,280$34,541
15Virginia1,971$36,430
16New Jersey1,666$43,460
17Wisconsin1,539$36,920
18Missouri1,485$32,592
19Arizona1,450$43,267
20Colorado1,430$38,021
21Tennessee1,233$29,626
22Kentucky1,164$32,707
23Maryland1,130$41,769
24South Carolina1,124$30,799
25Connecticut1,009$44,693
26Alabama917$28,044
27Kansas882$29,543
28Oregon852$45,691
29Louisiana786$31,449
30Iowa755$37,816
31Utah722$33,792
32Maine685$40,194
33New Hampshire644$39,804
34Oklahoma611$28,703
35West Virginia590$28,681
36Arkansas575$29,742
37New Mexico519$38,226
38Idaho512$34,690
39Nebraska434$33,710
40Nevada430$36,714
41Mississippi415$32,997
42Rhode Island338$44,118
43Delaware312$34,962
44Montana210$33,283
45South Dakota192$32,105
46North Dakota186$34,046
47Vermont156$39,136
48Alaska147$43,826
49Hawaii125$41,361
50Wyoming64$33,940

Registered Medical Assistant Education

Registered Medical Assistant Majors

9.5 %

Registered Medical Assistant Degrees

Associate

34.1 %

Certificate

30.8 %

Diploma

21.2 %

Top Skills For a Registered Medical Assistant

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 18.0% of registered medical assistants listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and detail oriented are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Registered Medical Assistant Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Registered Medical Assistant templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Registered Medical Assistant resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Registered Medical Assistant diversity

Registered Medical Assistant Gender Distribution

Female
Female
92%
Male
Male
8%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among registered medical assistants, 91.8% of them are women, while 8.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among registered medical assistants is White, which makes up 54.7% of all registered medical assistants.

  • The most common foreign language among registered medical assistants is Spanish at 83.8%.

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Best States For a Registered Medical Assistant

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a registered medical assistant. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, California, and Oregon. Registered medical assistants make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $53,218. Whereas in New York and California, they would average $50,375 and $48,109, respectively. While registered medical assistants would only make an average of $45,691 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Massachusetts

Total Registered Medical Assistant Jobs: 2,626
Highest 10% Earn:
$87,000
Location Quotient:
1.14

2. Washington

Total Registered Medical Assistant Jobs: 2,350
Highest 10% Earn:
$59,000
Location Quotient:
1.28

3. Connecticut

Total Registered Medical Assistant Jobs: 1,009
Highest 10% Earn:
$74,000
Location Quotient:
1.21
Full List Of Best States For Registered Medical Assistants

How Do Registered Medical Assistants Rate Their Jobs?

4/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Registered Medical Assistant Reviews

4.0
Jan 2022
Pros

Interaction with patient. Caring for patients. Educating, Scheduling procedures.

Cons

Being overwhelmed with too many time sensitive referrals. Appeals


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Top Registered Medical Assistant Employers

Most Common Employers For Registered Medical Assistant

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1GI Associates$38,592$18.5524
2Kaiser Permanente$38,070$18.3026
3The Family Health Centers of Asheville$37,358$17.9625
4Medical Staffing Network$37,287$17.9317
5Lexington Medical Center$37,137$17.8521
6Planned Parenthood$37,039$17.8136
7IHA$36,519$17.5617
8The Colorado Health Foundation$36,224$17.4227
9Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates$35,000$16.8316
10UCHealth$34,298$16.4916