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The differences between senior medical 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 senior medical assistant and a medical assistant externship. Additionally, a senior medical assistant has an average salary of $37,113, which is higher than the $35,460 average annual salary of a medical assistant externship.
The top three skills for a senior medical assistant include patients, vital signs and patient care. The most important skills for a medical assistant externship are patients, vital signs, and EKG.
| Senior Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Yearly salary | $37,113 | $35,460 |
| Hourly rate | $17.84 | $17.05 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 171,533 | 172,671 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 26% | Diploma, 31% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A senior medical assistant performs support tasks for physicians, nurses, and managers in a medical facility to ensure that patients get to receive optimal care and services. In general, they are responsible for handling calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, verifying patient information, liaising with external parties such as insurance providers, monitoring the inventory of medical supplies, and performing regular maintenance checks. Moreover, they must assist patients by answering inquiries, helping them in filling out forms, and making them feel comfortable throughout the procedures.
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.
Senior medical assistants and medical assistant externships have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average salary | $37,113 | $35,460 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $64,000 | Between $23,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | - |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | - |
| Best paying company | Genentech | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between a senior medical assistant and a medical assistant externship in terms of educational background:
| Senior Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 26% | Diploma, 31% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between senior medical assistants' and medical assistant externships' demographics:
| Senior Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant Externship | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% | Male, 15.3% Female, 84.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 23.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 51.4% 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% |