How to hire a student medical assistant

How to hire a student medical assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step student medical assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a student medical assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new student medical assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your student medical assistant job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a student medical assistant for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a student medical assistant to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a student medical assistant that fits the bill.

   This list presents student medical assistant salaries for various positions.

   Type of Student Medical Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Student Medical Assistant	Medical assistants complete administrative and clinical tasks in the offices of physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Their duties vary with the location, specialty, and size of the practice.	$12-25
   Medical Scribe	As a medical scribe, their main responsibility is to follow a physician's daily work and do charting of patient encounters in real-time by accessing their medical electronic health record (EHR). It is their duty to make sure the patient schedules are followed, generate referral letters for physicians and manage and sort medical documents within the EHR... Show more	$11-18
   Medical Administrator	A medical administrator is in charge of overseeing a medical facility's daily operations, ensuring the efficiency of all services and processes. Among their responsibilities include setting goals and guidelines, studying the feedback of different parties, gathering and analyzing data to identify areas needing improvement, planning and organizing new services and projects, managing the medical staff, and developing strategies to optimize operations... Show more	$13-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Vital Signs
   • Laboratory Specimens
   • EKG
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Patient History
   • Patient Care
   • Exam Rooms
   • Phlebotomy
   • HIPAA
   • Medical History
   • Venipuncture
   • Internal Medicine
   • Blood Pressure

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide supportive counseling and utilize motivation interviewing to improve patients' ability to manage their medical diagnoses
   • Demonstrate clinical competency and compassion in providing care, using technology, performing procedures and managing emergencies.
   • Assist patients with consent forms, HIPAA questions and insurance verification to ensure accurate and timely care.
   • Used word processor and gain experience in EHR software.
   • Prepare examination rooms, take patient vitals, and update EHR.
   • Perform routine tests such as hearing tests, EKG's, vision tests, and specimen collection.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your student medical assistant job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A student medical assistant salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, student medical assistants' average salary in oklahoma is 52% less than in massachusetts.
   • Seniority. Entry-level student medical assistants earn 51% less than senior-level student medical assistants.
   • Certifications. A student medical assistant with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a student medical assistant's salary.

   Average student medical assistant salary

   $37,781yearly

   $18.16 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level student medical assistant salary

   $26,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 19, 2026

4. Writing a student medical assistant job description

   A student medical assistant job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a student medical assistant job description:

   Student medical assistant job description example

   NOW HIRING
   
   Medical Assistant Students
   
   Provides support with the daily activities of a medical office by performing the following duties and other duties as assigned. May be required to work overtime during peak periods.
   
   Responsibilities
   
   * Rooms patients, collects assessment data and prepares patient according to specific need.
   * Assists in examination, treatment and other clinic procedures.
   * Assists with laboratory procedures, screening tests and QI projects.
   * Answers telephone and either responds to inquiry, directs caller to appropriate personnel, or initiates a triage slip for response by medical personnel.
   * Schedules appointments and enters appointment date and time into computerized scheduler.
   * Conducts reminder calls to all patients.
   * Greet and directs patients, salespeople, and visitors.
   * Registers patients by verifying that patient's record is up to date and accurate.
   * Makes appropriate changes in computer system and on patient's chart.
   * Coordinates referrals for patients through insurance and other physician offices.
   * Collects payment from patients and issues receipt.
   * Prepares and maintains patient charts.
   * Maintains and orders supplies.
   
   Education and Experience
   
   Currently enrolled in a medical assistant program accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) or the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), or graduate of a medical assistant program in a postsecondary school or college that has institutional accreditation by a regional accrediting commission or by a national accrediting organization approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Planned program completion within 1 year upon hire.
   
   Certification/Licensure
   
   Approved CPR or BLS certification required within 90 days.
   
   Special Physicial Demands
   
   The Special Physical Demands are considered Essential Job Functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations.Manual dexterity needed to operate equipment, perform procedures, operate telephone and keyboard. Must be able to lift and transfer patients. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk; handle, finger and feel; reach; talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to sit, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, taste and smell. This job requires the employee to exert 10 to 25 pounds of force frequently and 25 to 50 pounds of force occasionally. Pushing and pulling equipment to provide care Specific vision abilities required by this job include frequent close vision. Occasionally distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find student medical assistants for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your student medical assistant job on Zippia to find and attract quality student medical assistant candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting student medical assistants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new student medical assistant

   Once you've decided on a perfect student medical assistant candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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