Medical Assistant Classes

Medical assistants were traditionally employed in emergency care facilities, physician's clinics or ambulatory care centers. The scope of job opportunities for medical assistants has been increasing recently. Medical assistants are now employed in private as well as public hospitals, rehabilitation centers and other health care facilities. Students taking specialized medical assistant classes can find jobs with podiatrists and such specialists.

With some years of experience, medical assistants can seek professional opportunities in related health care careers. Medical assistants can work as medical records technician, medical data and coding assistant, medical billing clerk, medical transcriptionist or even pharmacy assistant with some additional education.

In top medical schools, medical assistant classes are conducted by the doctors, nurses and medical professionals with years of experience in the industry. You can choose from the different class schedules available at different institutes. There are day as well as the evening classes. You can also go for the online programs if you find it difficult to attend regular medical assistant classes.

After graduation the students can seek employment as Administrative Office Assistant, Clinic Assistant, Medical Office Manager, Phlebotomist, Physical Therapy Technician in a doctor's office, clinic or hospital.

During the classroom training, students are introduced to various subjects under administrative, general and clinical courses. Subjects in administrative courses include computer applications, manual recording of patients’ data, Maintaining medical Records, Word Processing, Typewriting, Coding, personnel management, patient confidentiality, health insurance billing, insurance claims, ICD9 diagnosis codes, CPT procedure codes, patient billing and record keeping and medical collection procedures.. Medical assistants have to deal with patients and also communicate with many people. Personnel management is therefore included in the training courses.

General courses give knowledge on Anatomy, Physiology, Behavioral Psychology, Medical Terminology, Medical Law and Ethics. Phlebotomy, Pharmacology, Basic Laboratory procedures, X-ray theory, Electrocardiogram (EKG), Routine Blood and Urine Testing are a part of clinical course curriculum. Classroom training takes approximately seven months to complete and is usually followed by externship or internship programs. Internships and externships depend upon the policies of the institution you choose.

Some states require unlicensed medical assistants to have authorization to perform needle injections like allergy testing, some skin tests and venipuncture. In some states medical assistants require permission to expose patients to x-rays.

Medical Assistant Certification

AAMA and some other certification bodies provide certification in America. The certification can be acquired by taking the test conducted twice yearly by National Board of Medical Examiners and AAMA, or AMT, or NHA or NAHP. Certification is not a compulsory procedure but there are plenty of good employment opportunities for certified medical assistants.

This general information was compiled by Georgia Medical Career Training. Please check with the training institute of your choice on the exact facts.

Georgia Medical Institute is one of many schools offering Medical Assistant training. Please check with them directly for accurate information.