Doctors, surgeons, physicians and other health care providers have a tough job. The lives of people can sometimes rest in their hands. This in turn can give them a lot of stress. However, there is a job that gives these physicians the help they need to perform daily, routine tasks and this is the medical assistant. medical assisting involves working alongside and under the supervision of the physician and helping them in tasks they may need to be done. This includes both administrative and clinical duties. A medical assistant gets their training and accreditation through programs offered in certain schools. Medical assistants get cross-trained to perform a variety of tasks. Their administrative duties include scheduling appointments, greeting patients, answering the telephone, taking care of patient’s records and insurance forms, arranging hospital and laboratory services, and handling the general bookkeeping, billing, and correspondence. Having an assistant to do these tasks for doctors will give the doctors more time to focus on diagnosing patients and give them more time as well to take in more patients.
A medical assistant’s clinical duties include taking medical histories of the patients, explaining and preparing them for procedures or examinations, collecting and preparing laboratory specimens such as drawing blood, performing basic lab tests, removing stitches and changing dressings, recording vital signs, administer medication and authorizing prescription refills. A medical assistant needs to be extremely well rounded and trained in all these aspects to properly perform their job. Their tasks range from office work all the way to clinical work, which is why they are important, and can be an asset to physicians. Medical assisting is a growing field and they are in high demand in the health care industry.