Best Medical Assistant Schools in Texas
Texas is one of the states with the highest employment level in the medical assistant occupation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 59,930 people were employed in this industry as of May 2018. The medical assistant profession requires you to complete administrative tasks at hospitals, including record patient history, schedule appointments, prepare blood samples, keep records of patient information, measure vital signs, and more.
In Texas, The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) provides certification to trained medical assistants. You can get the following certificates if you are training to be a medical assistant:
- Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)
- Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)
- National Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA)
- Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA)
Certificates in the medical assistant field can take as little as 9 months to complete. For further training, you could also opt for an associate’s degree in a relevant field. This program will take you 2 years to complete as a full time student.
What Are Some Important Qualities to Have as a Medical Assistant?
According to BLS, there are certain traits and characteristics that make for a successful medical assistant. If you have these traits, then this may be the right field for you. Medical assistants are expected to have:
- Analytic Skills
Medical assistants must have the ability to understand diseases and diagnoses. They must also keep records of patients for billing purposes.
- Interpersonal Skills
A large part of the job of a medical assistant includes conveying medical information to physicians and surgeons. As a medical assistant, the ability to understand and communicate well would matter a lot.
- Technical Skills
While medical assistants are not required to be as knowledgeable as physicians, they should have a good grasp on medical terminology and be able to use basic medical instruments to measure vital signs, etc.
Can I Become a Medical Assistant Without School?
Medical Assistants who don’t have a post secondary non degree award can technically apply for medical assistant posts but they will have to learn through extensive on-the-job training. Senior medical assistants or physicians will train them in such a case. However, there is an expectation that medical assistants will already be trained when they start the job and trained professionals are preferred over untrained ones.
What Do Medical Assistants Make?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical assistants in Texas make an annual mean wage of $31,580 and an hourly mean wage of $15.18. Employment opportunities in the industry are expected to grow by 29% between 2016 and 2026, at a national level. This is more than 4 times the average growth rate and will add 183,900 new jobs in the field.
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