Florida Medical Assistant

Florida medical assistant job openings are expected to reach 1,540, on average, each year until the year 2008. This is a clear manifestation that medical assistants are in high demand in Florida. This is due to fast growing and aging population, technological advances, and the increasing number of medical offices.

The work of Florida medical assistants vary. They may assist physicians in their offices or other medical settings, performing one or both medical and clerical duties. Their clinical duties may include preparing patients for examination or treatment, taking blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, administering medication, assisting the physician in the examination, performing phlebotomy and medical laboratory procedures and electrocardiograms, taking x-rays, sterilizing equipment, and assisting with minor office surgery. Clerical duties of Florida medical assistant, on the other hand, include scheduling and receiving patients, maintaining medical records, handling telephone calls, and assuming responsibility for billing, collections, and insurance claims.

Like medical assistants in other states, their duties and responsibilities may vary form one office to another. In smaller office, the medical assistant may be a generalist, while those working in a larger office or clinic, it is expected that a medical assistant perform a specific duty, either clerical or clinical duties- but not both.

Florida medical assistant may specialize in a particular area of medicine, like podiatry, rehabilitation, ophthalmology, and sports medicine. Most medical assistants are employed in physicians offices, some works in hospitals, medical clinics, or other health care establishments. The work is usually 40 hours per week, which may include weekends. Work is usually very pleasant in clean and air-conditioned offices. Their work schedules are often flexible and many employers are now offering fringe benefits, which is good news to all medical assistants. Fringe benefits are as important as the salary itself. Even if your salary is not the same as what you expect, but the benefits are attractive, it's as good as you are receiving more. You can spend your salary anytime you like, but the benefits will remain intact for future use.

Florida medical assistants are not required to be licensed, but many voluntarily take the certification offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants to become Certified Medical Assistants or seek credentialing by the American Medical Technologists to become a Registered Medical Assistants. Many medical assistant wannabes opt to take certification exams for the career advancement. It is a fact that if many employers would prefer hiring someone with certification than those who don't have. It is likely that medical assistants with credentials are hired quickly.

Florida medical assistants are earning $ 10.93 per hour. If you are a medical assistant that hold a Basic X-ray Machine Operator, or BXMO license, you will have a higher salary. Now, if you think that medical assisting is what you see yourself doing for the coming years, it is best that you should start searching for medical assistant training schools, which offer formal and thorough medical assistant training program, in your area. Remember, medical assistants are highly needed. Medical assisting program will only take as little as 9 months and if you want it, you can be a certified medical assistant in as early as one year. As the cliché goes, "strike while the iron is hot"!