Medical assistants fill an important role in providing a high quality of health care for those seeking medical attention. They are often the first person the patient interacts with, and therefore medical assistants set a first impression. Medical assistants are not easily replaced in that sense, and the job demand is growing.

A Career as a Medical Assistant

As a medical assistant in Florida, you will have the opportunity to gain employment in different environments such as physician’s offices or hospitals.  Depending on how much you study and where you work, your duties as a medical assistant can vary. The basics that go along with the career include both clinical and administrative tasks such as making appointments, taking patients’ vital signs, billing procedures, and sometimes explaining procedures or prescriptions to patients.  In larger institutions, such as hospitals, medical assistants may specialize as just administrative or just clinical, and within the clinical area, further specialization may be possible.

Depending on what type of institution you choose to work for in Florida, and if you decide to earn extra certifications, your work may also include taking x-rays, doing ultrasounds, or drawing blood for lab tests.

You can expect your salary as a medical assistant to be somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Medical Assistant Certification

To ensure you are a good candidate for these jobs, a certification in medical assisting is certainly helpful. While not required by the state, many employers do prefer and require it, so you will have the opportunity to apply for more jobs with the certification. The certification is offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), and also by the American Medical Technologists, though the more common provider is the former.

Most of the vocational programs offered in Florida should prepare you to be eligible to take the certifications, but the AAMA requires that the school you attend be accredited either by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health, as is Keiser University and Everest University. The second eligible accreditation is from Accrediting Bureau of Health Education, which has approved Southwest Florida College or Keiser Career College.

The AAMA certification requires re-certification every 5 years either by taking the original exam again, or by taking some continuing education courses.

Both certifications will usually run background checks, and while certain exceptions can be made, these organizations will not certify someone with a felony on their criminal record.

Having a CPR certification, or a Basic Life Support certification is again not always required, but depending on where you work, an employer can ask for you to have it or get it as soon as you are hired. Both certifications are offered through the American Heart Association, and usually are only a commitment of a single day.

Medical Assistant Training Programs

Some medical assistant programs will grant either certificate or diplomas upon graduation. These are the programs that require the least time commitment, usually nine months like at the American Institute of Health Careers or at the most, 12 months at Florida Career College. If you choose to, other schools also offer Associate degree programs that take a little longer, about 2 years at Brown-Mackie College, or a year and a half at Southwest Florida College. The Associates degree at Keiser Career College takes 16 months.

The benefit to completing a longer program is that they are more likely to include an externship component where you will be able to put your skills to the test in the real world while still learning. Longer programs also allow you to go in depth into each topic and gain more experience and practice in each skill learned.  Medical Assistant Associate Degree programs may also be longer because they add general education courses.

Of course, taking a longer program will cost more.  A program at Florida Career College which also offers quarter credits at $255 per credit, takes 48 credits for a diploma (about $13,000) and 90 credits for an Associate Degree (about $23,000). Financial aid, book and materials costs and any previous credit you may want to transfer to the program will affect the price and length of the program you choose.

Before you Apply to a Medical Assistant Program

Make sure before you start anything else, that you have your high school diploma or GED. After that, brush up on your interview skills and test skills. Most schools will look for your probability of success during the interviews, and will ask about your support system and commitment to the program. Schools that require entrance exams will be looking for your English proficiency or to make sure you are ready for college level coursework, mostly testing you in basic English and Math skills.

Besides that, make sure if you want to be a medical assistant, that you are patient withe people and have good communication skills.

Ready to move forward in a career in medical assisting?  Review our list of medical assistant training programs in Florida to find a school near you.