Who is Medical Assistant?

A person who assists in the medical practice to Consultant / Physician is called Medical Assistant (MA). 

Medical Assistant is an allied health professional that supports the work of Consultant / Physician usually in clinics, OPDs and other facility centers. Medical Assistant could be physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner or a person who performs delegated procedures commensurate with the MA’s education and training but Medical Assistant does not diagnose, interpret, design or modify established treatment programs or perform any functions that would violate any act applicable to the practice of medicine.

Medical Assistant Job Responsibilities

Medical assistants perform routine tasks and procedures such as measuring patients' vital signs, administering medications and injections, recording information in medical record keeping systems, preparing and handling medical instruments and supplies, collecting and preparing specimens of bodily fluids and tissues for laboratory testing and also management of clinics sometime.

Some of the procedures a medical assistant may perform under the direct supervision of a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner include:

• Taking body fluid specimens
• Administering injections
• Whirlpool treatments
• Diathermy treatments
• Electronic galvation stimulation treatments
• Ultrasound therapy
•  Massage therapy
• Traction treatments
•  Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation unit treatments
•  Hot and cold pack treatments
•  Small volume nebulizer treatments
• Some of the procedures a medical assistant may perform without direct supervision include:
•  Billing & coding
• Verifying insurance
• Making patient appointments
• Scheduling
• Recording a doctor’s findings in patient charts and transcribing materials in patient charts and records
• Performing visual acuity screening as part of a routine physical

Medical Assistant Certification & Training

Medical Assistant must successfully pass a certification exam and complete an approved training program. a medical assisting program accredited by any accrediting agency recognized by the Department of Education, or a medical assisting program designed and offered by a licensed allopathic physician, that meets or exceeds any of these accrediting programs, and verifies the entry level competencies of a medical assistant.

Medical assistants can become certified through an accredited but are not licensed whereas elsewhere they may be a loosely defined as group (covering related occupational titles such as ‘medical office assistant’, ‘clinical assistant’, 'assistant medical officer', or ‘ophthalmic assistant’). The occupation should not be confused with physician assistants, who are licensed professionals trained to practice medicine and surgical procedures in collaboration with a physician. 

Books For Medical Assistants