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You might consider a career as a medical assistant if you’re searching for a change of pace. You already know that joining the fast-paced medical industry with the right skills will enable you to assist patients and provide a positive healthcare experience.
A career as a medical assistant could be the ideal way to break into the healthcare profession you’ve always wanted to work in.
But, in order to get a job as a medical assistant, what skills and education do you need? This article will answer all of your questions. But first, let’s look at some basic medical assistant career facts that you might be interested in.
Table of contents
Who is a Medical Assistant?
A Medical Assistant is one who is multi-talented and tasked with everything from drawing blood to check vital signs to handling patient data and rescheduling appointments.
As a medical assistant, you can work mostly in the office, clinic, or a combination of the two.
What does a Medical Assistant do?
A medical assistant’s day-to-day responsibilities vary extremely. Larger clinics can have medical assistants specialize in the clinical and administrative areas.
But in smaller offices, you may do everything under the supervision of a physician or registered nurse.
Here are some of the most typical responsibilities as BLS outlines.
- Schedules patient appointments
- Maintains medical records and billing information
- Gets patients ready for examination
- Assists doctors with patient examinations
- Records vital informations such as blood pressure, etc
- Obtains blood samples and gets them ready for lab tests
- Gives injections and drugs as prescribed by a physician.
It is important to note that if you want to work as a medical assistant, you can expect to spend your shifts doing things like this.
Medical assistant jobs require a diverse set of skills since they include behind-the-scenes and front-office responsibilities.
What are the Top Skills I Need to Qualify as a Medical Assistant?
Clinical Skills
These skills entail you keep track of medical supply inventory and re-ordering as necessary. The following are things you can do possessing the clinical skills.
- Taking care of patients
- Measurement of vital signs
- Injections
- resuscitation of the heart and lungs (CPR)
- An EKG is a type of electrocardiogram (EKG)
- Phlebotomy
- Preparing the patient
- Life-saving help
- The terminology used in medicine
- Education for patients and their families
Administrative Skills
These administrative skills are comparable to those of administrators in any sector.
Exceptional telephone etiquette, great written and verbal communication, and strong customer service skills are all required.
Mentioning experiences you have with a specific computer program in your resume continues to raise the bars high for you.
With the administrative skills, you’ll be in charge of;
- Scheduling
- Setting up appointments and providing customer support
- Medical records in the electronic format
- Coding in the medical field
- Flow of patients
- Literacy on the computer
- Collaboration skills on the phone
- Multitasking
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How do I Become a Medical Assistant?
You must complete a training program to become a medical assistant, but you do not need a license.
Most medical assistants hold A post-secondary education award, such as a certificate.
Others have a high school diploma and get experience on the job.
10 Medical Assistant Skills to Include in my Resume
Incorporating these skills increase your chances of being contacted for an interview.
#1. Communication
As a medical assistant, you must be able to communicate effectively both in writing and verbally. You should feel at ease conversing with patients, effectively explaining crucial concepts, and providing detailed written notes.
Answering phones, responding to emails, and interacting with both patients and coworkers are some of the daily responsibilities that demand communication skills as a medical assistant.
#2. Time Management
A good medical assistant would be able to comfortably manage their own time and the time of their employer.
If you work in a doctor’s private practice, for example, you may schedule appointments for the doctor.
Medical assistants must also complete a variety of clerical work daily, making time management particularly crucial.
Employers want to see that you can finish duties in a timely manner and keep things going well in the office.
#3. Organization and Cleanliness
In the healthcare industry, sterile equipment is required. All medical assistants should understand how to keep equipment sterile and practice doing so regularly.
Every employer recognizes the need for sterile equipment for patient safety.
If you’ve worked as a medical assistant before, you may already be familiar with the steps involved in keeping medical equipment sterile.
Employers will see that you take this task seriously and that you know how to handle it if you put this skill on your resume.
#4. Observing Protocols
Most healthcare facilities adhere to tight rules aimed at keeping patients safe and the workplace tidy.
Other standards that medical assistants will need to be aware of include dealing with infectious diseases, filling out paperwork correctly, and billing customers correctly.
Employers will show their own protocols to new medical assistants, but having prior familiarity with them can help you gain an advantage while looking for a new position in this profession.
It shows that you understand the necessity of following these rules and that you can learn how to do things correctly.
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#5. Meticulousity
Being a medical assistant entails a lot of record-keeping, which is essential for keeping patients healthy. Doctors and nurses require an accurate record of any operations or medications that a patient has undergone in order to provide them with adequate medical care in the future.
The medical assistant is frequently responsible for keeping notes of these procedures and medications for future reference.
A good medical assistant will pay close attention to detail in order to keep accurate records.
List this as a skill on your CV even if you have no prior experience keeping records, especially if it is not in the healthcare industry.
#6. Background Knowledge of Medical Procedures
It may require some fundamental medical procedures of you as a medical assistant. It may require you to draw blood, change dressings, or deliver immunizations, for example.
This is another medical assistant skill that fits well within your experience area if this is one of yours.
Highlight the basic medical procedures you’re familiar with while describing your previous employment experience.
#7. Computer Skills
Because of the administrative nature of many medical assistant responsibilities, medical assistants will spend a significant amount of time on a computer.
Employers will not need to educate much you on their scheduling software or email program if you list computer competency as one of your abilities.
#8. Personality Traits
Have good interpersonal skills to succeed as a medical assistant. You will frequently interact with patients who are ill or in suffering, which causes compassion and empathy.
A good medical assistant is someone who enjoys assisting others and enjoys working with them.
You can use examples of how you helped people to show your interpersonal skills on your resume. Volunteer work, for example, could be beneficial in this situation.
You may also want to read: How to Find & Reach out to a Hiring Manager for an Opportunity
#9. Administrative Skills
Your experience section is probably the greatest place to describe your administrative abilities.
You can list your particular job responsibilities within that role if you have a job where you’ve done this task before, even if it’s unrelated.
If you worked as a receptionist in the past, for example, note it as your medical assistant resume skill and describe how you used office software to successfully plan, reschedule, and cancel visitor appointments.
#10. Customer Service Skills
Customer service involves assisting current and potential customers by answering inquiries, resolving issues, and delivering exceptional service.
Therefore, the major purpose for customer service as a medical assistant resume skill is to establish a solid relationship with clients so that they return for more business.
To include this as a resume skill, you must act as a patient liaison, process incoming orders, prepare correspondence, etc.
Conclusion
The most in-demand skills for medical assistants that you should include in your resume are those specific keywords that employers look out for when reviewing CVs.
Incorporating these skills increase your chances of being contacted for an interview.
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