If someone was to shadow me, they'd hopefully get to lead a portion of a safety class out on the shooting range. We always get clients who get "slide bites," so there's a good chance that they'd actually get to treat a small injury, maybe throw on some bandages. Our main goal out on the shooting range is always to make sure everyone leaves with the same amount of holes that they came with.
CAREER
Medical Assistants
Overview
Salary Median (2020)
$35,850
Projected Job Growth (2019-2029)
+19.2% (much faster than the average)
Career
Roadtrip Nation Leaders in This Career
What Medical Assistants Do
Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding information for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician.
Other Job Titles Medical Assistants May Have
Certified Medical Assistant (CMA), Chiropractor Assistant, Clinical Medical Assistant, Doctor's Assistant, Health Assistant, Ophthalmic Assistant, Ophthalmological Assistant, Optometric Assistant, Outpatient Surgery Assistant, Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)
How Leaders Describe a Typical Day at Work
Tasks & Responsibilities May Include
- Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
- Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.
- Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
- Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients.
- Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
Education
Level of Education Attained by Medical Assistants
Most common level of education among people in
this career: Some college, no degree (39%)
High school diploma or equivalent
Some college, no degree
Associate's degree
Other*
*All other responses combined for clarity.
Majors Related to Career
Educational Paths Suggested by Leaders
Suggested Path
High School
Associates
Additional Skills & Experiences That Can Help You Excel
You have to be able to bring something personal to the table. Books can get you so far, but when it comes to coaching people out on the range, or treating certain injuries, you need to bring out some prior knowledge and some personal flair to the job. No one wants someone out there training them how to shoot and just repeating lines from a textbook, sounding like a computer, so when my students are having difficulty shooting, I try to get them to relax by telling a personal funny story.
Getting Started
Recommended First Step for:
Everyone
Make sure you find a job where you're going to wake up every day feeling excited and fulfilled by your job. You might take a job that excites you initially, but after a year or two, you get burned out and realize it's not actually what you want to do. Most people reach that point, or that hill, and fall back down. Instead, find a job that makes you hit that hill and want to keep climbing.
This page includes information from theO*NET 26.1 Databaseby the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under theCC BY 4.0license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
