In this Article
By: Kendall Upton
Professional insights: Michelle Keim
If you’re passionate about healthcare and want a career that makes a difference in others’ lives, your choices may seem infinite. After all, there are practically endless entry points into the field of healthcare. Each role offers varied responsibilities, different levels of career mobility and unique benefits and challenges.
Working as a medical assistant is one of many options. By taking some time to unpack this role’s pros, cons and other factors, it may help you decide if medical assisting is a good career fit for you.
What medical assisting is all about
Medical assistants (MAs) are versatile healthcare support staff that perform a mixture of clinical and administrative duties.
“A lot of people aren’t necessarily aware of just how much responsibility the MA has. They’re essentially bridging the gap between the providers and the patients, and it’s such an important part of healthcare,” said Michelle Keim, Medical Assisting Program Director for Indian River State College in Florida’s Port St. Lucie.
Medical assistants often serve as the “face” of healthcare facilities. They greet patients, show them to exam rooms, take their vital signs and update their medical records. They may even assist physicians with minor procedures. Behind the scenes, they may answer phone calls, schedule appointments and perform other clerical work around the office.
They’re essentially bridging the gap between the providers and the patients, and it’s such an important part of healthcare.
You’ll find medical assistants working in just about any healthcare setting you can think of. Some of their most common workplaces include physician offices, outpatient clinics and hospitals.
Though it may be possible to find work as a medical assistant that offers on-the-job training, most jobs require a diploma, certificate or associate degree in medical assisting to qualify. These programs combine classroom-based learning with hands-on clinical practice. Many programs require little more than a high school education to apply.
Some employers also require MAs to have a nationally recognized medical assisting certification.
Pros of working as a medical assistant
A medical assisting career may be a fantastic option for people who want a relatively quick entry into the healthcare field, career mobility and the chance to make a difference in peoples’ lives. Let’s explore some of the benefits of working as a medical assistant in greater depth.
Variety of responsibilities
Many people are drawn to the medical assisting profession for the wide variety of duties they perform. From updating patient records to assisting with minor procedures, medical assistants are a jack-of-all-trades.
“They’re not limited to just one job [task], so that versatility can keep things interesting,” Keim said.
Furthermore, medical assistants that have an affinity for either the clinical or administrative side of things can choose to transition to a career as a clinical medical assistant or a medical administrative assistant.
Fulfilling career
Though their contributions may not be as glamorous as a nurse or physician, medical assistants are key to the smooth operation of healthcare facilities and systems. They help ensure patients have a positive experience and play a role in helping people get well.
“Ultimately, as in any healthcare profession, you’re making a difference in people’s lives,” Keim said. “Sometimes people don’t realize it. They think, ‘Well, I’m just an MA,’ and they think they don’t have a vital role, but they really, truly do.”
Job security
There is almost always a high demand for healthcare jobs, and medical assistants are no exception. In fact, the BLS estimates, that the employment of medical assistants will grow 12.5% through 2034, which is faster than the average across all occupations. Although jobs are never guaranteed, healthcare professionals like medical assistants are consistently necessary, even in turbulent economic climates.
“The reality is that there’s always a demand for the medical assisting position and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon,” Keim said.
Quick entry into healthcare
Healthcare professionals like nurses and doctors must go to school for years before they can actually start working. This isn’t the case with medical assistants.
“A huge plus is that the training can be done in a relatively short amount of time. Our program specifically is about nine and a half months,” Keim said.
Certificate and diploma programs like Keim’s usually take a year or less of full-time study to complete, offering a quick entry point into the field of healthcare. Not only can you start working and making money as soon as possible, but your education itself won’t cost as much as longer healthcare programs.
Many career paths available
Due to their breadth of responsibilities, working as a medical assistant can lay the foundation for many other healthcare careers. It can serve as a jumping off point for a career in healthcare administration, for example, or other allied health roles such as a phlebotomist or EKG technician. It also provides valuable clinical experience which may bolster an application to nursing school or physician assistant (PA) school, if you want to take your career to new heights.
Cons of medical assisting
No job is perfect. Working as a medical assistant inevitably comes with its own unique challenges. Being aware of these challenges—and comparing them against your own strengths and weaknesses—can help you figure out if the job is a good fit.
Demanding workload
Medical assistants must balance a lot of responsibilities. While this may keep the job interesting, it can also be stressful.
“I think one of the major challenging aspects would be just the actual workload. MAs juggle various tasks—they’re doing things like patient history and prepping exam rooms, assisting with procedures, and that’s just a tiny, tiny portion,” Keim said. “Then you throw in the administrative tasks, the prescription refill calls, interactions with the patients and all the surprises and the emergencies that you don’t necessarily account for, so time management skills are essential.”
Emotionally draining
Working with patients is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can be incredibly gratifying to see the impact you’re making by helping people get well. On the other, there’s an emotional burden to bear when patients receive bad news or fail to improve.
“I think also a lot of times students aren’t necessarily ready for the fact that they’re going to be dealing with a lot of emotionally challenging situations, a lot of sensitive health issues and distressing news that patients are dealing with. The amount of empathy and professionalism that’s required can be exhausting,” Keim said. “Whether it’s medical assisting or nursing or any healthcare profession, that term ‘burnout’ is a real thing. So we really try to educate students on how to avoid those things and prepare themselves, because that is absolutely one of the most challenging parts of it.”
Technology is a moving target
Medical assistants must be technologically adaptable and willing to learn new when they are enhanced and upgraded.
“I would say one other thing that could be considered challenging is just keeping up with the technology. Everything is changing so quickly,” Keim said. “You have to understand that the electronic health records and systems that medical assistants are using are constantly changing, and that can be a little bit of a challenge to just keep on top of.”
Medical assistant salary
The median annual salary for medical assistants is $44,200 according to the 2024 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The salary range for medical assistants generally spans from $35,020 (10th percentile) to $57,830 (90th percentile).
While this may not be the salary range some people might prefer to see, it’s worth noting that medical assisting experience can open the door to a wide range of other jobs in healthcare that come with higher paychecks. For instance, many folks work as medical assistants to get the clinical experience they need to apply to nursing school or PA programs. These occupations have a median annual salary of $93,600 and $133,260, respectively.
Analyzing medical assisting job satisfaction
Measuring job satisfaction for a particular occupation is an inexact science. After all, individuals have different values that impact what makes a job “satisfying” for them. Specific workplaces can also have a huge impact on what a job experience is like, from whether someone feels like their manager supports them to whether they get along with their coworkers.
Still, most people would probably consider a job to be fairly satisfying if they can answer yes to the following questions:
Career websites like PayScale, CareerExplorer and others report that job satisfaction scores for medical assistants tend to fall somewhere in the middle or slightly above average when evaluated against the questions above.
Two studies—one which surveyed MAs working at OB/GYN practices in Colorado and another which surveyed 350 MAs in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico—both concluded that increasing job demands and low pay primarily intensify burnout and overall job dissatisfaction. However, they also found that adequate support from leadership and colleagues helps mitigate these challenges.
Putting it all together
Now that you have a clearer picture of what a medical assistant career is like, it’s time to ask yourself: Is this a good fit for me?
It’s okay if the answer isn’t immediately obvious. A truly perfect career fit is rare—every career path has its advantages and disadvantages that depend on the interests, strengths and values of the individual. Here are a few questions to help point you in the right direction:
- Do you want a job with a variety of clinical and administrative duties? Do you have the time management skills necessary to juggle these shifting responsibilities?
- Are you comfortable working closely with patients on a daily basis? Are you prepared for the emotional burden that can accompany healthcare careers?
- Do you prioritize job security over initial earning potential?
- Do you want a career that has a lot of room for upward mobility in the healthcare field?
- Would you prefer a career that allows you to complete your education and training in a relatively short amount of time?
If you can honestly answer ‘Yes’ to most of these questions, then a career as a medical assistant might be a great choice. To learn more about your options, hit our Find Schools button to start searching for medical assistant programs today.
