How to become a medical assistant in Florida

Embarking on a career as a medical assistant in Florida can be a rewarding journey filled with numerous opportunities for growth and learning within the field of healthcare.  

“I believe that [medical assistants] are such a vital part of the healthcare process,” said Michelle Keim, the Medical Assisting Program Director at Indian River State College in Florida’s Port St. Lucie.  

You can play a crucial role in healthcare delivery as a medical assistant in Florida, performing a blend of clinical and administrative duties and helping to ensure smooth patient care. Before jumping in, it’s important to understand Florida’s laws and rules governing medical assistants as these can vary from state to state.  

Exploring the role of medical assistants in Florida

A medical assistant is a dynamic position characterized by a mix of clinical and administrative responsibilities. Medical assistants—also called MAs for short—are a bridge between healthcare professionals and patients. They also assist doctors and nurses in patient care and contribute to the efficient functioning of healthcare facilities. 

“I don’t think people often realize just how important that position is,” Keim said. “You’ve got a position that is essentially support staff, you’ve got a position that is the right hand of the practitioner. In the front office setting, these are staff members who are entering patient information, entering insurance, communicating with patients, answering questions. Even just that front office part is such a vital part of the process, and I think any of us who have ever had to deal with the doctor’s office understands how important it is when we have someone who actually cares about their job and cares about the patient.” 

“I don’t think people often realize just how important [the medical assistant] position is.”

“And then on the clinical side, it’s not just getting vitals,” Keim said. “You’ve got this position where an MA is entering in that patient’s medical history and their medications, having the knowledge not only of just the medications but possible interactions and allergies. Just entering that information correctly is such an important part of the process.”

Medical assistant responsibilities in Florida

According to the 2023 Florida Statutes, medical assistants may perform the following under the direct supervision of a licensed physician: 

The role of a medical assistant is not confined to clinical tasks. It also includes administrative functions such as scheduling appointments, managing patient records and performing medical billing and coding, to name a few. To these ends, medical assistants can expect to utilize electronic health record (EHR) software systems. Each medical setting uses its own system, but some of the most common EHR vendors include Epic, Cerner and MEDITECH. 

Work environments for Florida’s medical assistants

Medical assistants in Florida can find employment opportunities in many different healthcare settings, such as: 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a little over half of all medical assistants nationwide worked at offices of physicians. Hospitals were the second most common workplace for medical assistants, followed by outpatient care centers. 

Keim said that one of the biggest changes she’s seen in the past few years is the increase of medical assistants working in hospitals.  

“It used to be that you could only really work for maybe an independent office. And while it’s still a small portion of it, you have MAs who can work in hospital settings. Sometimes the title and the verbiage change a little bit, they might be more like a patient care tech (PCT). But they can work in a hospital setting, they can work in labor and delivery, they can work in post-op care. You’ll also find that they can work in outpatient centers, ambulatory care centers and they can work in community clinics.” 

Keim said that while you won’t really find MA’s working in skilled nursing facilities, MAs could hold exclusively administrative roles in these settings. 

Requirements for Florida medical assistants

Medical assisting in Florida is not a licensed profession, meaning there are technically no requirements to break into the medical assisting career besides having a high school diploma or GED. Although it may be possible to find jobs that provide on-the-job training, it’s much more common for employers to require that medical assistants already have some relevant education. This typically entails graduating from a medical assisting certificate or associate degree program. 

After graduation, you may also choose to acquire a medical assisting certification. Certification can be a requisite for employment as a medical assistant as well, so it’s something that every medical assistant should strongly consider. 

“Really the bottom line is that, yes, you can work as an MA and not be certified or registered, but ultimately you probably want to because it’d be very limited as far as what you’re allowed to do,” Keim said. “Our goal with our program is to make sure all of our students get certified.” 

Education

Education lays the initial foundation on your journey to becoming a medical assistant. Most medical assisting programs are offered by community and technical colleges and are either certificate programs or associate degree programs. Associate degrees take longer to complete and cost more as a result, but they also usually cover more in their curriculum due to their longer time frame. 

Even though each program’s curriculum can vary, most programs include classes that cover a range of skills, including: 

• Clinical and administrative competencies 
• Fundamental grasp of anatomy and physiology 
• Medical terminology 
• Pharmacology 
• Public and community health concerns 
• Lab techniques and procedures

Furthermore, most programs require an internship or externship to provide students with valuable hands-on clinical experience that puts their skills to practice in real health care settings. 

According to recent data from the Education Data Initiative, the average in-state tuition and fees at public two-year institutions in Florida is $2,506 per year. For out-of-state students, that number jumps to $9,111.

Advancing your career

Whether you want to stay a medical assistant indefinitely or move into other healthcare positions, the possibilities for growth are practically boundless.  

In addition to earning medical assistant certifications, medical assistants can also get certified in other areas within their job scope.  

“If you have an MA who is really just happy with the MA position, you still have opportunities to extend beyond that,” Keim said. “For example, one of my most recent graduates with her employer was able to get an IV certification. There are a lot of things that employers can offer within those walls to help them advance to help their pay grade go up. Sometimes they’ll get an additional phlebotomy certification. We’re always stressing to add anything you possibly can, especially if your employer is willing to foot the bill for that. Why not take advantage of it?” Keim also said that some medical assistants may choose to get their radiography license or a billing and coding certification. Any of these credentials could make you more valuable as a medical assistant. 

We’re always stressing to add any [certifications] you possibly can, especially if your employer is willing to foot the bill for that. Why not take advantage of it?

“Another thing that I’ve noticed, especially in the last probably five to ten years, is we have a lot of students coming in using the MA program as kind of a stepping stone. They feel like they’re not ready for nursing or maybe they want to get into radiography or physical therapy. [Our] program specifically helps prep them because the course content is not just coming in and learning how to do vitals. We cover intro to health care, phlebotomy, anatomy and physiology, kind of the basic course context that will prep them for their clinical skills and their administrative classes. So I’ve seen a lot of students coming in who are interested in doing this first to make sure they’re ready to go to the next step.” 

“I also have a lot of students in the last few years who have done the program because they want to go to med school or they want to go to [physician assistant] school,” Keim said. She said that since those programs require you to have a certain number of clinical hours before enrolling, some people will go to MA school, get their MA certification and work for a few years to get those hours completed in preparation for their education that is to come. 

Salary insights for Florida medical assistants

According to the 2023 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics from the BLS, the median annual salary for medical assistants in Florida is $38,340. This is a bit less than the national median which is $42,000. 

Salaries for medical assistants in Florida can fluctuate based on variables like location, experience, employer type and more. For example, metropolitan areas such as Vero Beach, Naples, Miami and Jacksonville have slightly higher median annual wages than the statewide median.  

The job outlook for medical assistants is very bright with the BLS estimating a growth of 13.9% through 2032, much faster than the average across all occupations. The BLS attributes much of this growth to the need to keep up with an aging baby boomer population. This may be especially true in Florida which is known for its many retirees.  

“Really the rule is there’s never going to be an MA that should have a problem getting a job,” Keim said.

Legal and ethical considerations for medical assistants

As a medical assistant, you are required to follow specific legal and ethical guidelines. As with most other healthcare professionals, medical assistants must respect applicable laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which governs patient confidentiality. 

Your scope of practice, or the tasks you are authorized to perform, is another important consideration since this can vary by state. This information can be found in Chapter 458 the 2023 Florida Statutes. 

Final thoughts

Medical assisting is a dynamic healthcare profession slated to grow substantially in the coming decade. It can be a gratifying career all on its own or act as the first step towards other health professions. Although its not technically required by the state, medical assistants in the state of Florida should attend a medical assisting education program and get certified if they want the most job opportunities to be available to them. With the proper education and training, you can set yourself up for a rewarding career that is absolutely essential to the healthcare process.  

Published: December 22, 2023