Clinical/Medical Assistants are health care providers who provide support to other medical practitioners by performing all sorts of administrative and clinical tasks. The job involves working with patients and doctors and becoming proficient in numerous aspects of the healthcare industry.

Medical Assistants fill diverse range of positions in a health care setting. Their administrative duties involve planning and scheduling appointments with patients, organizing and maintaining files and documents, completing insurance forms, regulating medical and office supplies, keeping record of the inventory, billing, book-keeping, updating patient records, payroll and other accounting-related tasks.

Their clinical responsibilities are generally determined by state law and may vary from state to state.

However, some common duties performed by medical support include recording vital signs like blood pressure, height, weight, pulse and heart rate, preparing patients for medical procedures and examination, collecting lab samples such as blood and urine, administering medication, performing basic laboratory tests, X-Rays and ECGs, disposing contaminated supplies and keeping medical instruments clean and sterile. Medical help also change dressings and remove stitches as well as answering the questions of patients regarding prescriptions, diet and so forth.

The wide range of duties performed by a Medical Assistant requires extensive training. Potential Medical support pursue an academic program that will prepare them for the variety of skills that will be required to successfully handle all the responsibilities.

The basic curriculum makes students familiar with medical law, records, billing, insurance, and communications.

Students will also learn about patient preparation and become skilled in various other aspects of medical testing and practice.

A Medical Assistant student can go on to take professional exams to become a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) or a Registered Medical Assistant (RMA). Employers also prefer to hire candidates with proper certification and training, as they are considered competent to perform a variety of laboratory and clinical procedures.

Medical Assistants will find plenty of opportunities. They can be hired by medical offices, clinics, hospitals, insurance providers, pharmaceutical companies, home health agencies, nursing homes etc.

Medical helper play a vital role in reducing the workload of doctors and other healthcare professionals, so that doctors can focus their complete attention on examining, diagnosing and treating patients.

According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job prospects for Medical Assistants are excellent and it is expected to be one of the fastest growing occupations through the year 2018.