Image from the video

Description: Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding 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.

Sample of reported job titles: CMA (Certified Medical Assistant), Certified Ophthalmic Technician, Chiropractor Assistant, Clinical Assistant, Medical Assistant, Medical Office Assistant, Ophthalmic Assistant, Optometric Assistant, Registered Medical Assistant

To see a short video of what these people do, click one of the video format icons:    

Tasks

• Record patients' medical history, vital statistics and information such as test results in medical records.
• Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
• Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
• Authorize drug refills and provide prescription information to pharmacies.
• Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
• Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician.
• Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.

Knowledge

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Interests

• Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
• Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Work Styles

• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
• Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.

Tools and Technology

Tools used in this occupation:

• Hypodermic needles - Intradermal needles; Intramuscular needles; Subcutaneous needles
• Mercury blood pressure units - Baumanometers; Manual blood pressuring measurement equipment
• Nebulizers or accessories - Nebulizers; Pulmonary nebulizers
• Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets - Opthalmoscopes; Otoscopes
• Spirometers or its accessories or its supplies - Spirometers; Vitalors

Technology used in this occupation:

• Accounting software - Billing software; Bookkeeping software
• Electronic mail software - Email software; Microsoft Exchange
• Medical software - Patient management software; Visual electro diagnostic software
• Office suite software - Business software applications; Microsoft Office
• Operating system software - Microsoft Windows Vista Business; Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Note: This occupational description highlights important information for this occupation (ie, Knowledges, Skills, and Abilities). Additional detail is available from: O*NET OnLine.

The page you requested is provided by our partner sites, CareerOneStop and O*NET OnLine. The Department of Labor / ETA and the Department of Education do not endorse, take no responsibility for, and exercise no control over the organization or its views, or contents, nor do they vouch for the accuracy of the information obtained from the originating server.