Careers Medical Assistants Can Shift Into

Posted On December 30,2019

With the demand for quality healthcare rising by the day, medical assistants provide critical services that help sustain patient health. Hospitals, private clinics, nursing homes, and other locations rely on medical assistants to fuel their daily operations. In fact, the demand for medical assisting services is expected to rise by 23% over the next 10 years.

What’s even more exciting is that you can advance significantly in your career as a medical assistant. Medical assistant career advancement opportunities are available to help you gain more technical skills and leadership roles down the road. Think of medical assisting as a gateway into the medical field, where you can continue to broaden your skillset and specialize in a clinical area of interest.

Advanced Career Opportunities for Medical Assistants

The basic training that you receive as a medical assistant prepares you for a lifetime career in the healthcare industry. Medical assistants handle many different tasks that cover a wide array of clinical fields. For example, when you schedule patient appointments and handle payment processes, you’re involved in healthcare administration.

When you test patients for their vitals and other symptoms, you’re involved in general medicine, pharmacy, and other related fields. This experience is valuable in helping you specialize down the road.

Some rewarding career advancement opportunities for medical assistants include:

Nursing

The progression from medical assisting to nursing is only natural. Because nurses provide more direct care to patients, medical assistants will have an easier time making the transition to become nurses during the course of their careers. Furthermore, nurses are in high demand, and you’ll be able to enjoy job security with this advancement.

Healthcare Management/Administration

Medical assisting can also serve as an excellent launchpad into healthcare management/administration. You can pursue a career in insurance, health finance, policy making, and management. Your experiences in handling patient records and hospital administrative tasks will be valuable when taking the next step into these specialized professions.

Clinical Specialty

If you enjoy working with patients and providing primary care, medical assistant career development opportunities also exist in clinical specialties. For example, you can pursue a career in pediatrics, obstetrics, podiatry, and other specializations. You also have the opportunity to provide medical assisting services within these fields or to specialize as a nurse or physician down the road.

In a nutshell, medical assisting allows you to experience working conditions within different clinical areas so you can specialize accordingly.

Health Data Specialist

Your experience in administrative tasks can also propel you into the health data field. As data continues to provide insights into different diseases, preventative measures, and patient behaviors, the demand for health data specialists has increased significantly.

Planning For Your Career Development

For you to take advantage of medical assistant career development opportunities, you should have a plan in place for improving your skills over time. This plan may include going back to school for formal training, participating in professional development programs, or handling various tasks to gain more experience.

Your career development path should include the following components:

Attend training programs and get certification.

Professional training programs are often provided by medical organizations. Your employer may have some opportunities available at no cost, or you may be able to access related training at a discounted cost.

Look for programs that fit your interests and goals and pursue them while working. Being certified in certain skills can also help you down the road.

Pick a specialization.

It also helps to specialize in a specific clinical field. Whether you have a passion for ophthalmology, pharmacy, or pediatrics, specializing allows you to narrow down on opportunities and to follow a more streamlined path for your career. Gaining more experience in your field is also critical to career development.

We offer an outstanding, accredited medical assistant program and we’d love to show you around campus. With flexible class schedules, you can be on your way to a new and exiting career in no time. Many of the classes we offer have no wait list, so contact us today!

Learn More about our CMA Program