Medical assistants can hold a variety of titles, roles and responsibilities based on the employer. There are two broad types of medical assistants:
- Clinical medical assistants. These medical assistants focus on patient care, including taking vital signs, drawing blood, visual/hearing tests, preparing exam rooms for procedures, communicating with physicians, and much more. Our medical assisting program is designed for students seeking these kinds of roles working directly in patient care.
- Administrative medical assistants. Sometimes referred to as “front office medical assistants,” administrative assistants handle scheduling, patient records, insurance claims and additional accounting/billing tasks to help the delivery of healthcare run smoothly. These types of medical assistants can specialize their education in a medical office administration program.
Experienced medical assistants, particularly on the clinical side, may specialize in a certain type of care or age group, such as pediatrics, obstetrics, cardiology, orthopedics, or many others.
Learn more about the two main types of medical assistants
BLS pay estimates calculate the median annual wage for various occupations. Per the BLS the median wage for an occupation is: "The wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount, and half earned less. Median wage data are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey." Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2024. BLS median wage estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geographic market in which you want to work, and degree level and field, will affect career outcomes, including starting salary and earnings as an experienced employee. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the median salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, particular wage or salary, or other career growth.
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