What are the different types of medical assistants?

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.