If you are interested in working with medical patients in a variety of settings, a career as a medical assistant might be right for you.
At Campus, formerly known as MTI College, our medical assistant certification program can be completed quickly, allowing you to start a rewarding job as soon as possible.
If you are interested in a stable and meaningful job, there are many reasons you should consider medical assisting as your career choice. These are some of the most compelling.
1. Job Opportunities Are Abundant
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that job growth for medical assistants is projected to grow by 18% between 2020 and 2030. Medical assistants that are familiar with electronic health records (EHR) will have even greater demand. There are an abundance of job opportunities for medical assistants in every major market, including in hospitals, clinics, private practices, specialized medicine offices, and many more places.
Note: The data provided above are from a source unaffiliated with Campus, are for informational purposes only and represent the employment field as a whole. They are not solely specific to Campus graduates and, by providing the above information, Campus makes no representation, direct or implied, or opinion regarding employability.
2. This Career Provides Competitive Salaries
According to stats from the BLS for May 2019, medical assistants across all occupations in the United States earned a median salary of $39,810.
The website Salary.com reports that the average medical assistant salary in Sacramento as of September 2020 is $39,076, with most salaries ranging from $36,023 to $41,194. The same report says the average hourly wage is about $19 an hour.
According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a medical assistant in Sacramento is $35,905, with salaries ranging from $30,000 to $62,000. Hourly rates range from about $14 to $30 and hour.
Indeed.com shows that Sacramento is the third-highest paying city in California for medical assistants, (Oakland and San Jose being #1 and #2), with an average hourly rate of $17.18 per hour. Jobs listed on Indeed in October 2020 show hourly rates of $16.06 to $26.24 per hour.
3. You Can Take These Job Skills Anywhere
The awesome things about medical assistant certification is you can carry your skills and certification across town, to a different state, or almost anywhere. Once you are certified, you can work anywhere in the United States, if you want to move.
4. Numerous Places You Can Work
Medical assistants can work in a wide array of places, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, podiatrists, private practice medical offices, in ambulatory care, just to name a few. You will never need to worry about where you will work, because there are many options available to you.
5. Ample Job Advancement Opportunities
As a certified Medical Assistant, it’s easy to find ways to further your career. MA’s have numerous administrative, clinical, technical and soft skills that make them competitive for many jobs in the medical field.
Whether you want to go into administration or medical records management, or continue on into a more specialized clinical role, the possibilities are endless.
6. Your Work Makes a Difference in the World
All humans have a need to feel a sense of purpose. Taking care of patients and being a part of their healthcare makes a positive difference in the world. By working directly with people who need your help the most, it gives you a sense of great fulfillment. If you are a people person, or someone who feels like you want to do good in the world, this may be an ideal job for you.
7. Hours and Scheduling are Predictable
One of the main concerns with taking a job or pursuing a career is what types of hours you will be working. Most medical assistants work in private practice medical offices, which tend to have stable, predictable hours. This allows MA’s to schedule the rest of their life accordingly. If you prefer working variable hours at different shifts, working in a local hospital is a good option.
8. Medical Assisting Is Interesting Work
One positive aspect of working as a medical assistant is that you get to learn a wide variety of skills. Most medical assistants are responsible for both administrative and clinical tasks.
In a typical week, you may be helping set up patients for the physicians. You may be in charge of checking in patients, answering the phone, or inputting medical records on another day. It’s never the same-old routine, day after day, year after year.
9. This is a Stable Career
Medical assistants are in demand, with extremely low unemployment, and very low turnover. There will always be a need for qualified medical professionals, including physicians and medical assistants. This career is growing much faster than the national average for jobs, meaning the demand is still higher than the pipeline of trained professionals. As long as there are hospitals and clinics, and people that need healthcare, there will always be a demand for medical assistants. This is one career path that is literally recession-proof.
10. You Can Take Pride in What You Do
Becoming certified as a medical assistant, being a valued team member, and advancing your career are accomplishments! Not everyone can do this successfully. Medical assistants help patients and their medical colleagues, while earning a good living. That’s something to be proud of.
11. Varied Work Environment
There are many different types of places to work that require medical assistants, and different roles that medical assistants play in a medical office. If you are tired of working in one environment, you can always switch jobs to work for another employer. Not everyone needs to work in a hospital, or in a private practice physician’s office. There are always different options if you need a change of pace.
12. It’s a Certified Career
One upside to this career is your peers and colleagues will have a similar skill level as yourself. To become a medical assistant requires certification. Campus prepares students for the Nationally Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA) exam and certification.
13. Ability to Use it as a Stepping-Stone to Other Careers
There are plenty of ways to advance your medical career after becoming a medical assistant. Some MA’s go on to become medical billers, medical records managers, phlebotomy technicians, EKG technicians, clinical technicians, or registered nurses.
Where you take your medical career is wide open after becoming a medical assistant. Many people go on to administration, nursing, or records management.
14. Most Employers Provide Health Insurance
In a 2016 report by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), the vast majority of medical assistants said their employers provided medical insurance. In the survey, 8200 medical assistants were asked about various insurance coverage. 75% said they had received major medical coverage through employers, 69% received vision coverage, and 78% had dental coverage.
15. You Can Earn Your Certification in a Short Amount of Time
A diploma in medical assisting can be completed in less than a year, putting you into your rewarding new job faster than most other educational paths. The experienced instructors at Campus will provide you with the educational foundation you need to succeed in the field, and some of the coursework you will be required to complete includes:
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Pharmacology
- Medical Terminology
- Medical Protocols and Procedures
- Infection Control
Once you have fulfilled your coursework requirements, you will complete a 200-hour externship at an off-campus facility. Additionally, Campus offers a phlebotomy certification program that can be taken in conjunction with the medical assistant program – which can help expand your healthcare employment opportunities. The experience that you earn in this real-life medical setting will be incredibly valuable to your education, future success as a medical assistant, and completion of the certification exam.
Become a Certified Medical Assistant
Our Medical Assisting Certification Program based in Sacramento trains students in the protocols and procedures used every day in clinics, hospitals, and assisted living environments.
California Certified Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam
The medical assisting program at Campus has an endorsement from the American Medical Technologists Association and the National Center for Competency Testing. It is designed to prepare you for the California Certified Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam and consists of three portions:
- Basic Exam: includes 175 multiple-choice questions to be completed in two hours.
- Administrative Exam: includes 100 multiple-choice questions to be completed in one hour.
- Clinical Exam: includes 125 questions to be completed in one hour.
For those medical assistant students wanting to pursue the CCMA exam, it can be taken at the Learning Resource Center on campus. Many of our students pass it within a year of beginning their diploma program.
Job Placement
After you complete your program at Campus, our job placement assistance program will even help you find a position. Our expert staff will connect you with the resources you need to get your first post-college job, and we also provide resume writing and job interview assistance to help you find your first medical assisting job in the Sacramento area.
If you have always dreamed of a career in the medical field, what are you waiting for? Contact an admissions representative at Campus today, and get started on your journey to your new life.