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The Caring Support Blog

All About Medical Assistant Jobs

May 8, 2023

Working as a medical assistant can be both challenging and rewarding. While the job is not as exciting as, say, being a doctor, it may offer more job security and better opportunities for advancement.

Do you want to be a medical assistant? Perhaps you're not sure what you need to become a medical assistant. Whatever stage you're at, we're here to enlighten you about medical assistant jobs.

What is a Medical Assistant?

A medical assistant job is a healthcare practitioner who performs administrative and clinical tasks under the direction of a physician or other health professional. They are trained to assist in patient care activities such as taking vital signs, administering injections, measuring blood pressure and weight, and performing lab tests and EKGs (electrocardiograms).

Medical assistants also provide support for their employers by answering questions from patients about insurance coverage; scheduling appointments; handling billing problems; coordinating medical records management systems between patient visits; preparing medications for patients who are homebound due to illness or injury; maintaining inventory levels of supplies used by clinicians in the office setting.

Medical Assistant Job Responsibilities

As a medical assistant, you'll be responsible for helping doctors and nurses with various tasks. These can include preparing patients for exams, taking vital signs like temperature and blood pressure (you'll need to know how to use the equipment), assisting in procedures such as drawing blood or administering injections, filing paperwork and answering phones.

Medical assistants also assist with office duties like scheduling appointments and handling insurance claims on behalf of patients. They may be tasked with ordering supplies for the office or researching new treatments that will help their patients get better faster.

medical assistant jobs

Medical Assistant Job Soft and Hard Skills

Medical assistants job soft and hard skills are the foundation of success. Soft skills are those that are learned through experience, while hard skills are ones you can learn at school or on your own time.

According to CHCP (2022), the Medical Assistant's soft skills are as follows:

  1. Communication
  2. Empathy
  3. Team Work
  4. Work Ethic
  5. Problem-Solving
  6. Active Listening
  7. Adaptability

On the other hand, Edumed (2021) identified the following hard skills for Medical assistants:

  1. Vital Signs & Basic Procedures
  2. Bookkeeping & Office Skills
  3. Medical Administration & Inventory
  4. CPR & First Aid
  5. Infection Control & Safety Guidelines

Read More: Can a Medical Assistant Become a Registered Nurse?

How to Become a Medical Assistant in Canada?

Medical assistant (Indeed, 2022) is a profession that is always changing, and the knowledge required for individual jobs might vary greatly. Medical assistant  programs are offered by many private career colleges in Canada. Public colleges also provide a number of courses and credential programs that are useful for medical assistants, including medical transcription, medical terminology, and health record management. You will need to complete a diploma or certificate program in medical assisting from a recognized educational institution. These programs typically take 6-12 months to complete and cover topics such as medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, medical office procedures, and clinical skills.

Read More: Pathways to Become a Medical Assistant in Canada

Medical Assistant Job Salaries in Canada

According to Talent.com (2023), the average medical assistant salary in Canada is $41,873 per year or $21.47 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $34,125 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $52,926 per year.

Read More: Medical Assistant Job Salaries In Canada

medical assistant salary
Source: Salaryexplorer.com

How to Find Medical Assistant Jobs In Ottawa and the Rest of Ontario

  1. Check job boards. There are many online job boards for medical assistants, and they're a great place to start looking for opportunities.
  2. Check with local hospitals, clinics and government agencies. Many larger cities have their own hospitals and smaller clinics that employ medical assistants. If you live near an urban area, there are likely several such employers in your city alone! You can also check with local universities--many offer healthcare-related programs that include a focus on assisting doctors during exams or procedures.
  3. Ask friends/family members who are already working in this field if they know anyone hiring right now (or could put in a good word). This is another way to get started fast!

The Future of Medical Assistant Job

It's a good time to be a medical assistant. The field is growing, and there will be more demand for them in the future. As the population ages and people live longer with chronic conditions, doctors will need to help to care for their patients. In addition to providing administrative support, medical assistants will be needed to perform tasks like taking blood pressure readings or giving injections (which may require additional training).

Medical assistants can also assist doctors with research by collecting data from patients during clinical trials or conducting surveys about their health habits outside of the hospital setting. This gives you an opportunity to gain experience working with researchers who are studying new treatments or technologies related to your area of interest; it could even lead directly to another job down the road!

How to Write an Ideal Resume for a Medical Assistant Job?

The resume is the first impression of you as a candidate. If it's not well-written and formatted, then you won't even be considered for an interview.

Some tips for creating  great medical assistant resume:

  1. Put your name, address and phone number at the top, in case the employer needs to get in touch with you.
  2. Use the reverse-chronological format, and then follow the content layout recommendations
  3. Start your resume with a summary or objective to hook the recruiter
  4. Highlight the best achievements from your work history, rather than your responsibilities
  5. Include your education history including schools attended graduation dates and degrees earned (if applicable). If there are gaps between academic years due to extracurricular activities or other reasons, explain them here rather than leave them out completely--this shows determination on your part!
  6. Attach a convincing cover letter to make your application stand out

Being a Medical Assistant is Fulfilling, Challenging, and Rewarding

As a medical assistant, you'll help doctors and nurses provide care to patients. You'll also help patients feel more comfortable and relaxed by taking their vital signs (like temperature and blood pressure) and assisting with simple procedures like collecting urine samples or giving shots.

As a result of this work, you will have the opportunity to save time for doctors and nurses so that they can spend more time on important tasks like diagnosing illnesses or performing surgery. This means that even though your job may not seem particularly exciting at first glance--you're just doing things like taking someone's pulse rate or putting on bandages--your work is actually very important: without people like you doing these essential tasks each day, hospitals would simply be unable to function properly!

Read More: A Day in the Life of A Medical Assistant

Find Medical Assistant Jobs With Caring Support

Caring Support is a comprehensive healthcare job platform that facilitates the connection between healthcare workers, employers, and educators. It offers a user-friendly interface for healthcare professionals to find medical assistant jobs that align with their skills and experience. We offer various resources and support to healthcare workers, such as access to mental health services and career development tools.

Conclusion

We hope that we've helped you to understand what it takes to become a medical assistant in Canada. This is one of the most rewarding careers, but it also requires hard work and dedication on your part. If this career path sounds like it might be right for you then keep reading our blog posts for more information about how to start working towards becoming a medical assistant today!

About The Author
Denson Natividad
Sales & Marketing Assistant

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