Online Medical Assistant Degree Programs

Earning a medical assistant degree online means that you will be able to assist your patients and handle both administrative and clinical duties in a physician's or health practitioner's office.

Medical assistant duties include both clinical and office work. The amount of work and tasks assigned to a medical assistant depend on the type and size of the medical practice. Basic duties for medical office assistants typically include administrative tasks such as filling out insurance forms, updating patient records, scheduling appointments, and greeting patients.

Clinical medical assistant duties may include taking medical histories, recording vital signs, drawing blood, performing routine laboratory procedures or changing dressings. Medical assistants may specialize in areas such as podiatry, optometry, dentistry or pediatrics.

Medical Assistants Training

While there are no formal training requirements, some medical assistants receive on-the-job training, while more and more medical assistants complete one or two-year medical assistant programs after high school. Many vocational schools and community and career colleges offer online and classroom medical assistant programs.

Featured Online Medical Assisting - Schools and Colleges

Kaplan University

• AAS in Medical Assisting
• AAS in Medical Transcription

Penn Foster Career School

• Diploma in Medical Coding and Billing
• Diploma in Medical Office Assistant
• Diploma in Medical Transcriptionist

Ashworth University

• Medical Billing
• Medical Billing/Claims
• Medical Office Assisting
• Medical Terminology
• Medical Transcription
• Medical Transcription Fundamentals
• Medical and Dental Assisting
• Medical Office Assistant - Administrative Procedures
• Medical Office Assistant - Clinical Procedures

Education

A one-year certificate or diploma program will prepare you for an entry-level job in the field. With a two-year associate-level medical assistant degree you will not only learn the basic skills for the profession, you will also take general education courses for a well-rounded education. An associate degree also opens the door for going on for a bachelor's degree.

Medical assistant courses cover clinical and administrative topics such as anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, transcription, and insurance processing. In your training you will also learn laboratory techniques, diagnostic procedures, principles of pharmacology, and first aid.

Certification is not required to work in the field of medical assisting; it may, however, lead to more job opportunities, career advancement, and better pay. The American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and the Association of Medical Technologists (AMT) are two of several organizations that award certification to medical assistants.

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