Is the Medical Assistant Career Still Hot?

You bet it is! The U.S. Census Bureau emphasizes that our current market trends and cost control in healthcare have made medical assisting and related occupations some of the hottest careers in today's job market. Millions of people—from newborns to the terminally ill, depend on the services and skills from doctors, health care practitioners, and naturally, their medical assistants. With vocational training so readily available, working conditions improving, and salaries climbing (yes, they are!) the demand for medical assistants remains on the rise everywhere.

How Many Are Working In Healthcare?

Healthcare is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the USA. There were 14.3 million jobs for wage and salary workers in 2008, and ten out of the twenty fastest growing occupations are healthcare related. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that healthcare will generate 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between now, and 2018, that's more than any other industry, mostly because of the rapid growth of the elderly population, new laws to provide affordable health insurance coverage for everybody, and the rapid advancement of medical research and technologies.

What are the Reasons For this High Demand?

Medical care, therapeutic, and pharmaceutical services play an important role in our nation's economy and welfare. Driven by the ever increasing need for healthcare and medical care service opportunities abound wherever there are people. The need spans from major cities to rural areas. Recruiters and employers everywhere are in constant need for more, and better qualified staff to serve the needs of patients and clients; and doctors are ready to hire. Medical assistants, whose job it is to make sure that healthcare providers can fully focus their time directly on patients are in high demand.

Predicted Occupational Outlook for the Medical Assistant

Medical assisting remains one of the fastest growing occupations. It is predicted that about 6 out of 10 medical assistants will work in offices of physicians; about 14 percent will work in public and private hospitals, including inpatient and outpatient facilities; and 11 percent will work in offices of other health practitioners, such as chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists.

The rest of the medical assistants will mostly work in outpatient care centers, public and private educational services, various types of ambulatory healthcare services, State and local government agencies, and a few in medical and diagnostic laboratories, where they earn between $13.60 to $19 per hour.