Medical Assisting Clinical

Female nurse smiling

Get started in the fast-paced, dynamic, and in-demand medical field with Daymar College. Our Medical Assisting Clinical diploma and associate degree programs help you develop both the personal and technical skills necessary to step into entry-level positions in doctor’s offices, hospitals, home health agencies, and other allied health organizations across the country.

What Is Medical Assisting?

Medical assistants — sometimes also called clinical assistants — are health care workers who assist doctors, nurses, and other health staff with a wide variety of duties and tasks. They aren’t to be confused with certified nursing assistants (CNAs), however. While both medical assistants and CNAs may share some job responsibilities, they are two separate and distinct roles. CNAs work directly under registered nurses to provide direct patient care. Medical assistants, on the other hand, provide both clinical and administrative duties in a medical organization, which includes both patient-forward work like administrating medication and office-focused work like handling patient records and sensitive medical information. Medical assisting is a broader career path, requiring more education and training.

What Do Medical Assistants Do?

Depending on a wide variety of factors like location, specialty, the size and scope of facility, medical assistants are often asked to do a number of different daily tasks. It includes things like getting a patient settled and recording their history, measuring their vital signs, assisting physicians with examinations or procedures, scheduling patient appointments, taking or preparing blood samples for lab work, and updating patient information in the facility’s medical records. The shift in the medical field toward electronic health records means that many medical assistants are shifting focus so they can prioritize learning the appropriate software skills to stay up to date. In some cases — like when larger hospitals or practices have a number of medical assistants on staff — there’s an opportunity to specialize in either the administrative side, getting more involved in billing, coding, and insurance, or the clinical side, training for additional duties like performing basic lab tests, removing stitches, or changing dressings.

Medical Assistant Certification and Education

Being good with people and having a strong desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others tends to be one of the most basic qualities in those who pursue medical assisting careers. Beyond that, though, the next thing people need is training for an accredited career education program from a school like Daymar College. Medical assisting programs like ours help you learn the skills you’ll need to earn the licensing and certifications preferred by health care employers in your state. We ensure students get the most out of our training by keeping class sizes small and utilizing both classroom and hands-on lab work to reinforce theoretical and practical concepts. Our Medical Assisting Clinical programs are designed to prepare graduates to apply to take the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) Exam, available through American Medical Technologists (AMT), an independent certification organization. 

Medical Assisting Jobs (Career Outlook)

With the aging baby boomer population boosting demand for medical services across the board, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of medical assistants will grow 19 percent through 2029. That’s significantly higher than the 4% projected for total occupations overall. From hospitals to clinics to group practices, the health care field is expected to see record growth, and medical assistants with strong training, especially in electronic health records, and adaptable skills are likely to benefit from this industry boom.

What Classes Are Required in a Medical Assisting Program?

Our Medical Assisting Clinical diploma program provides covers everything from medical terminology to anatomy and physiology; medical office and exam room administration and procedures to pharmacology; and more. These classes are designed for full-time students to complete the program in 12 months, and all course credits earned in this program are applicable to the Medical Assisting Clinical Associate of Science degree.

  • General English*
  • Medical Terminology
  • Anatomy & Physiology I
  • Anatomy & Physiology II
  • Medical Office Procedures/Emergencies
  • Electronic Medical Records and Reimbursement
  • Exam Room Procedures
  • Pathophysiology
  • Pharmacology
  • Medical Office Administration
  • Laboratory Procedures
  • Cardiac Monitoring Procedures
  • Medical Law and Ethics/Exam Review Prep
  • Strategies for Success
  • Professional Seminar and Internship or Capstone Project

For our Medical Assisting Clinical Associate of Science Degree program, we provide students with the opportunity to enhance their general education and computer knowledge, which are necessary to manage interpersonal and social situations and prepare them to advance in their professional and personal life. These classes are designed for full-time students to complete the program in 18 months.

This program requires all the courses in the Medical Assisting Clinical Associate of Science degree program, as well as the following:

  • Personal Finance
  • Computer Applications
  • Computer Applications II
  • Public Speaking*
  • Critical Thinking*
  • Composition I*
  • College Math*
  • Psychology*

*This course fulfills a general education requirement.

Completion of Basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is required of all diploma and Associate of Science degree Medical Assisting Clinical students. 

How Much Do Medical Assistants Make?

In an assessment of wages from May 2019, the BLS found that the median annual wage for medical assistants was $34,800, with the highest 10 percent earning more than $48,720. Both outpatient care centers and state, local, and private hospitals tended to pay higher wages, but the largest employer overall were physicians’ offices, who employed over half of all medical assistants in 2019 at 57%.

Where Can I Get Medical Assistant Training?

The Medical Assisting Clinical is offered at the following location(s):

If you think medical assisting may be right for you, contact us today to learn more about our program.

View the Medical Assisting Clinical Curriculum »