Administrative Medical Assistant Programs in Delaware
If the idea of actively interacting with people in a professional healthcare setting sounds appealing to you, a career as an administrative medical assistant may be worth considering. You’ll greet and assist patients while working alongside physicians, nurse practitioners and other professionals.
Your duties may include compiling patient information, processing patient health insurance, scheduling appointments and logging patient care. Administrative medical assistants fill important roles in medical clinics, private practices, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, making this a highly valued career field. Contact the Delaware Medical Assisting schools listed on this site to learn more about your options for becoming an administrative assistant today.
Educational Requirements for Administrative Medical Assistants in Delaware
Good communication skills, a caring attitude and a real attention to detail are all valuable assets in this profession. Your training in a certificate or Associate’s Degree program can help you to develop the needed skills.
Prospective healthcare employers may require that you successfully complete a course of study in an accredited certificate program. Other employers may only look at job applicants with an Associates Degree. An O*Net survey of administrative medical assistants revealed that 18 percent had associate’s degrees, while 65 percent had diplomas from certificate programs.
Schools will typically require that you have a high school diploma or its equivalent in order to enroll in a certificate program. Some schools will want you to demonstrate proficiency in English and in keyboarding by passing tests. To gain admission into an Associate’s Degree program in Medical Assisting, a minimum high school GPA may be required.
A medical assisting certificate program will often require 12 to 18 months of coursework. If you plan on attending classes on a full-time basis, you may complete such a program in as little as a year’s time. You’ll receive a focused education that may include job-specific classes in areas like medical office procedures, patient coding, medical transcription, document production and customer service in a healthcare setting.
If you enroll in a two-year Associates Degree program, you’ll find that more general coursework will be involved as well. You may take classes in English, math, biology, anatomy and other sciences. You’ll also take many specialized classes that will specifically prepare you for your new career.
A number of graduates from medical assisting certificate or Associate’s Degree programs will seek to become certified. The Certificate Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) exam is available through the National Health Careers Association. It is common to prepare for this exam by taking practice exams and reviewing former course materials. Those that pass this exam are certified as administrative medical assistants for a two-year period. Thereafter, 10 hours of continuing education classes are required prior to each two-year certification renewal.
Job Outlook for Administrative Medical Assistants in Delaware
O*Net states that the 2013 national median wage for administrative medical assistants is $29,600, while the median in Delaware is $32,200. O*Net projects a “bright outlook” for medical assisting jobs through 2022. The organization projects a 22 percent increase in the number of jobs from 2012 to 2022. In Delaware, medical assisting positions may be more prevalent in and around the population centers of Wilmington and Dover. However, administrative medical assistants are an integral part of operations in medical clinics, private practices and other healthcare facilities across the state.
An education in this field can open up a new world of opportunities. Many such assistants work in a stimulating, professional setting in which it is consistently fulfilling to help patients in a caring and compassionate manner. As one acquires job experience and attends continuing education classes, it may become possible to seek supervisory or management positions. The first step is to contact the Delaware schools you are interested in to get more information on medical assisting programs in your area.