Medical Assistant And Physician Assistant – How To Tell Which One Is Which

The healthcare business is very favorable. Based on the latest report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry has produced about 14.3 million jobs. They also expected that the healthcare industry will generate over 3.2 million new jobs between 2008 and 2018 because of the rapidly growing population of the elderly.

Two of the most common health related career choices among job seekers are medical assistant and physician assistant. Both are holding significant roles in providing health services to the diseased and those who need health support. Then again, these two careers are often interchanged by many. As not to be mistaken over again, we will discuss the two careers independently.

Overview Of Medical Assistants
It appears that, many are still confused as to the real roles of medical assistants. Medical assistants or MAs are the ones who keep the offices and departments of the medical doctors, physicians, chiropractors and other healthcare practitioners in good order. Their roles can differ depending on the institutions they are employed in. Following are some of the frequent responsibilities and duties of medical assistants:

Administrative Roles
Statistically, 62 percent of medical assistants are working in private clinics. They are either taught on the job or they get the skills through medical assisting program courses. Through medical assistant training, students are educated on effective call handling, organizing patients’ admissions, bookkeeping and scheduling. These duties are just some of the administrative roles that medical assistants are playing.

Clinical Roles
Duties in the clinical area are dependent on the law provided by the state. Clinical skills are also taught and cultivated during training. Some of the common clinical responsibilities of MAs are vital signs taking, collecting and preparing specimens, disposing of used and contaminated supplies, basic laboratory testing and assisting doctor or surgeon during medical check-up. In small and private clinics, doctors can order the medical assistant to prepare and administer medications, change dressings, give phone prescriptions and check ECGs.

Special Areas Responsibilities
Comparable to any healthcare careers, medical assistants can also work in special areas like pediatrics, optometry and opthalmic where they are fortunate to grow professionally. In these areas, it is basic for MAs to learn how to multitask because there are instances where they must carry out various duties all at the same time.

Overview Of Physician Assistant

Physician Assistants or PAs are vital players in the healthcare delivery system. They are health care professionals who are qualified to practice medicine under the watching eye of a doctor of medicine. PAs are lawful to practice according to the bystandards provided by the government.

Not like medical assistants, PAs have more clinical responsibilities. Their scope of practice depends on their training, medical experience and state of law. Also, the supervising doctor of medicine’s gamut of experience can influence the job of PAs. Having that said, they will be seeing the same cases of patients. If the supervising doctor is under oncology, then the PA will be practicing in the same area too.

Following are some of the common duties of PAs. PAs are accountable in taking assessment, diagnosing and treating of health illnesses, analyzing and interpreting tests and procedures given to patients, surgery assisting, patient counseling and giving prescriptions. Besides clinical duties, PAs can also practice in line with research, education and administrative.

Medical assistants and physician assistants are two contrasting entities. It is basic to differentiate the two. In spite of this, be reminded that both are useful in healthcare. They both deserve to be given honor because by the same token they are doing what their job entails.

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