How to Become a Medical Assistant in Nevada

Before deciding which career is a perfect choice for you, there is a need to go through the personal characteristics and aspirations which will be necessary for efficient job performance.

If you are considering becoming a medical assistant, personal qualifications obligatory for this seriously demanding field are numerous.

Besides the fact that you need to be a good multi-tasker, able to perform multiple things at once, you also need to care and understand others and love helping other people in need.

The fact that your help is of crucial importance in other people’s lives should make you feel satisfied even if the salary that you get for it is not satisfactory.

Job Description

These wonderful people do both clinical and administrative work, although some settings focus on either or.

Whether a medical assistant will do both duties depends on the size of the facility and the amount of daily work.

Their specialty, level of education, experience, and practice determine their daily responsibilities but at the same time, their salary as well.

Besides taking a patient’s personal information and patient history and recording it in the medical records and taking vital signs, symptoms and providing first aid upon arrival, the medical assistant job includes helping the physician in examinations, sending blood to laboratories for testing and doing some laboratory work.

Becoming a Medical Assistant in Nevada

High school education is the minimum educational requirement for getting into the field of medical assisting.

Still, further knowledge is beneficiary if you want to reach success performing this job, and entering post-secondary education programs would be an ideal option.

You can choose among diploma, certificate, and associate degree levels, but pay attention that programs need to be accredited.

Associate degree programs last longer and provide an extensive education in medical assisting, while a diploma program and a certificate program are shorter options offering quick entry into the profession.

Interestingly, Nevada is one of just 12 states to expressly recognize the medical assisting practice and a medical assistant working in this state can perform duties only under the supervision of a physician or physician assistant.

Requirements

Most future medical assistants understand the need to get the right education before pursuing a job as a medical assistant and get the knowledge related to both administrative and medical field, including:

• Anatomy and physiology,
• Medical terminology
• Transcription and recordkeeping,
• Accounting and insurance processing
• Laboratory techniques,
• Clinical and diagnostic procedures
• Administration of medications
• First aid.

There are various organizations that accredit medical assisting programs and only two of the largest accrediting bodies for medical assistant programs in the U.S. are the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) and they give you the opportunity to sit and pass national certification exam.

In Nevada, there is 1 CAAHEP-accredited medical assisting program and 5 ABHES-accredited medical assisting programs.

The accredited associations who offer these kinds of programs are:

• The American Association of Medical Assistants: Certified Medical Assistant credential
• American Medical Technologists: Registered Medical Assistant
• National Center for Competency Testing: The National Certified Medical Assistant
• National Healthcare Association: Certified Clinical Medical Assistant
• The American Society of Podiatric Medical Assistants: Podiatric Medical Assistant, Certified
• The Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel In Ophthalmology: Certified Ophthalmic Assistant

Getting a Job

Getting the job after finishing certification exams should not be a difficult task.

Medical assistants can look for a job in various facilities such as:

• Healthcare and social assistance
• Ambulatory healthcare services
• Offices of physicians
• Outpatient care centers
• Home healthcare services
• Hospitals

The data related to medical assisting job opportunities and salary shows that this profession offers huge job opportunities as medical assistants are in constant demand.

Medical assistants may look for job opportunities in:

• Valley Hospital Medical Center, Las Vegas
• North Vista Hospital, North Las Vegas
• Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, Las Vegas
• Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, Las Vegas
• Sunrise Children’s Hospital, Las Vegas
• South Virginia Medical Center, Reno
• Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, Carson City

Salary

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation found that the need for this occupation will likely increase and that earning salaries will rise.

The average annual salary for medical assistants in Nevada ranges from $ 34 668 to $ 35 911.

The difference is not so significant in comparison to some other states, but it still exists.

Training, education, experience, and level of responsibility are just some of the factors that affect the salary.

The table below shows average salaries for medical assistants in major cities of Nevada, presenting the difference from one place to another:

Regional Salary in Nevada

Duties

The enrolling in medical assisting involves a myriad of responsibilities that you would be doing on the job.

A typical day for medical assistants who work in medical offices, hospitals, nursing homes, surgical centers or other medical facilities can be challenging, exciting and sometimes upsetting.

This profession as any other has its positive and negative sides.

Daily duties of a medical assistant involve some less demanding and some more serious ones, such as:

• Preparing a room for examination
• Calling patients and leading them to the exam room
• Taking a patient’s blood pressure, temperature, and a patient’s weight
• Recording of a patient’s medical history
• Assisting physicians and nurses as needed
• Sterilizing medical equipment, etc.

Besides advancing in medical filed, medical assistants need to be eager to advance in office technology as well, since healthcare develops and technology evolves and new innovative tools to treat patients are appearing daily.

Summary

So, if you are still not sure whether to become a medical assistant or not, one reason for becoming a medical assistant is that they make people feel better and put a smile on their face again.

It is also a great career that can be achieved easily as education is not too long and certification can be gained with a little effort.

After getting an appropriate education that will help you fulfill your career goals you can find an easy-entry job with wide-open career prospects.

The medical assisting career gives you the chance of finding the job everywhere as the need for it never stops.

This is a stable, flexible career in which you can advance and which offers a decent and satisfying salary.

Medical Assisting by City

Medical Assisting by State