Becoming a Medical Assistant

There is more to the world of plastic surgery than plastic surgeons themselves. Those men and women have nurses, anesthesiologists, and tons of other workers around them to help them do their jobs. If you want to work in plastic surgery without being an actual surgeon, you may think of a job as a medical assistant. This line of work is in high demand at the moment, and it is an area that is relatively easy to get involved with. All you have to do is go through a few years of education, and you could immediately begin work under a plastic surgeon in your area.

Here is a look at the training it takes to become a medical assistant, as well as the salary you could expect from this career in the future.

Medical Assistant Training

Before you can begin a career in medical assisting, you need to have a degree in the subject. There are tons of medical assistant schools in the world that can help you do just that. You could go to a local university, or you could even go to a college online. It just depends on how you like to learn. Within your degree program, you will take a number of courses related to medical terminology and clerical organization, as those are the primary components of this field. Those classes may include:

• Bookkeeping
• Customer Service
• Doctor/Patient Confidentiality
• Filing
• Management in Medicine
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Finances
• Medical Law
• Medical Terminology
• Organization
• Patient Record Keeping
• Phone Etiquette
• Typing

You may not take classes under the exact same names listed above, but the information you receive from them will be relatively the same. Once you complete two to four years of training in your college of choice, you can obtain a degree to start working in the future. You may also need to get a medical assistant certification after that, but that will just test your knowledge of the information you learned in school. As long as you paid attention in class, you should be able to pass with no trouble at all.

Medical Assistant Pay Rates

Why would you go through all of that training if it didn't pay off, right? There wouldn't be a point. Most medical assistants make pretty good money, especially if they can work in a specialized field like plastic surgery. Your pay will be largely dependent on the place you work for, but it should be plenty enough to support your family. Common pay rates for medical assistants include:

Wages by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year: $8.52 - $14.66 per hour
• 1-4 years: $9.29 - $15.07 per hour
• 5-9 years: $10.68 - $17.05 per hour
• 10-19 years: $11.22 - $18.78 per hour
• 20 years or more: $12.24 - $19.95 per hour

Wages by Certification

• ASCP Certified Phlebotomy Technician: $9.69 - $16.62 per hour
• Basic Life Support: $10.06 - $18.85 per hour
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: $9.36 - $15.81 per hour
• Certified Medical Assistant: $9.62 - $16.59 per hour
• Certified Nursing Assistant: $9.73 - $16.69 per hour
• Emergency Medical Technician: $10.06 - $16.65 per hour
• First Aid: $8.54 - $14.90 per hour

Put all of the pieces together to figure out if this career fits your plans for the future. If it does, start looking for educational avenues you can take to start work early on. In just a couple of years, you could be working right alongside a plastic surgeon, enjoying the life of a medical assistant.