If you're looking for a bright future, with plenty of opportunity, training as a medical assistant will prepare you a rewarding career in the healthcare field. In fact, the Department of Labor predicts jobs in medical assisting will outpace all others for the next eight years.
Training for medical assisting takes less than two years and provides valuable steps for other healthcare careers like nursing, respiratory therapy and X-ray technician.
The job outlook for medical assistants is the best of all professions over the next decade. Advances in medical technology are enabling people to live longer lives and creating many new jobs in the healthcare field. The majority of medical assistants work in private offices, while only about 14 percent work in hospitals.
The salary range of medical assistants is towards the lower end of the health care profession, but is much higher than that of orderlies, CNAs and phlebotomists.
In 2002, the median income for a medical assistant in the US was $23,940, with the low end being $17,640 and the high end $34,130.