Occupation Profile

Medical Assistants

(SOC Code : 31-9092)

in California

Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of physician. Administrative duties may include scheduling appointments, maintaining medical records, billing, and coding for insurance purposes. Clinical duties may include taking and recording vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients for examination, drawing blood, and administering medications as directed by physician. Exclude "Physician Assistants" (29-1071).

Employers usually expect an employee in this occupation to be able to do the job after Moderate-term on-the-job training (1-12 months) .

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Occupational Wages

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Area	Year	Period	Hourly Mean	Hourly by Percentile
				25th	Median	75th
California	2012	1st Qtr	$15.69	$12.23	$15.19	$18.41

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Occupational Projections of Employment (also called "Outlook" or "Demand")

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Area	Estimated Year-Projected Year	Employment		Employment Change		Annual Avg Openings
		Estimated	Projected	Number	Percent
California	2010 - 2020	80,900	99,000	18,100	22.4	3,050

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Job Openings from JobCentral National Labor Exchange

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Within miles of Zip Code.

Industries Employing This Occupation (click on Industry Title to View Employers List)

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Industry Title

Number of Employers in State of California

Percent of Total
Employment for Occupation in State of California

Offices of Physicians

62,928

66.1%

General Medical and Surgical Hospitals

1,393

13.4%

Offices of Other Health Practitioners

38,883

9.6%

Outpatient Care Centers

6,487

5.8%

About Staffing Patterns

Training Programs (click on title for more information)

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Program Title

Anesthesiologist Assistant

Chiropractic Assistant/Technician

Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secreta

Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder

Medical Office Assistant/Specialist

About Training & Apprenticeships

About This Occupation (from O*NET - The Occupation Information Network)

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Top Tasks (Specific duties and responsibilities of this job.)

Record patients` medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.

Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.

Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.

Authorize drug refills and provide prescription information to pharmacies.

Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.

Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician.

Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.

Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians` instructions to patients.

Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.

Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing.

More Tasks for Medical Assistants

Top Skills used in this Job

Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others` reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others` actions.

Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

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Top Abilities (Attributes of the person that influence performance in this job.)

Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

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Top Work Values (Aspects of this job that create satisfaction.)

Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

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Top Interests (The types of activities someone in this job would like.)

Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

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Alternate Titles

Certified Medical Assistants (CMA); Medical Office Assistants; Optometric Assistants; Clinical Assistants; Registered Medical Assistants; Certified Ophthalmic Technicians; Chiropractor Assistants; and Ophthalmic Assistants.