Do Medical Assistants Need a Degree?

Becoming a medical assistant is an ideal job for people all around the world. It pays fairly well, while not requiring the amount of dedication it takes to become a medical professional. It also means that you can have a job that revolves around helping people, and at times, being a medical assistant can be extremely fulfilling. With that said, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start on the path towards becoming a medical assistant. For example, do you need to get a degree? What different types of medical assistants are there? In this article, we’ll discuss a few things you’ll need to get started on your path.

Schooling

Sadly, yes becoming a medical assistant does require schooling, but not necessarily a degree. Of course, in most cases, becoming a nurse requires a bachelor’s degree, however, becoming a cna, or certified nursing assistant, only requires a certification that you can get very quickly. In short, the schooling you will need to become a medical assistant will be dependent on whose assistant you want to be. With that said, becoming an assistant generally won’t require more than a certification, and rarely more than a 2-year degree. 

Experience

Becoming a medical assistant means that you’ll be working in a lot of high stress environments, where everything you do may be crucial. This is the same for every job in the medical field. So when it comes to becoming an assistant, it’s desirable to have some experience to show that you can properly handle these situations when they arise. A good way to get some experience is by doing hospice work, or working as a phlebotomist. These may require certifications as well, but will show that you have a basic understanding of how the medical field operates.

Some fields may not require you to have a degree at all! Don’t quote me on this but to be an assistant at a clinic that does Invisalign retainers, you may not need schooling at all aside from in house training once you are hired on. Check out this site and these amazing Invisalign before and after results if you would like to learn more.