Job Description: What Medical Assistants Do On A Daily Basis

Medical assistants perform clerical and clinical duties in order to maintain efficiency in offices of physicians, chiropractors, podiatrists, and others, according to Career and Job Search Resources. Medical assistants are different than physicians' assistants. A physician assistant’s job requires examining, diagnosing, and treating patients under the direction of a physician.

State laws cause medical assistants to have differing clinical duties. These duties include: retrieving patient history, taking vital signs, informing patients about treatments, assisting patients and physicians with examinations, conducting general laboratory tests, preparing laboratory specimens on the jobsite, disposing of used materials, and sanitizing medical supplies. After attending and graduating from nursing school San Bernardino medical assistants educate patients about treatments such as medication or eating habits, prepare and give medications, permit refills under physician supervision, submit prescriptions to the pharmacist, take blood, perform electrocardiograms, prepare patients for x-rays, take out sutures, and adjust dressings.

Additional tasks require medical assistants to organize, maintain, and purchase instruments and materials for examining rooms. They also clean waiting and examining rooms.

Following the completion of medical assistant training San Bernardino specialized assistants perform more duties. For example, podiatric medical assistants' duties include: surgery assistance, x ray exposure and developments, and cast making. Ophthalmic medical assistants aid ophthalmologists in giving eye care. They perform eye tests to diagnose, measure and document vision and muscle function of eyes. They also assist patients with their contacts ensuring proper insertion, removal, and basic contact care. As directed by the doctor, these specialized assistants may also give medications for eyes. Further duties are to help in surgical procedures, to ensure maintenance of optical materials and devices, and to administer eye dressings.

Medical assistants can work in a variety of areas. Nearly 60 percent of Los Angeles medical assistants have worked in doctor's offices and approximately 14 percent in both inpatient and outpatients departments of public and private hospitals. Additionally, 10 percent worked in specialized health care offices with physicians, such as chiropractors and podiatrists. The remaining assistants administered their skills in facilities for outpatient care, in public and private education, in state and local government agencies, in nursing centers, and in employment services after coming out of nursing school Los Angeles based Career and Job Search Resources tell us.