As the health care industry expands and changes, medical assistants should continue to experience an increase in their salary and job prospects. According to the 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical assistants have ranked as one of the fastest growing occupations during the 2008 and 2018 decade. Medical assistants should see an average employment growth of 34 percent during this 10-year span, which will create approximately 163,900 new jobs. Much of this growth can be attributed to America’s growing population and increase in life expectancy, which has put a greater demand on health care workers. Also, an increase in common health conditions, such as obesity and diabetes, have increased the amount of patients that primary care physicians have to see. In return, medical assistants have been hired to balance these demands and assist physicians in their daily work.
Of the 483,600 medical assistant jobs recorded in 2008, about 62 percent worked in physicians’ offices, 13 percent worked in public and private hospitals and 11 percent worked in offices of other health practitioners, like chiropractors and ophthalmologists. The remainder of assistants worked in other health care industries, such as nursing and outpatient care centers. Medical assistants can also expect to see job growth in other health care fields, such as ambulatory care delivery settings and other specialty practices, which have begun hiring medical assistants because they are well versed in clinical and administrative areas and have excellent patient care skills.
According to the Bureau, medical assistants with formal training, field experience and certification should have excellent job prospects over the next 10 years. There will be many job openings, as new jobs are created and retired medical assistants’ positions become available. In addition to favorable job prospects, medical assistants should also experience satisfactory salaries. In 2008, medical assistants made median annual wages of $28,300, with the highest pay occurring in general medical and surgical hospitals and colleges, universities and professional schools. Like all health care careers, medical assistants’ earnings vary depending on employer, location, experience and level of education or certification.
