The medical assistant salary is highly competitive when compared with the salary of those in other healthcare jobs. Medical assisting is bucking the economic trend and is in huge demand because of a growing and aging population.
The average medical assistant salary in 2010 was a little over $30,000 per year. The top 10% earn over $35,000 per year. Qualifications, work experience, skills, location and size and type of place of work will determine income, as will any healthcare plans offered. However salaries tend to be higher in clinics, where a certified medical assistant learns to specialize in a particular medical area. In fact pay for a CMA in some states can actually improve by more than $10,000 per year.
Certification = Higher Pay - More Prospects - Better Career
Becoming certified will more than pay off, as apart from hugely increased job prospects a CMA generally starts on a higher starting salary. There is also the advantage of numerous opportunities for advancement, and your salary in the future could be substantially higher still.
One year is the general time students stay at a medical assistant school to get their diploma, and then have the opportunity to take their certification exam. However those students who stay on the course for a further year to take their Associate of Science degree, and also take their certification exam, could eventually increase their salary to over $45,000 per year.
Certification is not totally necessary to have if you want to concentrate on becoming an administrative medical assistant. Although having certification can help if you do want to branch out into the clinical area. The pay is less, however if you were promoted to a senior administrative position in a hospital such as office manager, the administrative salary could rise to over $55,000 per year.
Increase Your Fringe Benefits
Aside from the medical assistant salary, there are also other work benefits that might be useful to you other than the wage, such as fringe benefits. This may include health or vision plan, dental insurance, discounts, paid vacation/sick leave, long-term disability, pension/retirement plan, free continuing education and training reimbursement.
Therefore some employers may offer a lower starting salary but the job comes with attractive fringe benefits. These could work out to be better overall than a higher starting salary and no fringe benefits.
If you have proven your importance or worth to your employer, you will tend to work in the same office or healthcare facility for many years and gradually move up within the same organization. Although some utilize their skills and move on into different roles and are offered additional tasks and responsibilities, with higher pay, if they stay with the same company or organization.
It is predicted the medical assistant salary will continue to increase over the next few years as the huge demand continues to grow. Therefore the job opportunities are there for you to enjoy a rewarding, secure and stable career.
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