The medical assistant profession is one of the most rewarding career paths you can choose. This career will allow you to help and reassure patients in need at a professional level. This fulfilling role will keep you busy as well, from communicating with insurance companies to taking patient vitals, medical assistants are handling more and more responsibilities in healthcare offices.
Medical assistants play a key role in any physician’s office, hospital, or other specialty care facility. Due to the sensitive nature of the medical field, it is typically required that medical assistants seek further education and/or certification to develop and verify the necessary skills and abilities you must have to succeed at this level. South Carolina defines medical assistants as “unlicensed assistive personnel,” which means that they can perform the duties of a nurse that do not require special knowledge or judgment gained through special education. Some of the duties include administrative tasks, administering non-critical injections, cleaning medical equipment and tools, and running x-ray machines.
South Carolina is a great place to pursue a medical assistant career due to the state’s expected growth rate in the profession. In the next eight years, South Carolina expects to see 22% growth in the medical assistant field, making it a stable career choice for potential candidates.
With over a dozen schools offering medical assistant programs, anyone in the state has access to the required education. In fact, it is such an important position, that there are two scholarships offered for those pursuing the career path, the LIFE scholarship, and the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship.
South Carolina also has a state organization devoted to the education and development of medical assistants. The South Carolina Society of Medical Assistants offers resources and support for those who are interested in, or are a part of one of the state’s accredited medical assistant programs. The society works in conjunction with the American Association of Medical Assistants and supports national certification efforts as well.
With the incredible expected rate of growth, it is a perfect time to begin a career in the medical assistant field in South Carolina. The fulfilling profession will challenge you and offer endless opportunity for development. The South Carolina Society of Medical Assistants also offers a support structure for prospective and current medical assistants to continue developing themselves and provides an opportunity for individuals to network with other medical assistants. There is no excuse for waiting any longer, begin your career journey now!
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