2023 Best Online Medical Assistant Programs

Overview of Online Medical Assistant Degrees

Online medical assistant programs focus on the importance of keeping medical offices running smoothly. As a student of this discipline, you may learn administrative practices, basic anatomy, medical terminology, and even healthcare law. Many colleges and vocational schools offer medical assistant training online, including both certificates and associate degrees. Program graduates have gone to work as medical assistants for hospitals, doctors' offices, and assisted living facilities. You can also pursue professional certifications to improve your job prospects by demonstrating expertise in a specific subject area.

The medical assistant field is growing rapidly, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projecting an 16% increase in new jobs through 2031. Colleges are racing to keep up with enrollment demand by offering more online programs in the major. You can potentially qualify for many medical assisting roles by earning either a certificate or associate degree in the discipline, because both types of program cover the knowledge and skills required of professionals. However, associate degrees also contain general education courses that may transfer more easily to another college if you decide to pursue a subsequent bachelor's degree.

In general, the medical assistant curriculum focuses narrowly on training students for these roles and doesn't feature optional concentrations. You may end up specializing in either the administrative or clinical side during your medical assistant career, but you typically can't start preparing for this during your studies.

What Will You Learn in a Medical Assistant Program?

Medical assistant programs typically cover two distinct portions of a medical assistant's role: clinical patient processing and office administration. Coursework on biology and anatomy provides the basis for checking patient vital signs, asking intake questions, and handling blood and tissue samples for testing. For the administrative portion, faculty help prepare you with lessons on medical recordkeeping, office applications, and healthcare law, ethics, and confidentiality.

Medical assistant programs come in two forms: certificate and associate degree.

Certificates focus on knowledge and skills needed for medical assistant roles, whereas associate degrees also contain liberal arts classes that can teach useful skills, such as English composition and psychology. Neither certificates nor associate degrees have much room for specialization in their curricula, so concentrations are rare with this major. However, associate degree programs often culminate in an externship, which is a supervised period of work in a medical setting. Certificates may also have externships, but this is less common. Both types of programs usually require only a high school diploma or GED in order to enroll.

The following table breaks down the key differences between these types of programs:

Key Differences: Certificate vs. Associate Programs

You may be able to earn your certificate and begin working while you pursue an associate degree. However, you should make sure your credits will transfer into the associate program before committing so you don't repeat classes unnecessarily.

Common Medical Assistant Program Courses

The core curriculum is similar for most online medical assistant degrees and certificates. Below, we list some medical assisting courses you're likely to take if you enroll in either type of program.

Where Can You Work as a Medical Assistant?

Medical assistant programs focus narrowly on preparing students for careers as medical assistants, but you can have different experiences within this field depending on where you work.

Read on for some descriptions of potential duties in different healthcare settings. All salary data comes from the BLS.

Workplace Settings for Medical Assistants

Is a Medical Assistant Program Worth It?

The answer depends on your circumstances and goals. We've compiled a few factors to consider as you weigh your application and enrollment decisions.

• Financial Investment: These programs tend to cost less than four-year bachelor's degrees. For one thing, they take much less time to complete. For another, many options are available at public community colleges, which typically charge lower tuition than private schools or even four-year public colleges. But medical assistants earn relatively low pay — their median annual salary of $35,850 is about $6,000 less than the nationwide median for all jobs combined.
• Time Investment: As discussed, you can complete a certificate in a year and an associate degree in two. This lets you enter the job market much sooner than if you pursue a bachelor's degree in a different discipline.
• Job Outlook: The future is bright for this profession. The BLS projects a 16% growth in new jobs in the 2021-2031 period, twice the national average rate for all jobs. The reason stems from an aging population in the U.S., which affects the healthcare industry from the top down. To keep up, doctors have granted more duties and responsibilities to nurses, who, in turn, need to share some of their traditional functions with medical assistants and other trained professionals.

You also need to determine whether you want to study online or in person. Online learning is convenient and flexible but comes with fewer chances for informal networking. However, networking may not be a top concern for job seekers given the high demand for trained medical assistants.

FAQs About Online Medical Assistant Schools