Being a medical administrative assistant can be a rewarding career. Many companies offer competitive salaries and benefits packages. Your position as a medical administrative assistant qualifies you for a position covering administration tasks for healthcare facilities including customer service representation, front office staff, and medical secretarial activities. And, the best part is that one can become a medical administrative assistant with online education as well.
Why Choose the Healthcare Industry?
The biggest reason people choose the healthcare industry is because of the job growth. There are always patients that are either sick, injured, or have health problems.
Did you know that Americans spent as much as $3.8 trillion in 2019, according to the Centers for MediCare and MedicAid services, and that number is expected to nearly double to $6.2 trillion by 2029? Furthermore, the healthcare industry boasts some of the most incredible projected job growth rates in the entire country with over 2.4 million jobs projected to be added between 2019 and 2029.
How Long Does It Take to Get my Online Medical Administrative Assistant Programs Degree?
In most online healthcare courses, you learn at your own pace. Therefore, the amount of time it will take you to get your degree depends on how quickly you can get through the course. In most cases, it may take at least 18 months to get your degree.
What Benefits do Students Gain With Online Learning?
There are many physical and even psychological benefits to online learning. Some of these benefits include:
Tuition Savings
Did you know that part of the tuition costs you will incur from a face-to-face course at a university covers the cost of facilities where you’re learning? With online learning, you don’t have that added expense, which will save you money on your tuition costs because you can attend classes from the comfort of your own home office.
Technical Skills
Online learning is proven to boost basic technical skills, which are highly marketable in today’s workplace. Tending to patient records, basic bookkeeping, and administrative tasks that keep a medical facility running smoothly — all of these actions are done on computers. Schools also frequently teach the use of spreadsheets, databases, and word processing software, another marketable technical skill among receptionists, bookkeepers, and administrative assistants.
One-on-one Communication
Student/teacher communication is improved because the teacher has more time to spend helping individual students, which has been shown to improve overall grade point averages among many students who would otherwise do poorly in a face-to-face setting.
Increased Access to Course Materials
Students can learn from their past mistakes by simply looking back to their past assignments, checking what they did wrong, and making adjustments accordingly. Furthermore, the Internet has a wealth of information, and what students cannot understand they can easily look up themselves. This type of system does not exist in a classroom.
Psychological Benefits
According to the Kentucky Counseling Center, staying at home increases bonding among families. This can be especially beneficial for those families who typically would not be able to see each other due to the work/school/home life conflicts that naturally occur in American families. Families can spend more time together on family activities, and students can plan their in-school schedules around their parents’ work schedules.
- Easier record keeping – With the right course system, record keeping and retrieval becomes much easier for online teachers and students as the system provides both with direct access to progress, test scores and much more.
- Better course customization – The more a school can customize their courses to fit the medical industry’s needs, the better prepared their students will be when they’re set loose upon the job market. Refresher courses can also be provided with updates to old information, new certification requirements and much more.
There are a variety of schools available that offer online medical assistant programs. Choose a school that’s right for you. We truly wish you luck on your journey!
