Medical assisting is all about making a difference to people within your community and building a better future for yourself. Whether certified or not, doctors everywhere agree:"We couldn't practice without our highly skilled and well rounded medical assistants! We need them so we can focus on our patients and keep the office running and thriving."

First off: while officially there is no such credential or title as Advanced Medical Assistant we do like using the distinction because we actually coined it in 2002 to give experienced non-certified medical assistants the attention, recognition and credit they deserve! We have noticed that since then many other medical assistant websites have adopted this phrase to describe their educational offers aimed toward prospective medical assistant students, or they sometimes speak of advanced medical assistants, when they are actually referring to certified medical assistants.

Your medical assistant training comes in many forms! Aspiring medical assistants have the option of being trained directly on the job under the instruction of the doctor who hired them, or enroll in a medical assistant vocational training program for the purpose of obtaining recognized certifications, diplomas and degrees under the guidance of a medical assistant instructor, or utilize self-study programs offered online where they can learn career focused principles on their own time over the Internet. Each option has benefits and disadvantages and each individual must decide for themselves which training avenues and goals they wish to pursue. Regardless of training and credentials, and regardless of whether a program is advertised as "advanced medical assistant program" or not, one thing is for sure...

Second off: Community colleges are now introducing their medical assistant programs online and many of them lead to desired certificates, diplomas, degrees and continuing education credits. Some of these websites use the words "advanced medical assistant training" when they advertise their medical assistant program, however, if you asked us, we feel that medical assistant training is medical assistant training—it only gets as good as their faculty and instructors can provide and there is ONLY so much they can teach and medical assistant students can learn in medical office assisting. Their scope of practice is limited to an assistive role under the supervision of the doctor who hired them. The only true advanced medical assistant training we are aware of is that of a Combat Medic, a member of the military, who provides life saving first aid and trauma care on the battlefield under intense situations, which is on a much higher skill level than clinical and administrative medical assisting in a clean medical office environment under the employ and direction of a physician. When these soldiers return back to civilian life and hit the job market they often seek medical assistant positions, EMT, phlebotomist, or continue their education to go into physician assisting, nursing and health information technology.

 Medical Assistant Training - On the job or from a school! Advanced medical assistants can obtain their job skills either though eclectic instruction from qualified medical assistant instructors at vocational training institutions, by distance education from online medical assistant self-study programs, through direct on the job training in a medical facility, or the military.

 On The Job Training for Medical Assistants typically focuses only on the skills that need to be handled right then and there. Typically, this is training for only the specific office's needs and rarely goes beyond that.

 Medical Assistant Certification - Certification is a written competency test! It verifies theoretical knowledge of skills in a specific discipline. You may have noticed, many employers, e.g. physician and other health care providers now expect 1-3 years job experience and certifications they recognize, or else they are hesitant to hire you; however, does certification always automatically mean that one medical assistant is better than another?

 Medical Assistant Jobs - Medical assistant students need experience! They often seek temporary part-time work to gain hands-on experience while in school, and earn the money they need for their family or education. So, they partner with local Temporary Staffing Agencies to help them find jobs.

 Medical Assistant Workplace - Earnings and pay! Scope of practice and proper conduct at work.

 Medical Assistant Employment - Employers prefer medical assistant hires with a certain amount of training and experience in the field. They also want to make sure their employees understand the ethical codes of conduct pertaining their field. This is particularly true in the medical technology and health care industry.

 Medical Assistant Articles - Your future career, poll on job satisfaction, on hiring off the street, bogus online certificates, and job interview survival tips.

 Free Stuff For Medical Assistants - Selected free self study tools for medical assistant students.

 Other Resources - As the skills required in health care professionals cannot be learned from any single source, I encourage everybody to make use of the resources offered herein and to seek as many other references as possible.