What can I do with
this certificate?

Employment opportunities exist in a variety of health care settings including private physician practices, immediate care offices, group practices, and family medicine centers. The skilled medical assistant is highly valued as a multiskilled practitioner able to perform a variety of duties in these settings.

What is the job outlook for this field?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor and Industry, employment of medical assistants is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014 as the health care industry expands because of technological advances in medicine and the growth and aging of the population. Increasing utilization of medical assistants in the rapidly growing health care industry will further stimulate job growth. In fact, medical assistants is projected to be one of the fastest growing occupations over the 2004–14 period.
Employment growth will be driven by the increase in the number of group practices, clinics, and other health care facilities that need a high proportion of support personnel, particularly the flexible medical assistant who can handle both administrative and clinical duties. Medical assistants work primarily in outpatient settings, a rapidly growing sector of the health care industry.

In view of the preference of many health care employers for trained personnel, job prospects should be best for medical assistants with formal training or experience, particularly for those with certification.