Medical Assistant Schools in Birmingham
(found 6 schools)
If you are seeking to learn how to be a Medical Assistant and find a job in this fast-growing position, you will find that there are several opportunities in and around Birmingham, Alabama. The city is the largest in Alabama, with a range of schools, medical facilities and ways for students to get around town.
Earning your certificate or degree could strengthen the following skills required for medical assistants: communication, reading comprehension, critical thinking, coordination, monitoring and deductive reasoning. Other important skills include social perceptiveness and service orientation, or being able to know what is wrong and help to solve it.
If these are skills you feel you possess, request information from the schools at the bottom of the page and earn your certificate in Medical Assisting to start your new career!
Medical Assistant Schools in Birmingham
There are ten schools in Alabama with programs that teach how to be a Medical Assistant. Many of these have campuses in or near Birmingham. On these campuses, students can seek a variety of different degree types and programs. These may be divided into one-year programs and two-year programs. While one-year programs typically offer diplomas, two-year programs offer associate’s degrees at the end.
All programs that are CAAHEP (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs) or ABHES (Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools) certified will prepare students to take the certification program to receive a CMA license, or Certified Medical Assistant. This will allow you to get most entry-level medical assistant jobs.
Medical Assistant Degree Programs
The difference between one-year and two-year programs is typically the depth of study. Two-year programs go more in-depth into different specific aspects of working as a medical assistant. They may also require more general education courses, as an associate’s degree is more easily transferable to higher education programs such as a bachelor’s degree. Bachelor’s degrees are required for jobs like nursing, which may offer more opportunities for advancement or higher salary.
All degree programs will go over the necessary skills for being a medical assistant. These include:
- Learning how to work the front desk
- Organizing medical records
- Assisting in basic procedures
- Using medical codes and billing practices
They also involve learning anatomy and physiology to help physician and nursing staff with handling patients. Different degree programs may have different focuses; for instance, some may focus on the administrative side of medical assisting while others may focus on the clinical side.
Getting Around Birmingham as a Medical Assistant
Students and young medical assistants may get around Birmingham either via car or through the city’s public transit system. The public transit is called the MAX, and it is run by the BJCTA, or Birmingham-Johnson County Transit Authority. Standard fare on MAX buses is $1.25, and the reduced student rate is $0.80 per ride. Monthly passes are available to college students at a reduced rate. Buses go throughout the city and to some surrounding locations.
New medical assistants may wish to join the American Association of Medical Assistants. Membership may provide opportunities for continuing education and career advancement. You can join the Alabama chapter for access to local and state-wide events.
Medical Assistant Job Opportunities
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Medical Assistants may look forward to a 29 percent rise in job opportunities between 2012 and 2022. This is significantly higher than average, meaning that this is a strong growth industry. Medical assistants in the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area may expect to earn about $30,020 per year on average (BLS, 2016). There are approximately 1,850 medical assistants employed in Birmingham as of May 2016.
Job opportunities as a medical assistant range from working at a physician’s office to working at a large hospital. Other options may include working at a medical insurance center, an outpatient care facility, or at the office of another health care practitioner such as a dentist or plastic surgeon.
There are two types of medical assistant: clinical and administrative. As a clinical medical assistant, you will be required to record medical histories, prepare treatment rooms, prepare patients to see a physician, administer certain medications under physician supervision, collect blood or other specimens and prepare them for testing, sterilize instruments and perform routine lab analyses.
As an administrative medical assistant, you will be required to manage the front desk, conduct reception duties, answer phones and take appointments, manage billing and accounting for the office, keep medical records organized and work with the computer systems.
If you are ready to enter this rewarding and essential field in healthcare, choose from the Birmingham schools below and submit a request for information to learn more. Program materials are free, and you can ask for as many as you need to make the right decision about furthering your education.
Salary numbers provided are from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.