Various community colleges, technical schools and online medical assistant training programs offer programs in medical assisting. Programs may last anywhere from one to two years, resulting in a certificate or associate degree, respectively. Medical assisting students take classes that cover anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and other courses that teach clerical skills. Students also learn first aid, clinical and laboratory techniques, and pharmaceutical fundamentals.
Since medical assistants interact with patients often, they also study office practices, as well as patient relations and medical law. There is no official licensing requirement to be a medical assistant, however some students require medical assistants to pass an exam before they begin work with certain tasks, like taking X-rays or giving injections.
