Traveling Medical Assistant: What is It & How to Become?

This article will cover how to become a travel medical assistant as well as the advantages and disadvantages of working on the road.

You ensure that patients receive high-quality medical care when you work as a medical assistant. Medical assistants can travel between various healthcare providers, even though they typically have a variety of clinical and administrative duties in a specific hospital, private practice, or clinic.

The following information on travel medical assistants will help you learn more about the profession.

What is a Travel Medical Assistant?

For a few weeks or months at a time, a travel medical assistant works in hospitals or clinics that are short-staffed. They typically agree to a 4- to 12-week contract.

When the contract expires, they can either sign a new one with the same company (if offered) or start looking for a new one.

Including a living stipend, travel medical assistants typically earn more than the national average medical assistant salary of $37,000 per year or $18 per hour.

Keep in mind that traveling medical assistants must possess sufficient experience to feel at ease working immediately in a new office or clinic. The training or orientation they receive prior to beginning work is usually brief.

The duties of traveling medical assistants are the same as those of regular medical assistants. They will assist doctors by carrying out both clinical and office tasks.

What Does a Traveling Medical Assistant Do?

Medical assistants who travel frequently are known as travel medical assistants. They serve as a bridge between patients and doctors and frequently work in areas where there are brief staffing gaps or shortages.

This position entails a wide range of duties, both administratively and clinically. Some of these responsibilities include

• Checking medical histories and vital signs
• Phlebotomy/EKG/ Administer medication
• Getting ready for exams by setting up examination rooms, tools, and patients.
• provide assistance with simple surgical procedures.
• Organize files and medical records
• Schedule medical appointments
• Coding and insurance
• and managing administrative projects

Medical assistants ensure a positive patient experience while also assisting doctors and facilities, from the front desk to the lab.

Where Do Travel Medical Assistants Work?

Medical assistants work in hospitals, clinics, retirement communities, physician offices, and chiropractic clinics. Here’s a look at each:

• Clinics. Clinics employ about half of the medical assistants. Numerous of these clinics specialize in areas like family practice, pediatrics, podiatry, dermatology, cardiology, or OB-GYN.
• urgent care centers and hospitals. In hospitals and urgent care facilities across the nation, medical assistants are required. You might have to work on the weekends and during the evenings if you work in these facilities.
• communities for seniors. As the population ages, retirement communities require an increasing number of healthcare professionals. Many of these communities run like regular neighborhoods, with doctors and other healthcare professionals available around-the-clock and in close proximity.
• Chiropractic offices. Holistic medicine is frequently emphasized in chiropractic offices. Medical assistants who work in chiropractic offices typically have administrative rather than clinical responsibilities.

The majority of each day will be spent interacting with patients as a travel medical assistant in each of these settings. While performing administrative tasks may require you to sit, working as a medical assistant necessitates a lot of standing. Fast-paced jobs like medical assisting are perfect for people who like to keep busy and active.

How to Become a Traveling Medical Assistant?

A faster start to your career is possible with a Diploma in Medical Assisting (DMA), which can be finished in as little as 10 months. Additionally, if you decide to do so, it gives you the tools you need to continue your education.

The fundamental abilities and knowledge required to succeed as a medical assistant can be acquired with the aid of an Associate of Science in Medical Assisting Services (ASMAS). The ASMAS program from Herzing offers additional training in topics like clinical labs and patient privacy and can be finished in as little as 16 months.

On their website or other job search websites, hospitals frequently list any temporary openings. You can find your next job by frequently checking those.

• Organization: Traveling medical assistants must adapt to local customs, protocols, and people in addition to their work. Because of this, the organization is a valuable quality. Being meticulous is essential for all medical assistants, especially when handling data intended to educate doctors about the patient or carrying out procedures to establish a diagnosis.
• Teamwork: Working as a team is second nature to you as a medical assistant. Helping other medical professionals is the responsibility of the medical assistant, whether that means giving a doctor access to patient records or assisting a patient in comprehending a doctor’s instructions.
• Interpersonal Skills: A large portion of a medical assistant’s duties involve interacting with other people. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are essential for daily tasks like making appointments and communicating information to patients in a way they can understand.
• Get Your Degree or Diploma: Getting the appropriate education is the first step in a career as a medical assistant. The majority of medical assisting jobs will call for either a diploma (DMAS) or an associate degree in medical assisting services (ASMAS).
• Obtain a Certification: You should think about taking the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) exam once you have finished a degree or diploma program. You can stand out from other job applicants by obtaining this certification. Both ASMAS and DMAS program alums are qualified to sit for this exam.
• Find a Position: The responsibilities of a medical assistant and a travel medical assistant are frequently the same, but the qualifications may differ depending on the location and the state. In order to find jobs, travel medical assistants frequently use staffing companies.

How Do You Find Work as a Traveling Medical Assistant?

Traveling medical assistants typically find employment through medical staffing agencies, as opposed to standard medical assistants, who are frequently bound to a single place of employment. Healthcare organizations that have a critical shortage of qualified medical staff are supplied with staff by these medical staffing agencies.

This type of work is typically temporary, and you’ll fill in for absenteeism or turnover of staff. In essence, it’s similar to being a substitute teacher in the medical profession.

Travel Medical Assistant Salaries & Job Outlook

All across the nation, there is a high demand for medical assistants. Healthcare workers’ employment prospects are getting better as the population of the United States ages.

Employment opportunities for medical assistants are anticipated to increase by 18% between 2020 and 2030. Compared to the majority of other healthcare support occupations, this one has a higher expected growth rate.

Each year, there are about 100,000 job postings for medical assistants in the United States. There is a high demand for more medical assistants, which has increased the demand for mobile workers. Travelers are intended to cover staffing gaps until facilities can find permanent employees.

A medical assistant makes an average of $37,190 per year or roughly $18 per hour. Medical assistants who travel typically earn 20% more than their non-traveling colleagues.

Registered medical assistants and certified medical assistants both earn more money than non-certified medical assistants. Additionally, if you possess additional credentials like phlebotomy or a certified nursing assistant, you may be able to earn more money.