If you're interested in working as a Medical Assistant, and you're currently deciding which high school classes you should take, then we can help answer your questions.

Firstly, we should point out that because you don't need a license to work as a medical assistant, that technically there are no specific classes you are legally required to take - however the real answer is a bit more complicated than that...

[Dermatology by Cindy Small - Click to enlarge]

An innovative idea has recently been tested by Wallace State Community College in Hanceville Alabama where the college's Medical Assisting students and their Drafting students teamed up for an interdisciplinary project to design medical facilities.

The MA students at Wallace State have always had to, as part of their Administrative Procedures II class, design a medical office floor model plan each year.

Whether or not you need to be good at math in order to become a Medical Assistant is a question I've seen many times.

The truth is that you don't have to be a math genius - there is no need for you to become an expert in complex mathematical theory if you want to pass your MA exams, on the other hand it would help if you want to beat the hospital's Interns in their Tuesday poker game :)

The amount of time it takes to complete a medical assistant program depends largely on the level of qualification you are looking for. The higher the level of qualification you are training for, the longer it will generally take you to complete your course.

These are the typical lengths of time you can expect to study for:

Have you considered doing an Associate's Degree in Medical Assisting instead of training for a Certificate?

An Associate's Degree is a much higher level of qualification than a Certificate, and leads to greater employment opportunities - so why then do most people only do the regular courses that qualify them for a certificate?

Today we take a look at the American College of Healthcare.

ACH provides several courses for people wanting to get into the health care industry including:

Vatterott College has a new course, Medical Assistant with Limited Radiography Technology, which they are currently taking enrollments for.

This is a fairly comprehensive is a 70 week Associate of Occupational Studies course which provides skills in administrative and clinical duties.

At the end of the course students will be qualified as both an Associate of Occupational Studies, A.O.S and will receive certification as a Limited Diagnostic Radiographer in the state of Iowa.

The Sacramento and Bay Area campuses of Unitek College have been approved by the Department of Education (DOE) to provide Federal Student Aid to their students.

This new approval will make it possible for more people to access Unitek College's full range of medical training programs including their 8 month Medical Assistant program.

If you are already an experienced Medical Assistant and want to advance your career, then one way to go about it is to upgrade your qualifications with a Bachelor degree.

This level of qualification opens you up to finding work in assistant and entry-level managerial positions in a wide range of medical settings including hospitals, clinics, nursing care facilities, doctors’ offices and insurance companies.

Of course if you're already working full-time, the prospect of going back to college can be quite daunting. One option is to take an online course.