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Medical/Clinical Assistant Major

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Medical/Clinical Assistant

6,325 Associates's Degrees Annually
3 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
#5 in Popularity (Associate's)
$34,540 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Medical/Clinical Assistant Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medical/clinical assistant graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate 40,430
Basic Certificate 9,646
Associate Degree 6,360
Bachelor’s Degree 3

What Medical/Clinical Assistant Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, medical/clinical assistant majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medical/Clinical Assistant Majors

Medical/Clinical Assistant majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
  • Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Medical/Clinical Assistant Majors

medical/clinical assistant majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Medical/Clinical Assistant Majors

Medical/Clinical Assistant majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

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  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Medical/Clinical Assistant Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with medical/clinical assistant:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Medical Assistants 29.0% $33,610

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Medical/Clinical Assistant?

6,360 Associate's Degrees Annually
94% Percent Women
55% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
The major attracts more women than men. About 94% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical/clinical assistant majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 265
Black or African American 1,338
Hispanic or Latino 1,590
White 2,555
International Students 96
Other Races/Ethnicities 516

Geographic Diversity

Medical/Clinical Assistant appeals to people across the globe. About 1.5% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Medical/Clinical Assistant Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to medical/clinical assistant is $34,540. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Medical/Clinical Assistant Major  34,540
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Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with medical/clinical assistant require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to medical/clinical assistant have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 10.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 66.9%
Some College Courses 7.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 18.4%

Online Medical/Clinical Assistant Programs

In 2020-2021, 1,220 schools offered a medical/clinical assistant program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 904 21
Certificate (2-4 Years) 8 0
Associate’s Degree 467 28
Bachelor’s Degree 1 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 1 0
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Medical/Clinical Assistant Worth It?

The median salary for a medical/clinical assistant grad is $34,540 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical/clinical assistant.

Major Number of Grads
Physical Therapy Assistant 7,420
Pharmacy Technician/Assistant 7,393
Occupational Therapist Assistant 4,848
Other Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services 3,406
Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance) 3,031
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant 709
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant 365
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant 189
Radiologist Assistant 106
Anesthesiologist Assistant 82
Lactation Consultant 42

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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