Salary
Average Salary: $29,370
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $1,226,000
Given that it contains the word medical, you'd be forgiven for thinking that being a medical assistant pays pretty well. But you'd be so very, very wrong.
There's no money in being a medical assistant. How much money is no money? The majority of medical assistants make $25,000 to $35,000 a year, even in areas of the country with higher costs of living. Certifications and experience may garner you increases in pay, but don't expect to ever make more than about $40,000 a year in this career (source).
For example, say you start out as an optometrist's newbie assistant in a mid-sized city: That gig probably pays $11.00 an hour (source). You get a couple of years of experience under your belt and graduate to working as the clinical assistant for an ophthalmologist in the same city: That's $13.00 an hour.
You get another couple of years of experience to your name and decide to look for a job in a metropolis of several million people: You find that the going rate is $18.00 an hour. That five-dollar-an-hour jump may seem huge to you, but in the grand scheme of things, $18.00 an hour doesn't go far, especially in an urban area where the cost of housing is likely to be high.
You might be eligible for benefits that offset your low pay, including:
- Health insurance
- Retirement plan
- Overtime pay
- Childcare reimbursement
- Vacation, sick, and personal days
Be aware, however, that you're more likely to have access to these benefits (and a few others, like membership in a credit union and access to a Health Reimbursement Account) if you work for a huge hospital system. Small, independent clinics don't possess the resources to fund these types of benefits for their employees.
Speaking of small, independent clinics, keep in mind that most medical assistants working in these places don't have salaried positions; they're paid by the hour. This can be great for your paycheck when you have to work a lot of overtime, but not-so-great when you catch the flu and have to miss a week of work.
Of course, one upside of this career is that it won't sink you up to your neck in tens of thousands of dollars of student loans. The medical assistant certification programs offered at technical schools, community colleges, and four-year universities usually cost between $2,000 and $3,000 (source). If you decide to sit for an online medical assistant certification exam, you'll pay no more than a few hundred dollars to the professional organization offering the exam for study materials and to take the test (or tests).
You may not end up making much as a medical assistant, but at least monthly student loan payments won't haunt you to the grave.