Medical Assistant Resume Example

Medical assistants perform various clinical duties that are crucial to helping doctors efficiently treat patients. An effective medical assistant is detail-oriented and organized with strong people skills.

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics puts the median salary for medical assistants at $35,850 per year, with a much faster than average industry growth outlook for the next decade.

Because the medical assistant occupation is growing so quickly and is accessible with only a vocational school credential, many job seekers target it.

So how can you create a medical assistant resume that puts you ahead of the competition? Here are four tips for writing the best medical assistant resume possible:

1. Highlight your medical assistant skills

Use the skills section of your resume to showcase your core medical assistant skills that prove you’ll excel in your target role, including the following:

• Time management: Show the hiring manager you can thrive in the busy clinic or hospital environment and juggle a number of shifting responsibilities
• Interpersonal skills: You’ll work with nurses, doctors, and patients, so you must show strong teamwork and customer service skills on your resume
• Computer skills: List your computer skills that are specific to your industry, such as experience using hospital database and telemedicine software (MEDITECH, Epic Systems, and Zoom), and data entry skills
• Communication skills: Being an effective communicator is a key soft skill for answering phones, taking vital signs, and having an effective bedside manner
• People skills: Health care employers seek medical assistants with active listening skills, foreign language skills, and empathy
• Nursing skills: Because you’ll be interacting with and caring for patients, you should list any nursing skills you have on your medical assistant resume, such as first aid training and stress management

You don’t have to list all of these medical assistant skills on your resume. Remember, your goal is to give a potential employer a clear idea of your best, most relevant qualities, not a list of everything you can do.

2. Write an eye-catching resume objective

The purpose of your resume objective is to grab the attention of a potential employer with the main reasons why you’re the ideal candidate for the role.

Use your medical assistant resume objective to communicate your:

• best certification or qualification
• experience in the field
• personal qualities that make you a great medical assistant

Here’s an example of a good resume objective for a medical assistant:

Attentive and detail-oriented medical assistant with 6+ years’ experience. An AAMA Certified Medical Assistant and National Certified Phlebotomy Technician (NCPT) since 2016 with experience in both administrative and clinical duties and a true passion for comforting distressed patients. Excited to provide health care as a Medical Assistant at DC Clinic.

Write this section last, as it should be a snapshot of you that is further explained in the more detailed sections that follow.

To get more ideas for what to write in your resume objective, look at examples of nursing resume objectives or other medical professional objectives.

3. Showcase your medical assisting certifications and education

A formal college education isn’t required to be a medical assistant. However, clinics and hospitals prefer to hire medical assistants with certifications and technical training relevant to the type of work they’ll be doing.

If you’ve completed the minimum requirement of high school or GED, haven’t been to college or university, but have a lot of professional working experience, consider combining your education and certifications into one category to group related information and avoid submitting a resume with a sparse education section.

Here are certifications hiring managers look for on medical assistant resumes:

• Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA)
• Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) offered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
• Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) offered by the NHA
• National Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA) offered by the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT)
• Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) offered by American Medical Technologists (AMT)
• National Certified Phlebotomy Technician (NCPT) or Registered Phlebotomy Technician (RPT)
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or Basic Life Support (BLS) certifications

This is an example of how to list certifications on your resume along with your other education details:

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

• Certified Phlebotomy Technician (NCPT), June 2021
• Certified Medical Assistant, May 2021
• Medical Assistant Diploma, May 2020 — American Career College, Orange County, CA

4. Present your professional experience with hard numbers

When you write about your medical assistant work experience on your resume, focus on displaying the core competencies needed for the role, while also indicating your value through specific achievements. Instead of just showing what you do day-to-day, demonstrate high-level ability that separates you from other applicants.

So use specific examples and data to give potential employers a better idea of your abilities. Consider these two versions of a medical assistant resume work experience entry:

Vague

Assisted doctors with conducting patient examinations

Clear

Supported family doctor with conducting exams for more than 2,000 patients from over 600 families

The first option is poorly written because it simply states a job responsibility. Any applicant can make the same statement, so writing like that won’t help you stand out.

The second option is what you should aim for because it includes data that lets your potential employer know the workload you can handle and the kind of environment you have experience in.