Here are some statistics on medical assistant careers, to give you an idea of what to expect upon entering your medical assistant training program.

As these figures show, the medical assisting field is largely female, and they can be employed in most medical settings. The number of employed medical assistants is predicted by the US Labor Bureau to increase faster than nearly all other professions in the next several years.

Number of medical assistants in the US: 434,540

Male/female: 10%/90%

Mean annual salary: $28,270

Average hours worked fer week: 40

Employed primarily by: Doctors' offices, hospitals, residential care facilities.

Major associations:

• American Association of Medical Assistants
• American Medical Technologists
• National Healthcareer Association

May 2007 figures courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

Here you can find more information about where medical assistants work, plus salary information a general job description.