What skills should a Medical Assistant put on a resume?

O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Medical Assistant list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Appointment scheduling software, Billing software, Bookkeeping software, Business software applications, and Data entry software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Medical Assistant work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Certified Medical Assistant, CMA, Chiropractor Assistant, and Doctor's Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Medical Assistant need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 45% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Medical Assistant role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Medical Assistant resume example

A resume for a Medical Assistant needs to show the work itself: perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Day to day that means work like this: interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height; clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Certified Medical Assistant
CMA
Chiropractor Assistant
Doctor's Assistant
Registered Medical Assistant
RMA
Clinical Medical Assistant
Health Assistant
Ophthalmic Assistant
Ophthalmological Assistant
Optometric Assistant
Outpatient Surgery Assistant
MA
Medical Tech Assistant
Autopsy Assistant
Bilingual Medical Assistant
Chiropractic Assistant
Client Services Coordinator

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height.
Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records.
Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients.
Prepare treatment rooms for patient examinations, keeping the rooms neat and clean.
Collect blood, tissue, or other laboratory specimens, log the specimens, and prepare them for testing.
Show patients to examination rooms and prepare them for the physician.
Help physicians examine and treat patients, handing them instruments or materials or performing such tasks as giving injections or removing sutures.
Perform routine laboratory tests and sample analyses.
Greet and log in patients arriving at office or clinic.
Perform general office duties, such as answering telephones, taking dictation, or completing insurance forms.
Prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Record patients' medical history, vital statistics, or information such as test results in medical records, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Explain treatment procedures, medications, diets, or physicians' instructions to patients, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Appointment scheduling software
Billing software
Bookkeeping software
Business software applications
Data entry software
Database software
Diagnostic and procedural coding software
eClinicalWorks EHR software
Electronic medical record EMR software
Email software
Epic Systems
GE Healthcare Centricity EMR
Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
IDX Systems Patient Chart Tracking

34 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Audiometers
Autoclaves
Baumanometers
Binocular light compound microscopes
Blood chemistry analyzers
Blood collection vials
Breathalyzers
Butterfly needles
Canes
Cast cutters
Centrifuges
Credit card readers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Appointment scheduling
Billing

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Social Perceptiveness
02Active Listening
03Speaking
04Reading Comprehension
05Critical Thinking
06Coordination
07Monitoring
08Service Orientation
09Writing
10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

English Language
Customer and Personal Service
Medicine and Dentistry
Administrative
Computers and Electronics
Education and Training
Public Safety and Security
Therapy and Counseling

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

45%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
21%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
17%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Medical Assistant do?: Perform administrative and certain clinical duties under the direction of a physician. Day to day that includes work like interview patients to obtain medical information and measure their vital signs, weight, and height and Clean and sterilize instruments and dispose of contaminated supplies.
What skills should a Medical Assistant put on a resume?: O*NET rates Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, and Critical Thinking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Medical Assistant list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Appointment scheduling software, Billing software, Bookkeeping software, Business software applications, and Data entry software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Medical Assistant work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Certified Medical Assistant, CMA, Chiropractor Assistant, and Doctor's Assistant. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Medical Assistant need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 45% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Medical Assistant role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.