• The health care industry employs one out of every three workers in America.
• Most employers prefer hiring an educated medical assistant over an uneducated individual.
• Medical assistants are predicted to be one of fastest-growing occupations through 2014.
• As of 2004, medical assistants accounted for 387,000 jobs in health care.
• In 2005, over 500 medical assisting programs were accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).
• Median yearly earnings for medical assistants as of 2004 were $24,610.
• Almost 60% of medical assistants work in doctors' offices; approximately 14% work in inpatient and outpatient departments of hospitals; and 10% work for specialized health care practitioners.