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If you are looking for a good medical assistant book, you might agree with this statement:
With all of the options out there, it is tough to know which are the best medical assistant books to get the best value for your money.
To help people in this situation, our team of clinical medical assistants and other practitioners spent dozens of hours researching the best medical assistant books out there. After much work, we have put together this list of the top medical assistant study guides and resources in case you are looking to get one right now.
Best Medical Assistant Books
Like many medical assistant books, some of these volumes are long and meant to serve as as a core reference in your professional library while others are meant to be used as pocket books while you are on the go. We hope that our list of these medical assistant books will help you save time and money in your career as a medical assistant.
1. Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures – Editor’s Choice
Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures is a great choice for anyone looking for a comprehensive book that covers all aspects of medical assisting. A comprehensive book, Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures was designed to cover a wide range of topics that touch on the professional aspects and clinical knowledge that a medical assistant might encounter on the job.
Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures begins with general considerations about medical assisting as a career choice. Examples of topics covered include professional and legal considerations as well as helpful information related to communication with office staff and patients. From there, Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures progresses into a discussion of issues related to insurance billing and coding. Midway through, this book gets into detail about specific medical topics organized around the anatomy and physiology of various organ systems. After that, more time is spent discussing how a medical assistant can effectively assist with important tasks in the work environment such as vital signs, diagnostic and laboratory processing, pharmacology and practice management.
Because of its comprehensive scope, Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures is a part of many medical assistant program curriculums and it performs well in that role.
While comprehensive, Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures felt thin at times. For example, the insurance billing and coding material needs an upgrade. It is not a major issue with this book and, in fact, some people might argue that it should not be covered in a book at all given the amount of changes that occur with insurance billing. Also, Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures is not cheap given its scope and some people opt to get a used version given the cost (if you don’t mind someone else’s highlighting or notes). All in all, Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures is a solid reference for anyone looking for a good Medical Assistant book.
Medical Assisting: Administrative & Clinical Procedures is a great addition to any core medical assistant library.
- Comprehensive review on a wide range of topics.
- Core text for many medical assistant curriculums.
- Insurance billing and coding sections need an upgrade.
- On the expensive side.
2. Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting – Value Choice
Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting is a well-regarded, well-organized volume that covers all things medical assisting. The book was designed to address the broad range of topics relevant to being a medical assistant.
Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting starts by focusing on some of the administrative tasks required in medical assisting. The introductory chapters include an overview of the profession, handling specific office-based tasks like oral and written communication, managing records, and insurance billing and coding. The later part of Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting is more focused on the clinical aspects of being a medical assistant, including an overview of anatomy and physiology and then putting that knowledge into practice as an assistant in the office.
We would recommend a print version over the electronic version even though the print version is thick and heavy. Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting is also a valuable resource for board review.
Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Assisting is another solid choice as a core text for medical assistants.
- Well-organized book that covers professional and clinical topics.
- Fairly dense and heavy.
3. Today’s Medical Assistant – Good Procedure Section
Today’s Medical Assistant is another textbook that is worth checking out for anyone looking for a comprehensive text that covers all aspects of medical assisting. Structurally, Today’s Medical Assistant is laid out with text complemented by visual aids such as charting examples and teaching boxes that challenge your knowledge in full color.
Today’s Medical Assistant gets into a great level of detail for people looking for that added knowledge. For example, there is interesting coverage about daily procedural issues such as how to sterilize and disinfect instruments, perform a physical exam, handling injuries and assisting with minor office surgeries. Today’s Medical Assistant also gets into advanced topics such as OSHA, IV therapy (in addition to covering intramuscular injection theory), colonoscopies and peds. Like other medical assistant textbooks,Today’s Medical Assistant also features sections on performing tasks related to labs and CLIA-waived diagnostic tests like the urinalysis. Other helpful areas covered in Today’s Medical Assistant include documentation, electronic health records and HIPAA, nutrition, emergency preparedness and insurance billing and coding.
Today’s Medical Assistant also has a nice procedure section. Covering over 120 procedures, Today’s Medical Assistant highlights medical procedures and breaks down techniques into steps for better understanding. Also, Today’s Medical Assistant provides accompanying videos on their companion website to give the reader a live understanding of applying the procedural techniques.
Today’s Medical Assistant also has case studies and questions towards the end of each chapter that are meant to pair with the material. Unfortunately, the questions don’t always match up well and the case studies felt a bit disjointed at times. Nonetheless, Today’s Medical Assistant is another good choice for anyone looking for a comprehensive medical assisting book and particularly one with a good procedures section.
- Detailed coverage of procedures in medical assisting
- Question bank needs to be improved.
4. MA Notes: Medical Assistant’s Pocket Guide – Best Pocket Book
If you are feeling nervous while on the job, MA Notes: Medical Assistant’s Pocket Guide is the pocket book to get. This book fits nicely into one’s scrubs or coat pocket and is packed full of useful information to help you survive (particularly when you are first starting out).
MA Notes is organized quite nicely. The material is presented in easily digestible bites that makes it painless to get to the information that you need. MA Notes is full of useful charts and graphics that outline key points quickly. There is also a great notes section where you can add personal notes as you learn on the job for faster reference later.
Another great part of MA Notes is that it is waterproof and quite durable. We like the spiral-bound binding as it holds it together well and makes it easy to get to the information that you need quickly.
- Well-organized, digestible information
- Not a comprehensive text.
5. Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants
A detailed book, Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants is another textbook worth checking out. This book offers a comprehensive overview discussing current career and clinical issues facing the modern medical assistant.
Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants has a nice set of illustrations and graphics that accompany the teaching modules in this book. To give some context to the teaching material, Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants also features case studies and patient teaching sections which help improve one’s ability to apply the medical topics. To round out the material covered, Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants also has helpful areas on medical terminology and certification reviews.
More recent editions of Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants feature content expansions that provide more information covering the modern challenges associated with medical assisting. The newer versions of Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants includes sections addressing new technologies such as electronic health records, tuberculosis blood testing, in-office diagnostic testing, and new blood pressure cuffs. Additionally, there is updated and expanded text on clinical considerations such as immunization schedules, latex allergies, and OSHA.
The online resources that accompany Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants serve as a valuable companion to the text. In particular, the online resources include videos that help bring the text to life.
Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants is another good choice for anyone looking for a comprehensive medical assisting book.
- Case studies help apply clinical material.
- Recent updates cover modern challenges in medical assisting.
- On the expensive side.
6. Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets Study Guide – Best CMA Exam Study Guide
Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets Study Guide is a nice CMA exam study guide for anyone gearing up to take the CMA exam. Published by Mometrix, a leading test preparation company, Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets is a one-stop shop as a CMA study guide. Covering everything from general professional and administrative topics related to medical assisting to clinical topics, this CMA prep book will help you strategize around important tips, tricks and medical terminology related to the practice of medical assisting. One nice part about this CMA study guide is that it presents detail without being unreadable.
Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets summarizes important areas and material that will be seen on the CMA exam. Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets also contains lots of practice questions to help bring the knowledge that will be tested on the CMA exam into a test format. This CMA study guide also provides answers with the study questions, making it easier to understand why a certain question is correct.
Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets has not been updated since 2013. While most of the material is still relevant, it would be nice to see an updated version released. Along with a content update, this CMA study guide needs improved formatting and some more structure. Regardless, for CMA exam prep, Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets is worth a look.
Certified Medical Assistant Exam Secrets is a good choice for a quality CMA exam study guide.
- Quality study guide that is not too dense.
- Practice questions with answers will help you prep for the CMA exam.
- Needs a more recent content update.
Medical Assistant Books – Still Important?
A handful of books have been written by and for medical assistants to read and learn from. However, why not just learn clinical information from traditional medical books and operations information from business books? Don’t medical assistant books just aggregate this existing information in a new way?
Yes and no. It is true that most medical assistant books typically combine information from these different sources into one volume that is targeted toward people in the profession. It is also true that the information is often rephrased or revisited without many unique changes. All that being said, combining the information and applying in a way that is highly relevant to one’s practice as a Medical Assistant is something that a Medical Assistant book can do uniquely. After all, most operations books do not go into how to apply operational skills in the unique setting of a medical facility. Likewise, most clinical books do not integrate the application of clinical skills with the personal and communication skills necessary to speak to and help patients in the way that a Medical Assistant is required to do. As such, combining these different elements of the job requirements into one text makes sense in conveying a more complete picture of the information required to do the job correctly and efficiently.
Are Medical Assistant Books Relevant?
Okay, so books written specifically for medical assistants combine information in unique ways and are targeted to the skills required by medical assistants. However, even if they are targeted, are medical assistant books still relevant. After all, in the age of the internet, information is readily available. Also, because medical books are published every few years, there is probably something out of date in the book by the time you read it.
Then there is the cost. Medical assisting books can be expensive. Given that most people will need to buy other medical goods, like the best stethoscope or get decked out in apparel like quality men’s or women’s scrubs, it can feel painful to have to shell out more money for an MA textbook.
For the most part, the best medical assistant books are still highly relevant. In the slow-moving field of healthcare, insider information on topics like how to function as a medical assistant are not always freely available. Detailing how to be a top medical assistant takes time, and most high-performing medical assistants will not have time to continually update a website or other online resource if they are still working as a medical assistant.
Medical Assistants – A Professional Overview
A Medical Assistant is a professional who works in a medical office or a hospital setting. Medical assistants typically play an integral role in both the back and front end business and clinical operations as part of a larger team. For people interested in healthcare, becoming a Medical Assistant can be a rewarding long-term profession that balances the business and clinical sides of medicine. The Medical Assistant job is also a great entry point to getting healthcare and clinical experience prior to seeking out additional training as an advance provider like a registered nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or a doctor.
Operationally, a medical assistant frequently helps the medical business itself run smoothly. Said another way, a medical assistant typically plays an important role in making sure the office is open and closed properly and that the primary medical care can be delivered efficiently and professionally. Responsibilities might include ensuring the office looks tidy, making sure the supplies are stocked and in the right place and assisting in handling issues that come up during the day. Also, medical assistants typically play an important role in registering patients, handling basic patient questions, scheduling appointments and answering the phones.
Medical assistants are usually involved in a clinical capacity as well. In this role, the medical assistant helps with the actual delivery of medical care in conjunction with the medical team. In a clinical role, the Medical Assistant might help transport patients and help them get dressed for a specific exam. Some Medical Assistants will discuss and review answers to specific clinical questions around things like vaccines with patients. Procedurally, a medical assistant will often take vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation and present them to the supervising medical provider. Often, a medical assistant will give intramuscular injections like vaccines to the patients and document information related to the injection.
Medical assistants also perform diagnostic studies. Many medical offices offer in-office lab tests such as rapid strep or urinalysis tests and the medical assistant is responsible for taking the specimen, performing the required test, and documenting the results in the medical record. Given this diverse set of roles, medical assistants are often considered the glue that holds together many primary care offices.
Medical Assistant – Good Career Choice?
With all of the different healthcare professions out there, some people wonder if being a medical assistant is a good career choice. To make that decision, it is important to consider what one can get out of one’s responsibilities as a medical assistant. Here are some things to consider about the job.
Medical assistants job prospects are strong
With aging populations around the world, more and more medical assistants will be needed to help provide healthcare. For example, in the US, medical assistant jobs are expected to grow very fast through 2026. And, with a medical assistant skill set, one can travel around the world and serve as a medical assistant in different places without too much trouble.
Medical assistants get varied clinical experience
Medical assistants are needed in all specialties and, because of this, they have the option to learn in many different types of clinical settings. Whether your interest is pediatrics or plastic surgery, a medical assistant will have the option to work with doctors and nurses and learn from specialists in their field of interest. Also, medical assistants can work in a wide range of settings, ranging from your standard clinic to surgical centers or large hospitals.
Medical assistants can easily switch areas of interest
Once you are known as reliable medical assistant, it is not hard to switch to another speciality if something else interests you at a later date. Medical assistants are needed in every speciality, making it a flexible job choice in healthcare.
Medical assisting is a foundation for other healthcare jobs
Some people decide that they do not want to be a medical assistant forever and want to eventually move into something more specialized like being a nurse, PA or doctor. The good part about being a medical assistant is that it provides clinical skills which will directly apply when one is applying for an advanced program and while studying in the new profession. Therefore, a medical assistant position can launch you into your next job with a diverse set of skills.
Ultimately, you have to search your own heart to figure out if medical assisting is the right career choice for you. For many people, simply trying it out and seeing how it goes is a good first step.
Best Medical Assistant Books – Final Thoughts
We hope that you found our list of the best medical assistant Books and CMA study guides helpful. While there are a lot of choices out there, the best books will help you build and reinforce a foundation of knowledge that will help with ongoing career development or just getting started. We wish you the best of luck in learning from the Medical Assistant book that is right for you.