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Medical assistant

A medical assistant (MA) is a multi-skilled allied healthcare practitioner who is competent in both a wide variety of clinical and laboratory procedures, as well as many administrative roles. "Medical assistants have been described as healthcare's most versatile, multifaceted professionals

Overview
In the early 1950s, a group of trained-on-the-job medical assistants gathered together to form a professional organization. Encouragement and support by the American Medical Association (AMA) lead to the creation of the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), which was founded in 1956. The first president of this newly-formed organization was Maxine Williams.

In 1978 medical assisting as a profession was formally recognized by the United States Department of Education. And later, in 1991 the American Association of Medical Assistants approved the current definition of medical assisting:

"Medical Assisting is an allied health profession whose practitioners function as members of the health care delivery team and perform administrative and clinical procedures."