Medical Assistants are healthcare professions and ‘a full-time multitasking ninjas’ who instruct patients about special diets and medications, perform administrative as well as clinical duties and work under the direction of an individual. They play a crucial role in the health and medical industry. They are hired by physicians, doctors, etc. for the smooth functioning of hospitals and clinics. They are always multitasking and specializes in managing clinics and patients while they keep juggling multiple responsibilities and tasks.
They need to possess some specific qualifications and certifications, have excellent communication and organizing skills, they must have excellent knowledge of medical terminology, and should be adaptable to the dynamic environment. They have wide scope to work as like
- Clinical Assistant
- Administrative Assistant
- Ophthalmic Assistant
- Paediatric Assistant and so on
Medical Assisting is one of the highest-paid medical career options in the health care sector. Interviews can be hard, even though Medical Assistants excel in communication skills as they interact with multiple patients and are responsible for bridging the gap between the doctor and the patients. So, to become a successful medical assistant, you should prepare for some common questions asked in an interview, to get hired for that job.
We have got it all sorted for you. In this article, we will discuss the top 21 Medical Assistant Interview Questions, to make your interview easy for you.
Some skills that are required by a Medical Assistant:
A medical assistant must have
- Organization Skills and Management Skills
- Good Communication Skills
- Time Management Skills
- Technical Skills
- Analytical Skills
And the most important skill is to have sense of compassion and understandability to treat the patients well.
Top 21 Medical Assistant Interview Questions
1. List some duties, you think you will be doing as a Medical Assistant.
Answer: “My duties will be as follows:
- Greeting and interacting with patients
- Scheduling appointments
- Making Follow-up Calls to patients
- Assisting doctors during medical examinations
- Ensuring that every treatment room is clean and sanitized and equipment and medical instruments are kept in good order
- Creating, Updating, and Maintaining the treatment and patient’s records
- Recording patient’s history
- Fill documents and perform basic tests
- Communicating with pharmacies and Ordering supplies
- Performing dressing on wounds and removing stitches and so on…”
2. What makes you a perfect candidate for this position?
Answer: “Besides the general qualifications that are required to become a medical assistant, I have a strong command over medical terminologies, and I expertise in managing and assisting patients and organizing records and I also have experience of 3 years during my internship, I have assisted more than 100 patients in the coursework. I have an extra computer and technical skills that will help me do the administrative work effectively and efficiently.”
3. Do you think knowledge of Medical Terminologies is helpful in your job?
Answer: “Yes, it will be extremely helpful as having the knowledge of basics is important for smooth functioning. I can communicate better with doctors and patients if I have knowledge of medical terminologies, and I can understand the instructions given by the doctors more clearly.”
4. Tell us more about your previous and relevant work experience.
Answer: The employer asks this question to check whether or not you have been a part of other jobs or internships in the past and what duties and responsibilities did you majorly have in that job. So, give the employer the details of your work experience and your duties when he asks you questions like these which are related to your work experience. Always be prepared for some follow-up questions after answering this question to the employer.”
5. What are your qualifications as a Medical Assistant?
Answer: “I have accomplished an associate’s degree from [name of the medical college] with special focus on [name of the specialization that you mostly worked on, say, physiology, gynecology, anatomy, etc.]. I am also a certified medical assistant from [name of the institute]. I also have knowledge of clinical treatment procedures, handling records and documents, doing basic check-ups, bookkeeping and accounting, diagnostics, and insurance processing because of my previous work experience as an intern with [name of the physician, doctor, or the hospital]. This is how I qualify as a Medical Assistant.”
6. Do you know how to fill an insurance claim form?
Answer: “Yes, it was an integral part of my job and as a daily routine in my internship training. It is extremely important to know how to fill it because there are several patients lined up for treatment and surgeries.”
7. What is your greatest strength in being a Medical Assistant?
Answer: “Being a Medical Assistant, my greatest strength is the ability to multitask without compromising on the quality of work and I also am compassionate with patients.”
8. Do you think technology is important in this job?
Answer: “Technology is vital in every industry. It helps in time management and resource management as well. And in our job, it is important to keep things like reports and documents organized and saved for future reference. Technology helps in maintaining speed and accuracy in our job.”
9. List some basic technical skills.
Answer: “A Medical Assistant should have basic knowledge of
- MS word
- MS Excel
- Outlook
- Medical Accounting Software.”
10. Would you be available to work overtime if needed?
Answer: “I am adaptable to any kind of work schedule, so yes, it will be my pleasure to work extra hours and random shifts.”
11. How do you protect patients’ rights and protect confidentiality?
Answer: “I stick to all the guidelines that are to be followed by a medical assistant. I make sure that they are conducted in private spaces. While maintaining the records, I make sure that all the records are safe and password-protected, so that no one can get unauthorized access to it.”
12. What are your long-term professional plans?
Answer: “I would really like to be part of a position where I will get to be for the long-term. I am a new medical assistant and I am very excited about learning more and growing in this field. I want a job in the company where I can see my future and growth.”
13. Medical Assistants have to tend to be nervous or frustrated family members, in addition to stressed patients. How do you approach offering support to your patient’s friends and family?
Answer: “I have a sense of understandability and compassion towards my patients as providing care to the patients is the main objective of a medical assistant. It is always difficult to address the loved ones of the patients. I always try to speak kindly and offer time to answer questions.”
14. List some administrative skills you have.
Answer: “Some administrative skills that I possess are:
- Computer skills
- Keeping availability of medicines
- Obtaining reports from labs”
15. What are your weaknesses?
Answer: “I prefer not to disclose my weaknesses. But being a medical assistant, I feel most helpless when I am unable to help a patient through some serious issues. And I can assure you my weaknesses will not affect my work performance.”
16. Tell me something yourself.
Answer: “I am a Certified Medical Assistant. I completed my training at [the name of the institute]. I interned as a medical assistant at ABC clinic for 5 months period. Being a part of the healthcare industry was my dream since I was in 10th standard and being a medical assistant appeals to me the most.”
17. What is your ideal work schedule?
Answer: “I would prefer to work on the day shift as I am not comfortable working late. But in case if my superiors need me to work for extra hours, I am all in for it under certain circumstances.”
18. Are you familiar with Electrocardiography?
Answer: “I am aware that performing EKG tests is an essential part of the job. During my internship training, I got to know about electrocardiography, electrodes, waves, readings, and, EKG machines. I also have a certification in this training.”
19. Are you comfortable working in a fast-paced medical work environment?
Answer: “I know the tasks and duties of a medical assistant can be challenging sometimes, but this is what I have signed up for. I am totally comfortable in working in such an environment as this is something I look forward to doing.”
20. Do you have any plans for career advancement?
Answer: “Yes, I do have plans for learning more in this career as learning should never stop. I believe medical assisting is my career path and I want to excel in this field until I attain perfection on an expert level. I would like to do some more certification courses which will help me grow in this field.”
21. Last, but not least, what is your favorite part about being a medical assistant.
Answer: “I love all the aspects of my job. But one thing that I love the most is to interact with my patients and solve their problems and help to address all of them. I love to see my patients smile; it gives me a reason to do this job every day. Clinical duties appeal to me the most. I love attending and treating my patients.”
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (if you want to crack Interview):
Conclusion
So, that was all about this article. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it informative. Comment what you liked the most about this article and share it if you liked it.
Thank you for reading!
References
- https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2005/0400/p51.html?printable=fpm
- https://journals.lww.com/hcmrjournal/fulltext/2018/04000/team_based_primary_care__the_medical_assistant.4.aspx
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