The medical assisting profession began as a general support staff position, without a specific group or professional identity. Workers trained on the job, and duties varied widely according to the needs of the worksite. Medical assistants have traditionally worked in ambulatory care centers, urgent care facilities, and clinics, but the profession continues to expand into other health care settings.

In 1956 the American Association of Medical Assistants held its charter meeting in Milwaukee, Wis., forming the first national organization dedicated exclusively to the medical assisting profession. The association's first president was Maxine Williams. The medical assisting profession has grown to employ hundreds of thousands of health care workers, with four major organizations that offer different medical assisting certification.   

In 1969, the first three medical assisting programs were accredited. This number had grown to 82 in 1974, 142 in 1979, 241 in 1990, and 303 in 1995. When AAMA certification policy changed in the late 1990's, the number of accredited programs increased rapidly, with 600 programs having been accredited by the end of 2000, and today stands at 636 CAAHEP accredited medical assisting programs.        

Medical assistants perform a wide variety of clinical and administrative duties required to keep medical offices running smoothly. Although duties vary with differences in practice specialty, administrative tasks often include updating and filing medical records, scheduling patient appointments, filling out insurance forms, performing billing and collection procedures, and handling bookkeeping and other financial matters. Clinical tasks vary by state law, but can include taking vital signs, preparing patients for examinations, drawing blood, taking electrocardiograms, removing sutures or changing dressings, and assisting physicians with examinations. Finally, medical assistants serve as the central link between patients and physicians, and therefore must maintain excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Although not required by law, many employers prefer or even require that their medical assistants earn certification to ensure standards of knowledge and skill needed to work in the contemporary medical office. The American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and the American Medical Technologists (AMT) offer the two most prominent medical assisting credentials: the CMA (AAMA), and the RMA (AMT), respectively.

As the health care field continues to grow, so too does the medical assisting profession. Employment projects to grow much faster than average, ranking medical assistants among the fastest growing occupations of the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A great challenge to the medical assisting profession arises from terminology. Many physicians and other health care professionals refer to working medical assistants as "nurses" in the office setting. However, medical assistants are not nurses, and should not refer to themselves (or be referred to) as such, since legal issues can arise from the mistake. In some states, medical assistants have been told that they need to become medication aides/assistants in order to be delegated the administration of medication by a physician. This is incorrect, provided medical assistants work under the direct supervision of a physician.

With the recent focus on team-based health care and the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) initiative, medical assistants play an integral role in patient care. Since the PCMH model relies on increased communication between physicians, patients, and their families, health care requires professionals who can bridge this gap. As staff who have historically played this role, medical assistants can expect demand for the profession to increase as the team-based model of care gains prominence.