Medical Assistant Resume: Writing Guidelines and Samples

Medical Assistant Resume: How to Write One?

Well done! You have completed your medical assistant training successfully and are all set to land your dream job. Here, you must understand that a precisely written medical assistant resume is a crucial marketing tool in your job search, to showcase your professional qualifications and skills impressively to the potential employers.

A medical assistant resume objective is to highlight your education, work experience, and accomplishments. A well-structured resume written with great attention to detail can make you stand out from other applicants and get you a job interview. If you are writing the resume for the first time and looking for sample templates and useful tips to create a winning one, we are here to help you. Read on!

Medical Assistant Resume Sample Templates

Creating a professional resume is easier said than done. To reduce your effort and give you an edge, we are providing some resume sample templates for the medical assistants who are seeking a job. Take a look!

Tips to Write an Impressive Medical Assistant Resume

Include All the Relevant Information

As stated earlier, your resume is an important marketing document that can get you the desired job. You might be having lots of information to showcase in your resume, but you must put only the relevant and the best stuff. Here are a few points that you must not omit.

1. Start with a Strong Objective or Summary Statement

   The summary statement is a brief and concise paragraph that provides a quick look at your experience, professional skills, abilities, and accomplishments. Craft the summary in such a way that it resonates with the requirements of the hiring managers and depict you as the ideal candidate for the job. For example:

   “A dedicated and diligent medical assistant with 10+ years of experience in patient care at the physician’s office and healthcare facilities. Strong knowledge of first aid, CPR, and HIPPA regulations with experience of rendering services to more than 15 patients per day in a fast-paced environment.”

   Write the summary if you are an experienced medical assistant. But, if you are a fresher or have a little experience, you must start your resume with the objective. The objective is an introductory statement that focuses on the needs and future goals of the job seeker.

   “A hard-working medical assistant, looking forward to working with an established healthcare facility where I can apply my extensive clinical and administrative skills to deliver exceptional patient care services and contribute toward the welfare of the organization.”

2. Medical Assistant Resume Skills

   The career of a medical assistant comes with lots of responsibilities, and to fulfill them efficiently, one must have certain personality traits and abilities. Your skills give a glimpse of what you will bring to the table if you get hired. Many recruiters use application tracking systems (ATS) to sort the resumes that best match with the established criteria and job description. So, the more skills you will show up in the resume, the more likely you will have the chance to get an interview call.

   Highlight the job skills that differentiate you from other applicants and portray you as the perfect fit for the job opening you are applying for. You should also mention your adaptive skills, such as patience, honesty, compassion, etc., that prove you can work with patients of all genders and ages. Don’t forget to include your technical skills, such as the ability to code medical data, knowledge of computers, experience in performing the ultrasound, etc.

   Clinical skills that you can mention in the resume:

   • Vital signs measurement
   • Administering medications and injections
   • Medical terminology
   • Patient/family education
   • Phlebotomy
   • Electrocardiogram (EKG)
   • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
   • Infection control and safety guidelines
   • Sterilizing and setting up instruments
   • Knowledge of quality control standards and regulatory compliance

   Administrative skills that can be included in the resume:

   • Scheduling appointment
   • Customer service
   • Telephone etiquette
   • Computer literacy
   • Completing insurance forms
   • Recording patients’ information
   • Documentation skills

   Other skills:

   • Strong written and verbal communication
   • Time management
   • Interpersonal skills
   • Attention to detail
   • Compassion, adaptable, and empathetic
   • Multitasking

3. Write Your Professional Experience in Detail

   Your work experience develops a belief in your potential employer that you have all the capabilities to assume the role you are applying for, and you can prove as an asset for the organization.

   While writing the employment history, mention the current employer first, and then the previous jobs. Include the following information:

   • Name of the organizations you worked for
   • Locations (cities and states) of the organizations
   • Employment duration in the month-year format (e.g., June 2015 – August 2018)
   • Job titles
   •  Responsibilities and impact of our services

   If you are a fresher and don’t have comprehensive work experience, reveal your volunteer works and internships.

4. Mention Your Education and Certifications

   Although a GED or high school diploma is the minimum qualification to become a medical assistant, you can obtain certification and degree to improve your job prospects. Mention the highest education (associate or bachelor degree) you have achieved, the name of the institute/university from where you pursued it, and the year of completion. Also, mention all the medical assistant certifications you possess.

   You can include information about your education and certifications separately. In case you have the minimum educational qualification but extensive work experience, you can combine Education & Certifications as one category.

5. Accomplishments, Achievements, and Awards

   Highlight all the achievements and awards you received in your current and previous jobs.

   • Mention the name of the award and the year when you got it
   • You can combine your accomplishments with your job responsibilities. For e.g., Performed EHR documentation for all patients’ visits, maintaining 30% fewer errors than average.

6. Contact Information

   Don’t forget to mention the following details:

   • Your full name as indicated on educational documents, blog, online portfolio, or LinkedIn profile (avoid writing nickname)
   • Physical address
   • Contact number
   • Email address (You can also set up a separate email address for your job search activities)

Pay Heed to Formatting

For the sake of making the resume more visible to the potential employers, most of the applicants showcase extreme creativity and end up affecting its readability severely. Here are a few tips to make your resume more readable while maintaining its professionalism.

1. Keep the Design Simple

   For making your resume easy on the eyes of the recruiter, use a font size of 12. You can use any of the modern fonts, such as Arial, Helvetica, Century Gothic, and Times New Roman. There should be enough white space and appropriate margins (keep it below 2 inches) between lines to give it a clean and neat look.

2. Keep it Precise and Concise

   Recruiters have to scrutinize lots of resumes, so they don’t have much time to read lengthy resumes. Also, you would certainly not want to get your resume sidelined for this reason. That’s why; wrap it up in one or two pages. Include the stuff that is most relevant to the job you are applying for.

3. Keep the Content Well-Organized

   Avoid writing long paragraphs. Instead, write sub-headings. Use bullets and numbers to organize the critical information in an appropriate order in each section/sub-heading. Follow the chronological resume format and put the most recent job experience first.

Prepare a Custom Resume for Every Job

One resume doesn’t fit for all jobs; you must customize for each application. For this, carefully go through the job description (JD), paying attention to detail to the job title, responsibilities, location, and requirements. Make a list of all the phrases and terms that are more emphasized in the JD and include them wisely in your resume while describing your skills.

Most of the employers prefer to hire local candidates over out-of-the-state candidates. So, clearly mention your city and state at the top of the resume. If you are applying for an out-of-the-state job, you can specify your willingness to relocate. It is essential to reduce the chances of your resume getting dismissed due to location issues.

Edit and Proofread it Carefully

Your resume is a crucial tool to make a positive impression on the recruiters, but spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and typos can severely tarnish your image. Therefore, once you draft the resume, meticulously proofread it many times. Here are a few tips for proofreading it properly.

• Our brains can scrutinize the printed words easily over the words typed on the computer screen. So, you must use a printed copy of your resume while proofreading.
• Read it slowly; one word at a time, but aloud.
• Review all the minute things, such as spacing, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc.
• Replace jargon or words having ambiguous meaning with easy-to-understand and straightforward terms
• Check the hyperlinks (e.g., articles, email id, etc.) and ensure they are clickable and taking the recruiter to the right place
• Pay attention to verb tense; use the past tense for the jobs that you have left
• Check your name and contact information
• Proofread it 3-4 times and highlight all the mistakes in the printed resume
•  Make corrections in the Microsoft Word version; proofread it once again
• You can also ask your mentor, family member, or friend, to proofread your resume

Send Resume with Correct Attachments

Save your resume with an apt file name. Instead of saving it as “Resume,” save it as “<Your Name> Resume.” Check the instructions provided by the employer before sending the resume and accordingly email it in the .doc, PDF, or other formats. Don’t forget to attach a well-written cover letter.

Conclusion

You have worked hard to achieve your medical assistant training; don’t sabotage your efforts by overlooking the importance of a resume. It’s your resume that serves as the first point of contact with the prospective employer. So, be mindful while creating the one and follow all the tips mentioned above to make your resume stand out from the plethora of resumes submitted by other applicants.

Read more here:

• Sample Medical Assistant Interview Questions and Answers
• Medical Assistant Thank You Letter Samples