How Does Psychology Relate to Medical Assisting?

Medical assistants play a crucial role in any professional office. Depending upon the size and scope of the office, they will perform a variety of administrative and clinical tasks. Interacting well with patients, doctors and other office staff is critical. Psychology, which is the study of human (and animal) behavior, has many components such as how to motivate others or how to have successful relationships. Health psychology deals with how behavior affects illness. Medical assistants with psychology skills will likely enjoy and be more successful at their jobs.

Medical Assistant Role

• According to the 2010-2011 Occupational Outlook Handbook, medical assistants perform multiple tasks to maintain, organize and run a medical office. They have administrative functions like filing medical records or answering phones. On the clinical side, they may check vitals or instruct patients on wound care. Most related to psychology is the fact that they interact with people all day long, and some patients are not feeling well or are faced with serious health issues.

Interoffice Relationships

• A medical assistant needs to get along with other medical assistants, doctors and office staff. This means building and maintaining healthy relationships. According to Loyola Marymount University, one key psychological component to building healthy relationships is effective communication. A medical assistant needs to know how to clearly speak with all staff. This might mean "agreeing to disagree," listening intently to a concerned coworker, or sharing difficult information in a constructive way.

Dealing with Patients

• A medical assistant may spend more time with patients than doctors do. He needs to feel comfortable with certain psychological skills like reassuring patients, setting appropriate boundaries, actively listening and being respectful, managing difficult conversations and doing all of this while also completing the tasks of a medical assistant. Medical assistants must get patients to comply in a positive way. It might be a medical assistant's job to take blood from a fearful child or ask a patient to pay up on a medical bill.

Handling Administrative Tasks

• Medical assistants must answer telephones and greet patients with genuine caring and concern. Answering the phone itself is a task, but doing so in a caring and compassionate way takes skill. There is a difference between saying "hi" as a patient walks in the door or greeting her by name. Medical assistants need to be very aware of patient privacy and follow guidelines to ensure everyone's privacy is protected.

Handling Clinical Tasks

• A medical assistant may be technically proficient at taking blood pressure or performing an eye exam but she also must feel comfortable talking to patients, answering their questions thoroughly, while remaining within her scope of practice. These skills take an understanding of how people behave, react, and process information--all psychology skills. Having a good bedside manner means that a medical assistant is compassionate, has appropriate body language and is respectful.