Medical assistants and pharmacy technicians both play important roles in the healthcare system, but they operate in different environments with very separate and distinct responsibilities.
Medical assistants typically work in healthcare clinics, hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other medical settings, where they support physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals in treating patients. In contrast, pharmacy technicians work in pharmacies alongside pharmacists, focusing on preparing and dispensing medications — services that are essential for patient care but do not involve direct clinical treatment.
For individuals who are weighing their options for a career in healthcare and might be considering becoming a medical assistant or a pharmacy tech, it is important to understand the differences between these two entry-level roles, including the specific responsibilities, skills, and work settings associated with each position.
Aspiring healthcare professionals should also explore the employment outlooks for both careers and the education and training needed to enter each field. Enrolling in a medical program can be an excellent way to begin your path for a career in healthcare.
What Is a Medical Assistant?
Medical assistants work in many types of healthcare environments, including hospitals, private practices, ambulatory care facilities, and outpatient care centers. Because medical assistants have an entry-level role, they operate purely in a supportive capacity within teams of nurses, physicians, and administrators.
What makes the role of a medical assistant distinct is that they can have both clinical and administrative duties. Depending on their work environment and their level of cross-training, they may focus entirely on clinical or administrative tasks, or perform a combination of both.
Medical Assistant Duties and Responsibilities
Medical assistants who support direct patient care may perform any of the following duties:
Recording patients’ medical histories
Assisting with patients’ exams
Collecting specimens from patients for lab tests
Performing basic lab tests and recording their results
Explaining treatment procedures and how medications work to patients
Assisting with administering injections and medications to patients
Changing patients’ dressings and caring for their wounds
Arranging approved prescription refills for patients
Medical assistants who work in healthcare administration may perform the following duties:
Using administrative software applications
Answering phones and scheduling appointments
Greeting and checking in patients
Assisting with patients’ file audits
Helping administrators with bookkeeping, billing, and insurance claims
Medical Assistant Skills
Successful medical assistants have a mixture of clinical, administrative, and soft skills that they can apply in whichever work environment they operate in. Examples of important medical assistant skills include the following:
Active listening and interpersonal skills
Effective communication skills
Computer skills and proficiency in using medical software platforms
Customer service skills
Basic proficiency in bookkeeping and billing
Basic knowledge of health insurance and the claims process
Critical thinking skills
Basic clinical skills
What Is a Pharmacy Technician?
Like medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, or pharmacy techs, work in a supportive capacity by helping pharmacists prepare and dispense prescription medications. Because pharmacy techs have an entry-level role, they work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist, who reviews all prescriptions before they are dispensed to patients.
Most pharmacy techs work for drug retailers like CVS, Walgreens, or grocery store pharmacies. A smaller percentage work in hospital pharmacies. In some cases, pharmacy technicians make hospital rounds with physicians to dispense medications to patients under their supervision.
Pharmacy Technician Duties and Responsibilities
Pharmacy techs perform a wide array of duties that support a pharmacy’s day-to-day operations, including the following:
Collecting information from healthcare professionals and patients
Updating patients’ records
Measuring medications
Labeling and packaging prescriptions
Organizing inventory
Monitoring supply shortages
Accepting payments
Processing insurance claims
Taking incoming calls and answering questions
Explaining to patients how medications work
Pharmacy Technician Skills
Pharmacy tech work is highly meticulous and involves public-facing duties that require soft skills. Some essential pharmacy tech skills include the following:
Attention to detail
Communication and interpersonal skills
Customer service skills
Basic computer skills
Mathematics proficiency
Problem-solving skills
Organizational and inventory management skills
Differences Between Medical Assistants and Pharmacy Technicians
When comparing the roles of medical assistant vs. pharmacy tech, it is clear that there are significant differences between the two. Although there is some overlap in their duties and required skills, there are quite a few distinctions that set them apart. The most notable of these include the following:
Medical assistant work settings comprise a wide array of healthcare environments; pharmacy techs only work in pharmacies.
Medical assistants may perform clinical tasks, administrative tasks, or a mixture of both; pharmacy techs typically have more defined, consistent tasks.
Medical assistants provide support to nurses, physicians, administrators, and healthcare specialists; pharmacy techs provide dedicated support to the supervising pharmacist.
Most medical assistants work hospital hours, which means they may work 12-hour shifts, including overnight shifts; most pharmacy techs work eight-hour shifts within standard pharmacy hours, which are typically 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with limited hours on weekends.
Medical assistants are afforded some autonomy in certain clinical and administrative duties; pharmacy techs must have every prescription they help prepare checked and approved by the pharmacist.
Medical Assistant vs. Pharmacy Tech: Job Outlook
Job outlook is an important consideration when evaluating medical assistant vs. pharmacy tech career paths. Both fields appear to be poised for growth, but one seems to be outpacing the other.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), pharmacy tech jobs are projected to grow by 6% between 2022 and 2032, an estimated gain of 25,900 jobs. The agency expects employment of medical assistants to grow at more than twice that rate, forecasting an increase of 14% for the decade, or roughly 105,900 more jobs are forecasted for medical assistants during that time frame.
How to Leverage a New Career in Healthcare
Familiarizing yourself with what medical assistants and pharmacy techs do and where they work can help you make an informed decision as you consider beginning a career in healthcare. Although individuals in both roles contribute to patient care, they do so in distinct ways with minimal overlap in their duties.
What both medical assistants and pharmacy techs share is the need for high-quality education and training. Fortis offers a range of programs in medical tech and healthcare, including medical assistant and pharmacy technician programs.
Act now to find out how Fortis can help you prepare to enter the healthcare workforce with the knowledge and in-demand skills you will need to meet your professional goals.
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