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Allied Health Services Major

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Allied Health Services

795 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
461 Master's Degrees Annually
#15 in Popularity
$47,450 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Allied Health Services Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many allied health and medical assisting services graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate 44,973
Associate Degree 20,673
Basic Certificate 17,589
Bachelor’s Degree 795
Master’s Degree 461
Graduate Certificate 1

What Allied Health Services Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to medical assisting and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medical Assisting Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

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  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for Medical Assisting Majors

When studying medical assisting, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

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  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Medical Assisting Majors

Medical Assisting majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

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  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Allied Health Services Major?

People with a medical assisting degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians 22.0% $25,750
Anesthesiologist Assistants 37.4% $108,610
Health Specialties Professors 25.9% $97,370
Healthcare Support Workers 11.7% $37,830
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians 14.0% NA
Medical Assistants 29.0% $33,610
Occupational Therapy Assistants 29.0% $60,220
Pharmacy Technicians 11.8% $32,700
Physical Therapist Assistants 31.1% $58,040
Radiologic Technicians 19.6% $42,920
Speech-Language Pathology Assistants 11.7% $37,830
Surgical Technologists 11.7% $47,300
Veterinary Technologists and Technicians 20.0% $34,420

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Allied Health Services?

795 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
79% Percent Women
30% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is one of the most frequently chosen healthcare majors. It is the 15th most popular in the country with 795 students graduating with a bachelor’s in medical assisting in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 79% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical assisting majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 62
Black or African American 61
Hispanic or Latino 67
White 536
International Students 10
Other Races/Ethnicities 59

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Medical Assisting. About 1.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • Saudi Arabia
  • Canada
  • Jamaica
  • China
  • South Korea

How Much Do Allied Health Services Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

According to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education, students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in medical assisting have a median salary of $30,256 during the early years of their career. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $29,511 (25th percentile) and $36,294 (75th percentile).

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One thing to note here is that not all of these people may be working in careers related to medical assisting.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $34,540 to $57,750 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to medical assisting. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for an Allied Health Services Major  ( 34540 to 57750 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some degrees associated with medical assisting may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to medical assisting have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 0.6%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 14.3%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 15.5%
Some College Courses 6.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 41.8%
Bachelor’s Degree 10.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 2.3%
Master’s Degree 6.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 0.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. 0.8%
Doctoral Degree 1.3%
Post-Doctoral Training 1.0%

Online Allied Health Services Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,644 schools offered some type of allied health and medical assisting services program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 1,339 36
Certificate (2-4 Years) 18 0
Associate’s Degree 1,330 60
Bachelor’s Degree 3 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 27 1
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 1 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Allied Health Services Worth It?

The median salary for a medical assisting grad is $47,450 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 19% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $151,000 after 20 years!

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical assisting.

Major Number of Grads
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596
Health Sciences & Services 35,945
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 29,833
Mental & Social Health Services 29,053
Medicine 28,629
Dental Support Services 26,399
Communication Sciences 22,298
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 20,393
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 18,901
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services 10,751
Health/Medical Prep Programs 9,210
Other Health Professions 7,984
Dentistry 6,770
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 6,158
Bioethics/Medical Ethics 5,115
Alternative Medicine & Systems 3,564
Chiropractic 2,658
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies 2,374
Medical Illustration & Informatics 2,089
Optometry 1,822
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 1,775
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services 960
Medical Science 909
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies 294
Alternative Medical Support Services 227
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies 68

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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