Medical and dental administrators are a crucial part of the healthcare industry. They are often the first contact for customers who visit hospitals and clinics for dental and other medical treatments. They do not directly treat patients, but they may be arranging the treatments by providing all the logistical support to doctors, dentists, and other technical staff.
Medical office administrators help doctors with a variety of administrative duties in hospitals, medical clinics, doctor’s offices, and other such medical settings. They schedule medical appointments, communicate with medical staff, maintain inventory, do billing, prepare invoices, etc.
Similarly, dental assistants assist dentists, dental therapists, and dental hygienists during the treatment of patients. They also perform clerical functions such as preparing invoices, processing payments, scheduling patient appointments, etc. Dental assistants perform their duties in dental clinics, community health centers, clinics and other such institutions. Their job duties include preparing patients for dental examinations, sterilizing instruments, taking X-rays, educating patients about dental hygiene, etc.
If you have the skills like oral communication, coordinating, monitoring, instructing, time management, and management of material resources, then you may consider enrolling in Edison College’s Medical & Dental Office Administrator Diploma program. The benefit of this 8-month diploma program is that its graduates can work in both medical and dental clinics and hospitals; moreover, it is a 100% online course. Otherwise, most of such programs (like medical office administration course) are offered separately for medical office administrators and dental office administrators.
What Numbers Say
Medical office administrators can have different job titles such as medical administrative assistant or medical clinic assistant, to name a few. According to the Government of Canada 2023 statistics, the median salary of a medical administrative assistant is $22.56, but it varies from province to province. For example, the median salary of such jobs in Alberta is $28.00, which is significantly higher than other provinces. Just to give you an interesting fact, the lowest median salary for medical office administrators is $21 in Manitoba. Suppose, you work 40 hours a week, then you can make $3,610 a month (with a median Canadian salary of $22.56). Obviously, this salary can be way higher or lower, depending on the province you live in and the number of years of your experience.
Source: Job bank
The job titles of a dental office administrator can also vary, such as dental office assistant or dental assistant, etc. According to the Government of Canada 2023 statistics, the median salary of a dental assistant is $25.44 in Canada, with Alberta again topping the list with a median salary of $30.00. The lowest median salary for dental assistants is $21.50 in Prince Edward Island. One can get a monthly salary of $4,070 (with a median Canadian salary of $25.44) with 40 hours per week.
Source: Job bank
Job Prospects For 2024, 2025 and 2026
Job prospects for these two fields over the next three years are quite different, depending on the province you live in. For instance, job prospects for medical administrative assistants are very good in Manitoba, Quebec, and Saskatchewan while good in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labrador, according to the Government of Canada. Similarly, job prospects for dental assistants are good in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan, while moderate in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec, etc.
The Next 10 Years Job Prospects
By 2021, there were 91,200 medical administrative assistants employed all over Canada, while the total number of employed dental assistants was 37,300. The Government of Canada expects that there will be new job openings of 41,100 for medical administrative assistants from 2022 to 2031, while there will be 36,400 new job seekers to fill these jobs, a shortage of 11.4%. In the case of dental assistants, the expected addition of new jobs will be 14,200 from 2022 to 2031 while there will be 17,000 new job seekers in this category over the same period, an oversupply of 19.7%.
Currently, the median salary of medical administrative assistants is $22.56 in Canada compared to $25.44, i.e., a difference of 12.76%. The expected shortage of medical administrative assistants all over the country may push their salaries a bit higher in the coming years.
Conclusion
Like many other fields within the healthcare sector, medical administrative assistants and dental assistants are in shortage in the country. The Canadian population is aging fast, and despite high immigration of foreign workers, the country is unable to meet the growing demands of the healthcare sector. After the devastating impact of the pandemic, for both the healthcare sector and the healthcare workers, the Canadian government is trying to improve the working conditions in this critical sector. The government is also introducing new programs to help employers so that they can better serve their employees. Chances are that job prospects in the healthcare sector will continue to remain better than most of the other sectors in Canada.
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