How to become a medical assistant

Official title: Medical assistants

Also called: Clinical assistant, Medical assistant, Ophthalmic assistant

Medical assistants perform basic clinical and administrative tasks to support patient care under the direct supervision of a medical practitioner or other health professional.

Main tasks

• Interviewing patients and their families to obtain information on their health status and medical history
• Assisting medical doctors and other health professionals to examine and treat patients, including measuring and recording vital signs, administering medications and performing routine clinical procedures such as giving injections and removing sutures
• Getting patients ready for examination and treatment, including explaining procedures and showing them to examination rooms
• Preparing and handling medical instruments and supplies, including sterilizing instruments and disposing of contaminated supplies in accordance with safety procedures
• Collecting blood, tissue or other specimens, and preparing them for laboratory testing
• Providing information to patients and families on health care topics including medications prescribed by a medical doctor or other health professional
• Providing prescription and drug refill information to pharmacies
• Maintaining cleanliness of patient waiting and examination rooms
• Recording information on patients’ medical history, diagnostic testing and treatment procedures and results, and other information in medical record-keeping systems
• Scheduling appointments with patients, and preparing documentation required for billing, reporting and insurance purposes

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$27,000 a month
• About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
• Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Ambulance workers
• Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified
• Dispensing opticians
• Medical records and health information technicians
• Physiotherapy technicians and assistants
• Environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a medical assistant?

Not always. 35% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a medical assistant?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026