1. a health service worker who is not a registered medical practitioner (often in the armed forces) working in association with a doctor to undertake minor treatments and preliminary assessments. In poorer countries, particularly in rural areas where qualified resources are short (e.g. China), agricultural workers receive limited training in health care and continue in a dual role as barefoot doctors; elsewhere, limited training concentrates more on environmental issues: the workers so trained are known as sanitarians. 2. in the USA, a person – licensed or unlicensed, certified or uncertified – who provides administrative and/or clinical assistance in a physician’s office or other health-care facility. Administrative duties typically include filling out insurance forms, billing, and bookkeeping, while clinical duties may include taking medical histories, preparing patients to be examined, and preparing blood and urine specimens.... medical assistant
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