Medical assistants
Some tasks can be well supported by AI, but most still need human work. Transformation rather than replacement.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Providing prescription and drug refill information to pharmacies65
- Scheduling appointments with patients, and preparing documentation required for billing, reporting and insurance purposes.64
- Recording information on patients' medical history, diagnostic testing and treatment procedures and results, and other information in medical records-keeping systems61
- Providing information to patients and families on health care topics including medications prescribed by a medical doctor or other health professional53
- Getting patients ready for examination and treatment, including explaining procedures and showing them to examination rooms25
- Interviewing patients and their families to obtain information on their health status and medical history24
- Preparing and handling medical instruments and supplies, including sterilizing instruments and disposing of contaminated supplies in accordance with safety procedures15
- Collecting blood, tissue or other specimens, and preparing them for laboratory testing15
- 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 sutures14
- Maintaining cleanliness of patient waiting and examination rooms10
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Providing prescription and drug refill information to pharmacies(65)
- Scheduling appointments with patients, and preparing documentation required for billing, reporting and insurance purposes.(64)
- Recording information on patients' medical history, diagnostic testing and treatment procedures and results, and other information in medical records-keeping systems(61)
- Providing information to patients and families on health care topics including medications prescribed by a medical doctor or other health professional(53)
- Getting patients ready for examination and treatment, including explaining procedures and showing them to examination rooms(25)
- Interviewing patients and their families to obtain information on their health status and medical history(24)
- Preparing and handling medical instruments and supplies, including sterilizing instruments and disposing of contaminated supplies in accordance with safety procedures(15)
- Collecting blood, tissue or other specimens, and preparing them for laboratory testing(15)
- 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(14)
- Maintaining cleanliness of patient waiting and examination rooms(10)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 35.)
About 40% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Providing prescription and drug refill information to pharmacies
- • Scheduling appointments with patients, and preparing documentation required for billing, reporting and insurance purposes.
- • Maintaining cleanliness of patient waiting and examination rooms
- • 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
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Health associate professionals group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Health associate professionals |
|---|---|
| Germany | 6.3% · 2,657 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 4.3% · 112 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 3.4% · 820 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 3.4% · 989 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 3.3% · 158 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 3.1% · 53 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 3.1% · 80 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 2.9% · 285 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 2.6% · 135 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 2.5% · 118 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 2.3% · 23 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 1.9% · 102 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 1.9% · 87 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 1.8% · 4 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 1.6% · 48 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 1.6% · 531 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 1.4% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 1.4% · 109 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 1.3% · 286 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 1.3% · 39 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 1.2% · 66 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 1.2% · 211 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 1.2% · 63 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 1.1% · 31 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 1.0% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 0.9% · 8 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 0.9% · 13 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 0.7% · 30 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 0.6% · 3 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5% · 15 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Technicians and associate professionals). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland5,280
- Luxembourg4,320
- Norway4,307
- Denmark4,301
- Ireland4,024
- Belgium3,903
- Iceland3,856
- Germany3,608
- Austria3,399
- Netherlands3,247
- EU273,226
- Italy3,127
- Sweden3,089
- Finland2,971
- France2,687
- Spain2,685
- Slovenia2,660
- Cyprus2,537
- Lithuania2,472
- Malta2,464
- Romania2,310
- Poland2,294
- Czechia2,275
- Estonia2,251
- Croatia2,127
- Latvia2,081
- Hungary2,054
- Greece2,050
- Portugal2,044
- Slovakia2,027
- Bulgaria1,738
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Health associate professionals group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
- Medical records and health information technicians52
- Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified30
- Dispensing opticians24
- Environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates24
- Community health workers22
- Ambulance workers22
- Physiotherapy technicians and assistants17
- Dental assistants and therapists16
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?