Being a medical assistant is not as easy as many people imagine it can be. The medical assistants are often required to work as many hours and as long shifts as the doctors and other medical personnel. When choosing to become a medical assistant you need to understand the schedules and kind of work involved in becoming a medical assistant. The medical or hospital environment is an environment that is busy all through the day and sometimes through the night. As opposed to what many people think, the medical assistant is required to work hand in hand with doctors and nurses. Therefore it not surprising that you will find some institutions advertising posts which include a free schedule and ability to work for long hours. Sometimes medical assistants find themselves working more than 40hours a week, long periods of time without relaxing. Various websites has examples of such requirements posted in vacancies.