Final answer:
A medical assistant's responsibilities in preparing a patient for a physical exam include ensuring informed consent forms are signed and may involve performing a fecal occult blood test. Writing prescriptions and conducting an ophthalmoscope examination are tasks beyond a medical assistant's scope of practice.
Step-by-step explanation:
When preparing a patient for a physical exam, a medical assistant's responsibilities may include administrative tasks such as ensuring that all informed consent forms have been signed, verifying the patient's identity, and considering the patient's medical history, including known allergies. While a medical assistant can perform some clinical tasks, only licensed healthcare professionals, such as physicians or nurse practitioners, have the authority to write prescriptions for patients. The use of an ophthalmoscope to check the patient's eyes would typically be within the scope of a physician or an optometrist. Performing a fecal occult blood test can be part of a medical assistant's role, as it involves collecting and preparing samples for testing, which are then analyzed by a lab technician or medical technologist.