Medical Assistant - Certification

Certification

Professional certification is a way to guarantee competency of a medical assistant at a job-entry level. Certification for medical assistants is voluntary and optional, though it is strongly backed by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and a number of other certification bodies. Employers increasingly prefer or even require that the medical assistants they hire be certified.

In the United States, there are four major organizations that certify medical assistants. Certification is usually achieved by taking the CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination offered by the AAMA Certifying Board in consultation with the National Board of Medical Examiners, which also administers many national exams for physicians. The CMA (AAMA) exam is offered throughout the year at computer-based testing centers across the United States. Only individuals who have successfully completed a CAAHEP or ABHES accredited medical assisting program are eligible for the CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination.

Those who successfully complete the CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination earn the CMA (AAMA) credential. The title CMA (AAMA) then follows postnominally. A CMA (AAMA) must re certify every 60 months by continuing education or re-examination in order to maintain certification. More information about the AAMA and CMA (AAMA) certification can be found at http://www.aama-ntl.org.

There are four U.S. organizations listed in this article that validly certify Medical Assistants. The AAMA has the CMA designation (with capital letters) copyrighted. Any other organization that wishes to certify medical assistants cannot use CMA with capital letters. This does not, however, mean that other certifications are not as equally valid or sought after. In fact, many thousands of Medical Assistants with certification through any of the Organizations mentioned in this article are highly skilled, respected and sought after by employers. It must also be noted, that although they look and sound similar, the AAMA is NOT a part of the AMA (American Medical Association).

A medical assistant may choose another possible credential rather than the CMA (AAMA), and become a Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) instead. Again, credentialing is completely voluntary. The American Medical Technologists (AMT) agency is responsible for certifying MAs who choose this course.

AMT first began offering this certification in 1972. AMT has its own conventions and committees, bylaws, state chapters, officers, registrations, and re validation examinations. To become eligible to hold the title of RMA a student must either pass a medical assisting curriculum at a school accredited by either ABHES or CAAHEP, or possess a minimum of 5 years experience. The initials RMA then follow the individual’s name.

National Health career Association (NHA) is another Organization that has been growing fast across the united States the National Health career Association(NHA)with over 200,000 certified in a number of health care professions. NHA offers certification for medical assistants as Clinical and Administrative and seems to be the only organization that splits up the Certification in two different categories: Certified Clinical Medical Assistant(CCMA) and Certified Medical Administrative Assistant(CMAA). The NHA CCMA also offers certification in Phlebotomy.

The National Center for Competency Testing is another Organization that has stringent testing in place to certify highly qualified medical assistants. The designation received after successful testing (and background check of proper education and/or years of documented experience) is a National Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA). NCCT is an independent, third-party organization that has certified more than 200,000 individuals by examination throughout the U.S. since 1989. NCCT was established as an independent certifying agency in order to avoid any allegiance to a specific organization or association. In this way, NCCT is able to work with many organizations, but can remain independent of any outside allegiances, bias, or agenda. While some certifying agencies might offer automatic, lifetime certification to applicants who pass a single exam, NCCT does not. NCCT certificants are required to complete a minimum of 14 clock hours of continuing education on an annual basis to maintain active status, which we believe provides employers and the public with assurance of their commitment to remain up to date in their professions. NCMA Handbook The NCCT also certifies ECG Technicians, Phlebotomy Technicians and Pharmacy Technicians.