Enhance Your Career Prospects as a Medical Assistant by Obtaining Medical Assistant Certification
The vast majority of employers now want candidates with medical assistant certification. This is due to the growth in the health care industry and the corresponding increase in the level of training required for medical assisting jobs. Being a certified medical assistant means you have a competitive edge in this expanding job market.
Medical assistant certification is voluntary but extremely valuable. You can begin your job without being certified but, as stated, increasing competition in this field means that it is only certified medical assistants who have the upper hand when it comes to job interviews, career advancement, better salaries and job security. Employers want to know that the medical assistants they hire have met a certain standard of skills and knowledge so they will be proficient in administrative and clinical procedures. The benefits of medical assisting certification make it the only option for future success in the field of medical assisting jobs.
Ensure you are eligible for medical assistant certification
A certificate is obtainable upon the completion of either a certificate program or an associate’s medical assistant degree. A degree is longer and more expensive and includes other general subjects but can be looked on more favourably by potential employers and therefore open more career opportunities and better earnings. The fundamental issue for either course is to ensure that you find medical assistant schools which offer programs that are certified by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) or by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). Only in this way can you qualify for medical assistant certification after completing a medical assistant training program.
Organizations which offer certification
For those who have or are about to graduate from accredited medical assistant schools, the best organization to receive medical assistant certification from is the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). It is recognised as the top level in certification of medical assisting professionalism. The examination costs $125 for completing students or recent graduates from CAAHEP and ABHES accredited schools. Those entering under other categories pay $250. This certificate is valid for five years. Alternatively, graduates can receive medical assistant certification from the Association of Medical Technologies (AMT) which costs $95 and expires every three years. This organization primarily certifies medical assistants who did not complete medical assistant training but have been employed in the field for a minimum of five years.
Applying for and obtaining the necessary certification
When applying for certification from the AAMA you need to read the Candidate Application and Handbook for the CMA (AAMA) Certification/Recertification Examination from the AAMA website: http://www.aama-ntl.org/becomeCMA/how.aspx. This will provide you with the necessary information including categories under which to apply, documentation required, the payment of fees, exam format, study suggestions, exam date scheduling, test centers and conditions, pass/fail notification and medical assistant certification. This also includes the application form which you need to mail with the required fee and documentation and retain a photocopy for your records. This should be sent in one envelope to:
AAMA Certification
7999 Eagle Way
Chicago, IL 60678-1079.
After your application has been approved and processed (which should be within thirty days of the date you mailed your application) you will receive a scheduling permit with instructions for making an appointment at a Prometric test center in your area. You must ensure all the information on the permit is correct. If it has changed or is incorrect you need to contact AAMA immediately at 1-312-899-1500.
Give yourself enough time to study for the medical assistant certification exam. You can review the content outline for the exam and take a certification practice test provided by the AAMA. Examinations for a medical assistant certificate vary depending on the certifying body chosen but will typically cover the topics of patient care, ethics and relations, physiology and anatomy, medical law and terminology, clinical and diagnostic procedures, laboratory techniques, first aid including CPR and AED training, as well as administrative topics such as record keeping, keyboarding and computer applications, accounting and insurance filing. The certification exam consists of two hundred multiple-choice questions on the computer and can be completed in four forty minute sections with a maximum of twenty minutes break in between.
When sitting the exam you need to report thirty minutes before the scheduled testing time and bring your scheduling permit along with a current form of government-issued identification such as a driver’s license or passport. Candidates will be informed immediately if they have passed or failed and official reports will be mailed ten weeks after the exam. Successful candidates will receive an official medical assistant certification and card to prove they have achieve the Certified Medical Assistant (AAMA) credential, nine weeks after receiving their official score report.
You should recertify your medical assistant certification every five years, either through examination or by acquiring points through education, to ensure you are in the best position to offer quality expertise to patients and employers and advance your own professional development.
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