"Hello, I am your Registered Medical Assistant!"
Medical Assistant (RMA) credential
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Are you a medical assistant? Does it frustrate you that your hard earned diploma seems worthless unless you have experience? Or do you have experience but no way to reliably document it for better employment opportunities?
Most employers demand:
"We want EXPERIENCE before we hire!"
Call it a medical assistant's catch-22! Most employers seek medical assistants with 1-2 years of experience and expect reliable documentation of their skills. But how can you get experience if no one wants to hire you? How can you document your skills without experience? And how do you reliably document experience you already have? This is where your medical assisting certifications come into play. Click the green "Information" button below to learn more.
"Hello, I am your Registered Medical Assistant!"
Medical Assistant (RMA) credential
Medical assistants, who provide services that involve direct contact with patients and residents at a medical office, or health care facility, must properly introduce and identify themselves as such. The best way to avoid confusion is to clearly state your name and job title when introducing yourself to a patient to avoid being mistaken as a nurse, doctor, or other licensed health care professional. Just say: "I am your medical assistant" and wear your name badge with a lapel pin from your professional membership, or certification association, if you have one.
Certification gives you recognized designations and verification of your qualifications. When applying for medical assistant jobs, these credentials are portable to all places as long as you keep your certification status active. Steve Verno, a certified medical biller in Florida recently told us: "Doctors can be tricky in their wants and desires. Some have been burned badly by a previous employee, so they don't want that to happen again." The certification bodies have established standards of practice for medical assistants, and disciplinary measures for violations. When complaints are filed against a certified, or registered medical assistant, it will be investigated and appropriately dealt with. A medical office hiring a CMA, or RMA can request the applicant's status and verify their credentials.
Don't put off your certifications any longer...
RMA tells us in our Medical Assistant Forums
Re: RMA vs CMA-One better than the other?
"Here are the facts: RMA vs. CMA credentials = no difference (except different professional membership associations, and fees). If a job requires you to be a CMA, and you are a RMA, you are equally qualified and can apply for the job. Both designations mean the same thing. It's the same as the LPN and LVN title, where in some states you are called an LPN, and some are called an LVN . Same title, same job! Both exams are basically the same; based on multiple choice questions testing your clinical and administrative knowledge in the medical assisting field. I have taken both."
No, just graduating from an accredited school doesn't make you a certified professional! Certification is NOT automatic just because you graduated from a medical assistant school and hold a diploma. To get certified you must have graduated from a properly accredited vocational training program and then apply for the certification exam through a professional membership and certification association. Then, upon passing the exam you receive your designation and are certified. This lets you work in any state. Numerous certification sponsors offer medical assistant certifications and related credentials to graduates from qualified vocational training programs, as well as those who did not graduate from a medical assistant school, but have several years of continuous job experience and are still working in their field.
Yes, if you have at least 5 years uninterrupted job experience as a medical assistant then you can apply for the RMA medical assistant exam through AMT. There also a number of other certification sponsors who will allow you to sit for their certification exams based on experience. This is a great option, because it allows experienced medical assistants to demonstrate that they are just as knowledgeable as their formally trained counter parts, and gives them the same tangible proof of their dedication and knowledge in the medical assistant profession as the rest.
A medical assistant "certificate of completion" from a simple online self-study course is not the same as a medical assistant diploma from a vocational training program that is recognized and approved by the U.S. Department of Education, or CHEA. Know the difference!!! Because otherwise, when unrecognized online courses are casting their lure you might get caught and stuck with a piece of paper that is not worth the money and time. According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) hundreds become victims of online scams that offer certificates and diplomas for cash each year. Therefore, consumer beware of fake schools and diploma mills.
It may be perceived as improper, some may even think that it is illegal, to work as a medical assistant without having a diploma as such. However, medical assistants in the USA do not have to receive their training through a medical assistant school, or program at a college; as a matter of fact in most states they don't have to have any formal training at all. The only requirement is that they have a high school diploma. Then they can be trained under the direct supervision of the doctor directly on the job. However well trained, it is important to remember that a medical assistant also needs to have knowledge of their state's law. The reasons are:
1. Protect the public: medical assistants are often dealing with people that are needy, sick, and vulnerable; from the very young, to the very old. Medical assistants must know what they can and cannot do when providing direct clinical care and perform procedures. Knowing what they can, and cannot do protects the public.
2. Protect themselves: every person in a society must follow the law. Not knowing the law is like jumping into the ocean, not knowing how to swim. Medical assistants are held to a certain standard and are responsible for their own actions.
3. Protect the employer: medical assistants cannot practice medicine. They work under the direct supervision of a doctor. While a medical assistant can, and will be held responsible for their own actions, it is the doctor who is ultimately in charge, and responsible under the respondeat superior doctrine.
