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YOUR CERTIFICATION!
What does certification mean to you? Don't put off your certification any longer! Your success is YOUR responsibility.
As the healthcare industry grows at astronomical speed, so does the demand for medical assistants that are certified. Certification gives you recognized designations in your discipline - your credentials! And your credentials are verification of your qualifications. It is portable to all places that you work; now and in the future, and gets you better prepared when an increasing number of doctors want certified medical assistants simply because it is their personal preference, or their state medical board, or malpractice insurance carrier mandates it.
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AMT Medical Assistant Certifications
- Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) credential
- Certified Medical Administrative Specialist (CMAS)
- Registered Phlebotomy Technician (RPT)
- Registered Dental Assistant (RDA)
- and Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT)
Certification is a way of saying, I am proud to be a medical assistant and I am committed to the profession, the community, and my job. The medical assistant must decide which certification exam is best for them, then register for the exam, and pass it successfully.
Those who should get certified are...
By passing a recognized certification exam the medical assistant has shown knowledge in all areas of their field, and earned the right to use industry recognized credentials, such as RMA (Registered Medical Assistant), or CCMA (Certified Clinical Medical Assistant) with their name. It is only THEN that they are allowed to call themselves a certified, and/or registered medical assistant.
The difference between the certified and registered credential is that they have been granted through different certifying bodies. Some grant a "registered..." credential, others give the "certified..." credential to distinguish one from the other (e.g. Certified Medical Assistant, vs. Registered Medical Assistant). However, both are certified as such. An increasing number of doctors want medical assistants that are certified simply because their state medical board, or malpractice insurance carrier mandates it.
Median Medical Assistant Pay Scale
The answer is yes; for medical assistants being certified is the same as being registered. In both cases, a person must FIRST pass a standardized written certification exam to show their knowledge of professional skills, rules, and professional standards. For example, the exam for Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) is given by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), the Certified Clinical and Certified Administrative Medical Assistant (CCMA and CMAA) is given by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), and the exam for Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) is given by the American Medical Technologists (AMT). To sit for any of the exams you must have earned your diploma first, or have at least 3-5 years direct work experience in your field. Whether medical assistants are certified through AAMA, NHA, or AMT, they are all equally valid and recognized certifications from coast to coast...
Graduates of postsecondary medical assisting programs accredited by CAAHEP or ABHES are immediately eligible to take the exams provided by different governing bodies. Some certification sponsors, including NHA and AMT also grant certifications to experienced allied health professionals based on the amount of years of directly related work experience.
When an online study programs offers some sort of course certificate, or documentation of program completion, this type of printed record should not be confused with professional certification and credential that come with passing a standardized national certification exam. While good to have, those are two completely different things, and can easily be confused by a novice.