Becoming a CCMA, or Certified Clinical Medical Assistant, can be extremely rewarding. You get to serve both patients and the physicians and nurses who help with treatment. In this article, we’ll go over the steps it takes to become a CCMA, from the formal education requirements to the certification exam.
Formal education
Certified Clinical Medical Assistants are required to have a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent. There are also certain high schools that allow you to complete certain certification requirements before you obtain your diploma through their Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Contact your high school counselor or your high school’s CTE coordinator for more information on the programs available at your high school.
Pre-certification requirements
Certain requirements must be completed before certifying. There are a number of different pathways to completing the certification requirements; the two main ones are outlined below.
Training program
Many community colleges and adult schools offer medical assistant training or education programs. For a course to be considered valid for the purposes of certification, it must have been completed no more than 5 years before the certification exam. These training programs generally include practical clinical experience and cover medical terms, anatomy and physiology, patient care procedures, and more. These courses can be completed in as little as 8 weeks and can be taken fully online.
Practical experience
However, if you don’t want to take a course, there is the option of practical experience. In order to qualify for the CCMA exam through practical experience, you must either have a year of supervised work experience in the medical assistant field within the last two years or at least two years of work experience in the medical assistant field within the last 5 years. If you have completed a Registered Apprenticeship Program in clinical assisting, you also qualify to sit for the CCMA exam. The program must be registered with the US Department of Labor.
The exam
As the name implies, Certified Clinical Medical Assistants are certified, which means there is a certification exam. The exam is administered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). If you’ve completed all the formal education and pre-certification requirements, you can go to the NHA website and create an account. From there, submit your exam application, select the date and location of your exam, and pay the exam fee. The NHA allows remotely proctored testing, meaning you can take the test from home if you wish. Within two days of taking the test, your test results will be posted to your account page.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You hopefully now know all you need in order to become a CCMA. This career is incredibly rewarding, and we hope this article has given you a place to start on your journey. Good luck!