Best Online Medical Assisting Certification Programs

Degrees in medical assisting will typically require more prerequisite courses and usually take longer to complete than certification programs. Some online certificate programs are self-paced and can be completed in just a few months to a year. Associate degrees in medical assisting can take about two years to complete and the course of study will typically include general education requirements in addition to the medical assisting coursework.

Certificates are designed to offer a hyper-focused curriculum on medical assisting (or even one aspect of medical assisting) while degree programs offer a broader, more well-rounded education.

When looking at online certificate programs in medical assisting you will want to check that the program has the appropriate accreditation to ensure that the program is legitimate. Medical assisting certificate programs are commonly accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program or CAAHEP. Medical assisting programs accredited by CAAHEP submit a yearly report to the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB). This process and the maintained accreditation ensures that the program is meeting the field's standards by properly preparing students with the skills, knowledge, and experience they need to be medical assistants.

An online degree in medical assisting can allow for a lot of flexibility when it comes to your current schedule. If you are currently working full-time but wanting to make a career change, taking courses online can be a great way to balance both. Continuing to work while furthering your education can be a major advantage as it can prove to be cost-effective long term. Furthermore, you will have the advantage of entering into the medical assisting field more quickly as online certificates commonly can be completed in less time than online degrees such as an associate or a bachelor's degree.

On a personal level, if you enjoy helping people overcome challenges and you enjoy the fast pace of a medical facility, a certificate in medical assisting might be right for you.

Career information for a degree in medical assisting shows a promising outlook for growth with a job growth prediction of 19% between 2019 and 2029, according to the BLS. That's quite a bit faster than the average for all occupations, which stands at 4%. Median salary was approximated at $35,850 a year in 2020.

Upon completion of a certificate program in medical assisting you should be prepared to enter the medical field and begin applying for jobs as a medical assistant. Careers in medical assisting will differ depending on the medical field you would like to assist. Medical assistants can work in private practices, hospitals, and other clinics and medical facilities. Additionally, medical assistants often assist in specialty practices within the medical field. Possible specialties include podiatry, neurology, dermatology, family medicine, cardiology, gynecology, urology and more. Often, a career in medical assisting will include at least a little administrative work but some people choose a career path that is primarily administrative by pursuing an administrative medical assistant certificate.

In addition, after gaining experience working in the field for a year or more, advancement opportunities for medical assistants such as pursuing a degree in nursing or physician's assistant may become an option for you. If you choose to advance your career by becoming a nurse or a physician's assistant, it's important to understand that there are many career differences between a medical assistant and a nurse as well as differences between a medical assistant and a physician's assistant.

Medical Assisting in a Family Practice

The responsibilities of a medical assistant working in a general practitioner or family practice office will include duties that are common for medical assistants regardless of the place of work. Medical assistants in a general practitioner's office will typically get a patient from the waiting area and then take them to the examination room. Typically, they will then enter a patient's chart into their history and add information such as current vital signs. Vitals signs measured by the MA include heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels. Patient information gathered by the MA often includes weight, height, and allergies. Depending on state laws, responsibilities may also include giving injections or medications as directed by the doctor.

Medical Assisting in a Gynecologic Clinic

As a medical assistant in a clinic that specializes in gynecology, you will have many of the same responsibilities that are common for medical assistants. Those common duties include recording and reviewing patient history, taking a patient's vital signs and entering them into the chart, and preparing the patient for the examination. Working as an MA in a gynecological practice, you may find yourself assisting the doctor with vaginal examinations, administering medications with instruction of the physician, and preparing collected exam specimens to be sent to a laboratory.

Medical Assisting for Podiatrists

Common duties for a medical assistant in a podiatrist's specialty clinic will again commonly include entry of patient information, history, and vitals into their records. Medical assistants working in a setting that specializes in podiatry will sometimes prepare x-rays to be reviewed by the physician. Additionally, they may assist the podiatrist in making castings of patient feet and with surgeries, depending on the clinic.

Coursework will vary somewhat from program to program. However, there is typically a lot of overlap as far as common topics of study. While working on a certificate in medical assisting, you can expect to come across units covering administrative skills in a medical setting, medical terms, disease and the human body, insurance, the use of electronic health records, ethics, and clinical assisting. Medical assisting programs are designed to prepare a student with the background knowledge and familiarity with various aspects of the medical field that they will be encountering in the workplace. Furthermore, learning goals are catered to provide the skills needed to successfully carry out your scope of practice as a medical assistant.

Common course titles include:

• Medical Terminology
• Medical Law and Ethics
• Anatomy and Physiology
• Medical Office Administration Skills
• Clinical Assisting I & II
• Patient Interaction

Online programs will vary in length and structure from school to school. Some schools offer programs that can be completed on your own time; as fast or as slow as you need to move through the material. Typically with these kinds of programs, you will be paying for online access to the material for a given duration. This open format allows for flexibility in finishing the program with your current schedule.

Additionally, there may be a discounted rate if you need to extend the duration of access to the coursework. Many schools offer programs that can be started in the fall, spring, or summer semester and commonly take about 8 months to complete. Certificate programs can be as long as 12 months. However; it is uncommon for an online certificate program in medical assisting to take longer than a year.

When choosing a program that works best for you, it's important to consider your career goals, schedule flexibility, and budget. Taking courses online will often allow for flexibility if continuing to work while attending school is important to you. Choosing an online program will also allow for a wide range of choices because the location may play less of a role when choosing a program, however; some schools may still offer in-state versus out-of-state costs. Something to consider when choosing a program is how quickly you wish to enter into the workforce as a medical assistant. If you need to make a career change quickly, you may want to choose a shorter program.

Many schools offer a hands-on clinical component to the program where you gain real-world experience fulfilling the duties of a medical assistant. These components will vary from school to school. Some programs may require that you arrange these yourself to cater to your own location and some programs may not offer these components. These experiential components may make you a more competitive candidate when entering the workforce. However, they may also increase the duration of your chosen program. Finally, programs will vary in cost so your budget should be considered when looking at different programs.

The minimum requirement for most online medical assistant certification programs is a high school diploma or a GED. Some schools require placement testing prior to application. These tests typically test vocabulary and reading comprehension, writing, and math skills but vary from school to school. Occasionally, programs will require prerequisite coursework prior to application and this may include certification in CPR.

You must also meet the minimum requirements that would be expected of someone applying for a job as a medical assistant. These requirements include motor skills such as: bending, lifting, twisting, sitting, and standing for long periods of time. Other minimum requirements include critical and analytical thinking and the ability to communicate and work well with others. Most schools have an application process that works on a rolling basis where you can submit an application at any time. However, some schools have a deadline for application submission depending on the semester you wish to begin.

Costs for programs can range from $6,000 to $15,000. Programs commonly vary in cost from school to school depending on in-state versus out-of-state costs. Out-of-state, they can cost as much as $15,000 and in-state as few as $6,000. Some schools can have similar costs regardless of location. There are several schools available that offer online certification programs in medical assisting that cost approximately $5,500 regardless of proximity to the physical school campus. Because the coursework is online, many programs will not require extensive additional costs for books because the bulk of the reading will be online and thus included in the initial cost. Some programs will have the cost of enrollment for the certification exam you can sit for upon completion of an online medical assistant certification factored into the tuition fee. This cost will typically cover sitting for the exam one time and then you pay for subsequent tries separately if you need to retake the exam.

Financial Aid & Scholarship Resources for Online Medical Assistant Certificate Programs

Most schools offer some form of financial aid. Some schools offer scholarships that students may qualify for based on financial need or academic merit. To find out if students qualify for financial aid they should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Many programs offer students access to federal student loans and grants depending on their completed FAFSA information. While FAFSA is a little trickier at the certificate level, there are cases where free money is available. The FAFSA can also be a prerequisite for applying to scholarships.

Occasionally, schools have applications in addition to the FAFSA that will give students the potential to receive other scholarships offered through the school. Work-study experiences are often offered as part of the financial aid some schools offer; where the salary from this job is put towards tuition.

Many states do not require certification to work as a medical assistant. Being a certified medical assistant can make you a more competitive candidate when applying to jobs upon completion of an online program. The National Healthcareer Association offers the test to become a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA). To qualify to sit for this exam, you must have a high school diploma or GED in addition to either completion of a medical assistant training program or one year of supervised work in the field of medical assisting. The cost to sit for the CCMA exam is $155.

Another certification available for medical assistants is the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA), certification which is offered by American Medical Technologists (AMT). Qualifications to sit for that registration examination include 720 hours of instruction in a program for medical assistants as well as 160 hours of externship (clinical) experience or 5 to 7 years of work experience as a medical assistant. The cost for the exam to become an RMA is $120.

Career information for a degree or certification in medical assisting indicates that many medical assistants also get certified through the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). Medical assistants can become a certified medical assistant by passing the AAMA exam. This exam costs $125 for recent graduates of a program accredited by the CAAHEP or the ABHES; others pay $250.