CMA Certification
 What is CMA Certification?
CMA certification is designed to teach you the skills and knowledge you need to become a medical assistant. There are several varieties of CMA certification, depending on what specialty interests you. In general, as a medical assistant, your role would be to help patients in hospitals and care homes. Your responsibilities would be a mixture of clinical and clerical tasks. The amount of clinical tasks to clerical varies between states. Each state has its own guidelines on what CMA certification allows you to do. You may find that most of your duties are clerical in some states.
The job can include health and safety, wound management, basic pharmacology and disease processes, nutrition, patient relations, ethics, medical coding, and hygiene. Your day-to-day tasks may involve helping patients to eat, take medication, or dress. You may also take vital signs such as breathing rate or blood pressure.
How Can Certification Help My Career?
Not all states or hospitals require CMA certification, but if you do hold this qualification, you can start to make a valid contribution to a health care facility from day one. In this sense you could be more highly regarded over somebody applying for a position that does not have the training. The U.S. Department of Education accredits programs in medical assisting. There are currently two accredited educational agencies: the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). This could be a factor in the CMA certification program that you choose. |
