Regulations for Certified Medical Assistants

There are many different types of doctors, and their duties and specialties can vary tremendously. This is also true of medical assistants, who are required to work under the supervision of a medical doctor in their daily job settings at hospitals, doctor's offices, walk-in clinics and other medical facilities. But medical assistants should not be confused with nurses or nurse practitioners, who also work with doctors but are required to have more formal education and training--and who are tasked with greater responsibilities--than is required of medical assistants. Regulations and certification requirements for medical assistants do exist, but they vary from state to state.

State Board of Medical Examiner

The State Board of Medical Examiner's office plays a key role in regulating medical assistants. It is this state office's responsibility to set those regulations and certification requirements for the position of medical assistant in its state. For example, in California and Louisiana, if a doctor desires for the medical assistant to be able to draw blood (not all do), the medical assistant will have to become a licensed phlebotomist first, passing the national certification exam for phlebotomy.
To learn what the specific regulations and certification requirements are for your particular state, access the American Medical Association's website at the link provided below in the Resources section of this article.

Regulations

Basically, there is one standard, across-the-board, regulation for every state: medical assistants must be supervised by doctors. There is no exception to this state law throughout the country. A nurse cannot do it, so if a doctor is not on the premises to supervise, then the medical assistant isn't supposed to be assisting a patient.
In regard to license requirements that govern the drawing of blood (phlebotomy) by medical assistants, it is interesting to note that California and Louisiana are the only two states that require medical assistants (and anyone else who isn't a nurse or doctor) to be licensed to perform blood extraction with a needle. However, that doesn't mean your health care facility or doctor's office doesn't require its medical assistants to have phlebotomy certification (which is different from licensing but still provides some educational training and clinical practice), prior to performing blood draws.

Certifications and Licensure

Regulations, certifications and licensure are three different things. Regulations pertain to the laws in the state and nation for a field that must be adhered to. Certification pertains to the successful completion of a course, program of study or a passing score on a state or national exam for a particular field. Licensure pertains to meeting the state or nation's requirements (through study, exam and possible other requirements) for practice in a particular field.
Medical assistants are not required to be licensed or to have certification to practice in the field. However, certification (completion of a medical assistant course and passing score on the national medical assistant exam) is highly recommended for this field, and the lack thereof will probably greatly limit a person's job opportunities.

Job Duties

As a medical assistant, you should expect to perform the following job duties: taking patient vital signs (blood pressure), educating patients on ways to improve their health, explaining medication dosage administration, scheduling patient appointments, maintaining health records of patients and sometimes drawing blood or performing other needed tests within the facility or office, if so trained. Of course, these duties can vary according to the particular criteria established by each individual doctor, medical office or facility.

Significance

Although the only national requirement to become a medical assistant is a doctor's word that he will provide on-site oversight--and all states (with the exception of California and Louisiana) allow phlebotomy practice by medical assistants without any prior training or certification--it is good to know that most doctors and medical facilities in the country still refuse to hire someone without certification for the position of medical assistant.