Becoming a Registered Medical Assistant - CET

Are you considering becoming a Registered Medical Assistant? You’re making a wise choice.  It’s an incredibly fast-growing profession. With the large population of baby boomers aging and needing more medical attention, there is an increasing demand for medical assistants who can assist physicians with preventative medical care. As the duties and number of patients that physicians will see expand, so too will their need for Registered Medical Assistants. 

In fact, the job outlook for medical assistants is pretty stellar. Between 2018 and 2028, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of available job positions for medical assistants will increase by 23 percent, which is considerably faster than the average job outlook rate of growth.

How do you become a Registered Medical Assistant? And how can it impact your life? Let’s take a look:

The Role of a Registered Medical Assistant

When you enroll in the Center for Employment Training’s (CET) Medical Assistant program and work towards receiving your Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) certification, what does that mean? What exactly does a Registered Medical Assistant do?

A Registered Medical Assistant is a medical assistant who has received their certification by passing the American Medical Technologists (AMT) Certification exam. This exam is nationally recognized as a trusted name for allied health professionals. Passing your certification proves that you are up to AMT’s rigorous demands. 

As an RMA, there are many duties that you may be expected to perform, depending on the type of facility where you work. RMAs fulfill important administrative and clinical duties, including the following:

• Welcoming patients
• Preparing patients for exams or treatment
• Collecting specimens and taking vital signs
• Maintaining and updating patient records and scheduling appointments
• Checking in patients for hospital admissions
• Cleaning rooms and sterilizing equipment for patient exams and treatment
• Taking blood, giving shots, and sometimes cleaning and dressing wounds (with the supervision of a physician)

About Getting Your Registered Medical Assistant Certification

CET’s Medical Assistant program prepares you for the Registered Medical Assistant certification exam. Once you’ve completed your training with CET, you’re ready to apply online for your certification. This is a fairly simple process, you just need to submit the following information:

• Proof of your high school graduation or GED equivalent
• The final transcript from your CET Medical Assistant training program

The RMA test is administered at a secure testing location and can be given via computer-based testing or with a pen and paper. The test is broken down into three categories:

• General medical assisting knowledge
• Administrative medical assisting knowledge
• Clinical medical assisting knowledge

If a student does not pass the RMA Certification on their first try, they can retake the test up to 3 additional times to try and earn their certification. 

RMAs also need to maintain their credentials with continuing education and license renewals every three years to show compliance.

The Results

Students that go through CET’s Medical Assistant program see a marked improvement in their earnings and their overall quality of life. One of our students went from earning $8.00 per hour, to earning $20.50 per hour after completing his Medical Assistant training program with CET and becoming an RMA. This isn’t far from the norm: the average hourly pay for an RMA is $15.19 and can go up significantly from there.

But the results of working as an RMA are far from being purely financial. Many who become RMAs do so because they find the work fulfilling; they are contributing in a meaningful way and supporting the health and wellbeing of others. 

At CET, our students find the work of being a medical assistant to be incredibly rewarding. It’s a hands-on job in the healthcare sector with a booming job outlook. To help our students feel as prepared as possible, we set them up with externships at actual medical clinics and hospitals to reinforce the skills they’ve learned. After graduation, we help them find jobs in the medical field so they can start to put their new skills to work right away!

From the fulfillment you’ll find to the job security and increased earnings, there are countless reasons why it makes sense to become an RMA. At CET, our passion is helping students just like you realize these goals. 

Our open enrollment process means you can begin your medical assistant education program as early as tomorrow. Contact us today to find out more!