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How to Become a Medical Assistant
Discover how to become an MA, including education requirements, certifications, and experience needed. Start your new career fast and do it online.
Quickly step into a new career path
Medical assistant represents an excellent entry into the field of healthcare. Get started fast, earn meaningful experience and open many doors to future career opportunities.
How long it takes to become a medical assistant depends on how quickly you can earn an education, get certified and begin your job search. With Herzing University, you can potentially be working as a medical assistant in less than 1 year. Here are the basic steps you need to take to become a medical assistant:
1. Know the duties and responsibilities of a medical assistant
Medical assistants carry a wide variety of responsibilities that differ according to practice. There are two primary types of medical assistants:
- Clinical medical assistants. These medical assistants focus on patient care, including taking vital signs, drawing blood/phlebotomy, visual/hearing tests, preparing exam rooms for procedures, and much more.
- Medical administrative assistants. Other medical assistants’ work is focused more on the administrative side of patient care, including scheduling appointments, updating and maintaining patient records, handling insurance claims and additional accounting/billing tasks as needed.
Every job is different; some roles are more heavily involved in either clinical or administrative duties, while some roles incorporate both elements.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical assistants most often work in physician’s offices and state, local or private hospitals. Most medical assistants work in smaller healthcare institutions, where individuals capable of handling both clinical and administrative tasks can be extremely valuable.
Medical assistants are vital contributors, collaborating with doctors, nurses and other professionals to ensure healthcare is delivered smoothly and efficiently.
2. Determine if medical assisting is right for you
According to the U.S. News and World Report, medical assistant ranks as the 5th best health care support job in the U.S. for 2025, attributed primarily to the job market and future growth. That alone is a pretty good reason to become a medical assistant!
There are a few important traits medical assistants must have in order to truly thrive in the role:
- Be detail-oriented. In healthcare, the smallest mistake can have major consequences. Whether you’re taking vital signs or transferring medical records to an electronic database, you must be patient and pay close attention to detail.
- Strong interpersonal skills. Communication is key! You’ll work frequently with both patients and other healthcare staff.
- Enjoy working with others. You need to be an eager team player—and it can help if you have a more extroverted personality, who is energized in a social environment and enjoys meeting new people.
If this sounds like you, you might love working as a medical assistant.
If you consider yourself more introverted and seek a more behind-the-scenes role, you may find a better fit in other fields of allied health, including health information management, medical billing and coding, or sterile processing.
Current nursing assistants looking to advance their career might think about becoming a medical assistant. Going from CNA to MA can be a logical career step for CNAs looking to advance their healthcare career, but not necessarily in nursing.
3. Get educated
Once you’ve decided you’re ready to become a medical assistant, it’s time to choose an educational program.
Your best chance for success right off the bat in your first job is to enroll in a diploma or degree program designed to prepare you to work as a medical assistant.
Do I need a degree (or diploma)?
While it’s possible to work as a medical assistant without going to school (especially in very small clinics or rural areas), you will be at a disadvantage in the job search. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that medical assistants typically graduate from a postsecondary education program. Employers may prefer candidates who have already earned formal training.
Formal training also has an effect on your potential certification eligibility. For instance, in order to become eligible for the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam, you will need to either complete a medical assisting training program or at least 1 year of professional experience. Our medical assistant diploma program can take as few as 8 months to complete. By completing a medical assisting training program, you can potentially become certified faster and position yourself better for educational advancement in the future.
Requirements for certification vary by state.
Diploma in Medical Assisting
- Finish faster. Complete the program in as few as 8 months and prepare to enter the workforce in less than a year.
- Lower cost. A college-level diploma program typically costs less than a degree program.
- Certification. Qualify to sit for the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam from the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) upon graduation.
Associate Degree in Medical Assisting
- Expanded curriculum. An associate degree curriculum offers a broader scope of education, including classes in healthcare management, billing and coding, patient privacy, and more.
- Prepare for future study. By earning an associate degree you’ll be in a much better position to advance your education in the future. You can potentially transfer credit into a bachelor’s degree program and greatly decrease the time you need to finish.
- Certification. Qualify to sit for the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) certification from American Medical Technologists (AMT) upon graduation.
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4. Earn experience
Earning real professional experience is crucial to becoming a medical assistant. While it’s possible in rare circumstances to find an entry-level medical assisting job that doesn’t require any formal education, you haven’t really become a medical assistant until you’ve proven to build the skills needed to do the job well.
The advantage of enrolling in a diploma or degree program is you’ll be introduced to key skills and knowledge at your own pace rather than jump right into the deep end, forced to learn at a high pace entirely on the job.
You’ll also earn real experience as part of your education. Our online medical assisting programs feature both clinical labs and an externship with proctor guidance to prepare you to succeed as a medical assistant. By the time you graduate you’ll be ready to hit it out of the park in your first medical assisting job.
5. Get certified
We want to help you become a highly qualified medical assistant—not only to find your first job, but to compete for the jobs you really want in the future.
Becoming certified is an excellent way to show employers you’re fully prepared to become a reliable asset, capable of both succeeding in the job in question and growing into advanced roles in the future!
Each of our medical assisting curriculums include prep for widely recognized medical assisting certifications:
- Diploma program: Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) from the National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
- Associate degree program: Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) from the American Medical Technologists (AMT)
In each program we pay for your first attempt upon successful completion of the program.
Get educated, get certified, and prepare yourself best to find a job after graduation and succeed right off the bat.
Becoming a traveling medical assistant
Travel medical assistants are medical assistants who aren’t tied to one specific workplace. They act as a liaison between doctors and patients and often work where there are temporary vacancies or shortages.
This role involves many responsibilities both as clinical as well as administrative. Some of these responsibilities include:
- Checking medical histories and vital signs
- Phlebotomy/EKG/ Administer medication
- Preparing exam rooms, equipment, instruments and patients for exams.
- Assist with minor surgical procedures.
- Organize files and medical records
- Schedule medical appointments
- Coding and insurance
- and managing administrative projects
From the front office to the lab, medical assistants contribute to the success of the physician and the facility while also ensuring a good patient experience.
Where do Traveling Medical Assistants Work?
Traveling medical assistants can work in any medical facility including hospitals, medical centers, nursing facilities, clinics, government institutions and schools. They can move around locally or out of state and often help facilities with temporary vacancies or shortages.
6. Advance your career
Medical assisting can be a starting point to all sorts of potential career paths in healthcare. Working as a medical assistant exposes you to the day-to-day delivery of healthcare; its people, procedures, and mechanisms for helping those in need get better.
You can start a new career, make a real impact in your community, and open many doors to future opportunities.
Take the first step with Herzing University and begin walking your unique career pathway. It IS possible!
Related reading
- What does a medical assistant do?
- What is it like to work as a medical assistant?
- What are the different types of medical assistants?
- Clinical medical assistants vs. medical office administrators
- What skills do you need to be a medical assistant?
- How much can a medical assistant make?
- What comes next after medical assisting?
- How to go from EMT to medical assistant
- Going from military medic to medical assistant
Learn more about Herzing's Medical Assistant programs
1. Certification in this program is not a state requirement.
* BLS pay estimates calculate the median annual wage for various occupations. Per the BLS the median wage for an occupation is: "The wage at which half of the workers in the occupation earned more than that amount, and half earned less. Median wage data are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey." Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2024. BLS median wage estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geographic market in which you want to work, and degree level and field, will affect career outcomes, including starting salary and earnings as an experienced employee. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the median salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, particular wage or salary, or other career growth.