In the healthcare sector, continuing education is essential and helps maintain credentials. You can meet various requirements for certifications by employment and participation in organizations in related fields. Each certification has specific requirements for CE credits. For eligibility to work in this field, here are requirements and options for continuing Education (CE) for various certifications.
CE for the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA)
For the AAMA, a certified medical assistant must meet 60 continuing requirement points in 60 months or 5 years. Ten points must be administrative, ten clinical, ten general, and the rest can be any combination of the previous categories. To be recertified, a transcript of the CE points is needed.
Also, in the AAMA, you can attain affordable CE credits through local workshops. Surprisingly even non-AAMA programs can also satisfy CE credits. However, you need to assess if the topic is related while providing documents, syllabus, or flyers that describe the topic.
As mentioned earlier non AAMA can satisfy the points, including seminars, special events, and local workshops. In the case of these programs, a single college credit hour is 15 CE credits. You can earn about 30 credits through non-approved AAMA locations; you only need to ensure their relevant topics.
Continuing education for Registered Medical Assistants
RMA certification is only valid for three years. Within that period, professionals are required to finish 30 CE credits. Mostly the AMT performs a random audit annually. The professionals are required to present documents of their continuing education credits requirements.
Requirements
You need 30 hours over three years for AMT certification. So it means 60 hours every 60 months.
Continuous employment as a medical assistant
Options to satisfy the CE credits
It can be professional studies such as online classes, home studies, seminars, and conferences. The following can satisfy the requirement as long as there’s proof of attendance. For example, AMT has modules you can buy and fill out. You can earn about 8-25 CE points when you complete the modules. It’s one of the best ways to earn affordable CE credits.
Pursuing formal education like going to university in a relevant field also satisfies the requirements. Some of the classes include microbiology, biology, and anatomy. Each credit hour you complete in college is equal to five CE credits.
Lastly, you can reach the points by continued employment; however, it must be validated by the employer. You can earn seven points annually if you go through organization participation but must be validated by the organization. Also, if you have done an instructional presentation relevant to the field, you can get seven points. However, for validity, you need to show documentation of the planned presentation.
Medical assistants are needed to renew their certification after every three years. To do this, they can take college courses, attend seminars or take courses recognized by the AAMA.
