How to Become a Medical Assistant as a Premed
/Learn about medical assistant requirements, including how to earn medical assistant certification and where to find medical assistant jobs
working as a medical assistant can help you become a competitive medical school applicant
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Part 1: Introduction
If you have your heart set on becoming a doctor, you know that getting accepted to medical school will be one of the biggest hurdles you’ll face along the way. With medical school admissions becoming more challenging each year, it’s important to boost your admissions odds by being a competitive medical school applicant. One effective way to make yourself stand out is by becoming a medical assistant.
Premeds with medical assistant experience look good to medical schools for a number of reasons. Due to the nature of the job, admissions committees know these applicants have acquired meaningful patient experiences and a strong familiarity with medical settings. Medical assistant premeds are able to get an in-depth look at the role of a physician as they perform their daily tasks. And since becoming a medical assistant while preparing for medical school is somewhat challenging, it’s the perfect way for applicants to demonstrate their commitment to medicine.
Becoming a medical assistant will help you be a competitive medical school applicant, but it will also help you be an exceptional medical student once you’ve earned your white coat. As a medical assistant, you’ll spend the majority of your time interacting directly with patients, which will improve your communication skills and bedside manner. You’ll also gain experience navigating electronic health records and performing simple medical procedures.
If you want to work closely alongside physicians as a premed, few positions will grant you as much access as being a medical assistant does. You’ll have the opportunity to be mentored and taught by doctors long before your first day of medical school. You’ll also gain insight into the experience and duties of different medical office staff, which will help you be a more understanding and effective resident.
You can see why so many premeds are eager to learn how to become medical assistants and pave their way into medical school. But such a rewarding experience isn’t easily achieved, especially when combined with your other medical school requirements. Continue reading to discover how to become a medical assistant as a premed and improve your medical school admissions odds.
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Part 2: What does a medical assistant do?
Let’s start by looking at the role of a medical assistant. After all, there are many ways to gain the patient exposure hours you need (a necessary extracurricular activity for medical school). You shouldn’t become a medical assistant if it’s not the right fit for you.
If that’s the case, you might instead look into becoming an EMT, medical scribe, or CNA to acquire clinical experience in advance of your medical school applications.
The medical assistant position is unique because it’s a combination of both clinical and administrative duties. So, as a medical assistant, you could find yourself removing sutures one minute, then answering phones and filling out insurance forms the next. It’s a great role to have as a premed because it offers you an in-depth look at how medical offices function.
Some of the administrative duties that medical assistants complete include scheduling appointments, managing billing, entering computer data, updating medical records, and following up with patients after their visits. As far as clinical tasks go, medical assistants conduct patient interviews, record patient histories, assist with physical exams, draw blood, administer vaccines, change wound dressings, and educate patients about procedures, treatments, or medications.
One of the interesting things about a medical assistant’s role is how seamlessly they transition between both sides of their work. They might start the morning by preparing patient files for the physician and sending reminders for upcoming appointments. They’ll greet patients who arrive and supply the necessary intake forms before taking them back to check their height, weight, and vital signs. After the exam, medical assistants might submit prescriptions to the patient’s pharmacy and prep the exam room for the next appointment before starting the cycle again.
Within the medical assisting field, specific duties can vary depending on the work setting. For example, medical assistants in primary care offices routinely take vital signs, administer vaccines, and prep the patient for the physician’s exam. In a dermatologist’s office, they might assist the doctor with skin biopsies or microdermabrasion. And medical assistants working in oncology often support and monitor patients during their cancer treatments.
To summarize, every day as a medical assistant is different from the next. You’ll gain valuable experience with patients, acquire insight into healthcare administration, and learn important clinical skills that will help you excel as a medical student and future doctor.
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Part 3: What are the medical assistant training requirements?
If you’re set on becoming a medical assistant, you can achieve your goal in one of two ways. Because there aren’t any state or federal requirements for medical assistant certification, technically anyone with a high school diploma can get hired into a medical assistant position. However, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s likely to happen.
Even though your state may not require you to be certified as a medical assistant, individual employers might—and many do. After all, if you start the position with pre-existing knowledge and skills, it cuts down on the amount of time they have to invest in training you.
Your best chance at becoming a medical assistant without completing a training program and getting certified is if you have a family friend or other connection who’s a physician and is willing to hire you. If you’re fortunate enough to have this option, you can start working as a medical assistant right away.
If you don’t know a physician personally who would hire you as a medical assistant, you could ask around at local clinics or hospitals and see if some doctors offer this opportunity to premeds. However, without certification or formal training, you might be relegated to primarily clinical duties and spend most of your time in the front office rather than in the patient exam room. You would get patient experience, but less hands-on medical experience, such as suturing, administering vaccines, and taking vitals.
Administrative experience—while certainly worthwhile—is less valuable to you and less impressive to adcoms. That’s why putting in the time and effort to become a certified medical assistant is a better choice for many premeds.
How long are medical assistant training programs?
Medical assistant programs vary in length depending on whether you’re pursuing a certificate or an associate’s degree. A certificate program—sometimes called a diploma program—is all you need to receive medical assistant certification. However, there are also medical assistant associate’s degree programs available at community colleges.
If you’re already enrolled as a premed at a four-year university, a certificate program makes the most sense for you.
Medical assistant certificate programs usually last between nine and twelve months. You’ll take a variety of courses that combine classroom learning with hands-on experience. In the classroom, you’ll learn about the administrative duties required of medical assistants, such as bookkeeping, accounting, insurance processing, coding, and computer applications.
And of course, you’ll also learn the content necessary to carry out the clinical portion of your medical assistant tasks. These include:
Anatomy
Physiology
Pathology
Medical terminology
Pharmacology
Laboratory techniques
Diagnostic procedures
First aid treatments
Patient communication
The specific techniques you learn in the classroom are then reinforced through hands-on practice and your required practicum or externship. Usually, your medical assistant program will arrange these practical experiences for you at local clinics or hospitals. During your practicum, you’ll work alongside certified medical assistants and gain hands-on experience with real patients.
While different medical assistant programs vary in their length and requirements, you can expect to spend between 500 and 600 hours in the classroom and 100 to 200 hours in your practicum. Many programs operate on a semester schedule, with summer and winter sessions included—it’s how students can complete up to 38 credits in only nine months. However, if you find a medical assistant training program that offers the classroom portion online, the schedule might be a little more flexible.
Where are medical assistant training programs offered?
You should be able to find several medical assistant programs offered by community colleges and trade schools in your area. You could also enroll in a program that delivers its classes online, although you’ll still have to complete an in-person practicum at a local hospital or clinic in order to qualify for medical assistant certification.
When deciding on which medical assistant training program to enroll in, you’ll want to ensure you attend one that’s accredited. Remember, if you don’t have a pre-existing network connection, becoming a certified medical assistant is the best way to secure a job. And if you want to receive your medical assistant certification, you’ll have to pass a program that’s accredited by either the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES).
After completing a CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited program, you’ll need to pass a final certification exam. While there are a few different medical assistant certification options to choose from, one of the most widely recognized is the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) credential offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA).
Where can I take the certified medical assistant exam?
The CMA Certification Exam is typically administered by accredited programs, but you can also take the exam by registering directly with the AAMA.
Members of the AAMA and current CAAHEP or ABHES students or recent graduates can take the CMA Certification Exam for a fee of $125. All other students must pay $250.
Once you apply and get registered, you can schedule your exam through PSI, a company that specializes in a variety of professional licenses and certifications.
How difficult is the Medical Assistant Certification Exam?
Every student is different, so the test may be easy or difficult for you depending on how good you are at taking tests, where you are in premed education, and other factors. Typically, if you prepare and study efficiently, this exam is not a major challenge.
The test is made up of multiple-choice questions broken up into three main sections:
General questions: Covering topics such as communication skills and legal issues
Clinical questions: Covering topics such as patient intake, pharmacology, anatomy, and basic medical procedures
Administrative questions: Covering such topics as health information management, billing, coding, and insurance
Once you’ve completed an accredited medical assistant training program and passed the CMA Exam, you’ll gain your medical assistant certification and be ready to work in a wide range of healthcare settings.
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Part 4: How to balance being a medical assistant and a premed
As you can tell, becoming a medical assistant requires a lot of time and hard work. However, the medical experience you’ll earn is well worth the effort because you’ll become a highly competitive medical school applicant. So if you’ve decided to embark on this journey and become a medical assistant as a premed, you have a couple of important choices to make.
When is the best time to become a medical assistant?
As mentioned previously, it’s possible for some premed students to work as medical assistants without completing a formal training program. You’d be smart to explore your connections and local medical clinics to see if this is a viable option for you. If so, you can become a medical assistant at any time—but preferably as a freshman or sophomore so you can maximize your clinical experience hours before applying to medical school.
If you don’t have your foot in the door somewhere or if clinics in your area prefer to hire certified medical assistants, you’ll need to complete the formal training and earn your medical assistant certification. But where can you manage to fit in nine months of a medical assistant training program alongside your regular premed studies? We’ll offer a few options for you to consider.
Complete your medical assistant training before enrolling in a four-year university. If you haven’t yet started your premed studies—if you’re either in high school or leaving the workforce to pursue a medical career—you could earn your medical assistant certification first by completing a certificate program or an associate’s degree. After you’re certified, you could work as a medical assistant while you finish your bachelor’s degree, giving yourself a steady paycheck and lots of clinical experiences.
Complete your medical assistant training alongside your premed studies. This might be the most challenging option, but for some premed students, it’s possible. You would have to partner closely with your premed advisor to see if you could make this route work for you. With a flexible medical assistant program, you could spread out your certificate by taking courses over several semesters and summer or winter sessions, at the same time moving forward with your premed studies. You would want to pursue this option early in your college career when you’re not burdened with upper-level premed classes.
Complete your medical assistant training after you’ve finished your bachelor’s degree. If you’re a premed student with competitive stats but low clinical experience hours, you might choose to take a gap year and become a medical assistant before applying to medical school. While this might extend the medical school timeline you’ve envisioned, you should know that the average age of first-year medical students is twenty-four. Most medical students need an extra year or two to strengthen their profile—it might be the right choice for you, too.
Now you’re aware of a few different ways to fit in your medical assistant training with your premed studies. And after you become a medical assistant, you’ll want to get hired into a position that offers you the valuable experience you’re seeking.
What are the best places to work as a medical assistant and premed?
Medical assistant jobs are available in a variety of places—nearly anywhere patients are treated. As a certified medical assistant, you could work in outpatient clinics, private practices, hospitals, university health centers, nursing care facilities, medical research centers, or diagnostic facilities.
If you want to work as a medical assistant while balancing your premed studies, you’ll probably look for part-time medical assistant jobs, which shouldn’t be too hard to find. One thing to consider, however, is that most clinics and doctor’s offices have normal business hours, which might also be when your classes are scheduled. It might be hard to provide the desired hours of availability for these medical assistant jobs. However, hospitals and nursing care facilities have longer hours and may be able to offer the type of night or weekend shifts that would work better with your premed schedule.
(Suggested reading: How to Study as a Premed)
If you’re taking a gap year to work as a medical assistant, your availability should be wide open for any part- or full-time medical assistant job you can find. In this case, you should try to get hired in a healthcare setting that aligns with your career goals. For example, if your dream is to become a dermatologist, working as a medical assistant in a dermatology clinic would be ideal for you. You can discuss the experiences you gain in your medical school interviews and use the skills you learn to excel in competitive residencies.
Final thoughts
If you’re planning to become a medical assistant on your path to medical school, you have your work cut out for you. However, with enough commitment and determination, you’ll be able to successfully juggle your medical assistant training and work with your premed studies. And by pulling it all off, you’ll gain valuable medical experiences and make yourself a competitive medical school candidate—moving one step closer to earning your white coat.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top medical schools using his exclusive approach.
