rma vs cma

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Hello I am having some difficulty in seeing the difference between being registered or certified for a medical assistant. Does one get paid more than the other? Is an employer more apt to hire one vs the other? The program I am in is for being registered. Any advice would be great.

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I am currently in CMA school about to start my externship. CMA certification is nationally recognized meaning any state you move to will accept you as certified. RMA is registered only in the state that you currently live. As for hiring one over the other as long as it is in your state I doubt it. But I don't know it might depend on the hospital or doctor you work for.

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Specializes in Geriatrics and Rehab.
Hello I am having some difficulty in seeing the difference between being registered or certified for a medical assistant. Does one get paid more than the other? Is an employer more apt to hire one vs the other? The program I am in is for being registered. Any advice would be great.[/QUOT

There is no real difference, except the certifying organization. CMA is a certification through the AAMA and RMA is a certification through AMT. Being "registered" is another word for "certified".

Some Physicians have their preference on which one they want, but have no preference at all as long as you are certified, registered or whatever.

AAMA promotes themselves as the "golden standard" for certification because of their strict requirements to get the CMA. But it is not necessarily true. RMA is well known also.

RMA is cheaper to maintain than CMA. This is probably the main difference.

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