Study tips for aspiring medical assistants
As you near the end of your medical assisting program, it’s time to start studying for the certified medical assistant exam offered by the American Association of Medical Students. While you don’t necessarily have to be certified in order to get hired, employers are more inclined to give you a job if your resume shows that you are a CMA.1 If you’re taking the test, use these study tips for success:
Check out the categories
The content outline provided by AAMA lists the basic categories that will be covered during the exam, as well as its general structure and subcategories. This includes everything from medical terminology to professionalism and computer concepts. It’s a good idea to print out this sheet and keep it nearby as you construct a study plan.2
Review your course materials
Now that you know what will be covered on the CMA exam, it’s time to review your course materials. Browse your class notes, textbooks and anything you recorded from your clinical experiences to see what information may be of help. Depending on what type of studier you are, you may want to create flashcards for key terms or form a study group of your peers who are also taking the test.
Take the practice exams
While AAMA doesn’t offer practice tests that cover all areas of the exam, it does in the categories of anatomy and physiology and medical terminology. You can take these prior to studying to see how much knowledge you already have, or after a few study sessions to see if they have been effective. The AAMA website offers both multiple-choice sample questions and answers, so you won’t have to wait for weeks to know how well you did.3
1 Bureau of Labor Statistics, ‘How to Become a Medical Assistant,’ March 29, 2012 – http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-assistants.htm#tab-4
2 American Association of Medical Students, ‘Certification/Recertification Examination Content Outline,’ 2013 – https://www.aama-ntl.org/cma-aama-exam/study/content-outline
3 American Association of Medical Students, ‘Become a CMA,’ 2013 – https://www.aama-ntl.org/index