Medical Assistant Exam
Information
Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) Exam Details
Altrain Assisting Academy assists our students through the entire process of obtaining their CCMA license. This exam is an industry certification developed by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). We teach everything that is on the exam throughout the 3-month classroom portion of the program. There is a strong emphasis on clinical patient care, including general patient care, infection control, testing and lab procedures, phlebotomy, and EKG and cardiovascular testing on the exam. We thoroughly prepare our students for the written exam with lectures, pretests and handouts, and hands-on training. Each student will also receive study and prep materials from the NHA. We submit their application and include the exam fees and study materials in the tuition. Altrain Assisting Academy is an approved testing center and the CCMA is administered on-site in a comfortable environment for our students.
The NHA certification is active for two years upon passing the CCMA exam. Continuing education is required to renew the certification. This certification allows certificate holders to work in all 50 states.
2023 Fees – $160.00 (includes prep materials)
150 Questions (plus 30 pretest questions that are used to gather data)
3 hour time limit
The questions fall into seven topic areas, which the NHA refers to as “domains:”
- Foundational Knowledge and Basic Science (10%)
- Anatomy and Physiology (8%)
- Clinical Patient Care (54%)
- Patient Care Coordination and Education (5%)
- Administrative Assisting (13%)
- Communication and Customer Service (5%)
- Medical Law and Ethics (5%)
Each domain has different subtopics that are categorized as either knowledge statements or task statements. Knowledge statements refer to information and concepts that the student will need to know. Task statements relate to physical duties that the student will need to know how to perform.
Additional information regarding the requirements and exam information is listed below. You may also obtain more knowledge on the National Healthcareer Associations website.
Altrain Assisting Academy students are eligible to take the exam.
In addition to these seven domains, the NHA has a list of “Core Knowledge and Skills.” These are the items that the NHA states as “fundamental skills and necessary knowledge for a medical assistant.”
This “core” information may be used in the context of different questions on the exam, so it’s important to review them as well.
Overall, the NHA’s CCMA Test Plan includes all of the details on what students will need to know to pass the exam!
Domain 1 – Foundational Knowledge and Basic Science
The Foundational Knowledge and Basic Science domain include 34 knowledge statements related to healthcare systems, medical terminology, basic pharmacology, and more. The information in this domain is the bare minimum of what any clinical medical assistant will need to know for success as a healthcare professional.
Domain 2 – Anatomy and Physiology
The Anatomy and Physiology domain has 12 knowledge statements related to body structures, organ systems, pathophysiology, disease processes, and microbiology. Similar to the previous domain, the knowledge of anatomy and physiology, can make or break someone’s success on the CCMA exam.
Domain 3 – Clinical Patient Care
The Clinical Patient Care domain is broken into five subsections, each with a varying number of knowledge and task statements.
The breakdown is as follows:
- General Patient Care (37 knowledge statements, 24 task statements)
- Infection Control (14 knowledge statements, 6 task statements)
- Testing and Laboratory Procedures (13 knowledge statements, 8 task statements)
- Phlebotomy (22 knowledge statements, 13 task statements)
- EKG and Cardiovascular Testing (10 knowledge statements, 6 task statements)
This is the largest portion of the exam as it includes most of the day-to-day tasks a clinical medical assistant completes.
Domain 4 – Patient Care Coordination and Education
The Patient Care Coordination and Education domain has 10 knowledge statements and 6 task statements related to how a medical assistant will interact with patients and their families in different scenarios. These involve tasks such as participating in transition care for patients and team-based patient care.
Domain 5 – Administrative Assisting
The Administrative Assisting domain includes 24 knowledge statements and 16 task statements related to patient scheduling, documentation, working with medical records, and other administrative tasks. Even though many healthcare practices have medical administrative assistants, it’s common for clinical medical assistants to work closely with them.
Domain 6 – Communication and Customer Service
The Communication and Customer Service domain is made up of 18 knowledge statements and 8 task statements. This domain includes statements related to the different ways a clinical medical assistant will communicate both with patients and other healthcare workers.
Domain 7 – Medical Law and Ethics
The Medical Law and Ethics domain has 8 knowledge statements and 8 task statements related to laws and ethics in the healthcare setting. These include topics such as advanced directives, the Hippocratic Oath, patient privacy, and more.
