Medical assistant certification in Alaska

Under Alaska law, the State Medical Board must allow physicians, podiatrists, osteopaths and physician associates to pass routine medical tasks to an agent like a medical assistant (AS 08.64.106). This handoff is called delegation.

Delegation has rules attached. You need to be trained for a task before it is given to you, and that training must be documented (12 AAC 40.920). For each task, the provider hands you directions in writing and keeps a copy on file.

Each delegation covers you and one particular patient. It does not carry over to a different assistant, nor to any other patient.

Certain tasks belong to the provider alone, regardless of your training. The medical board rules say these may not be delegated:

• Work connected to pain management, opioids and addiction
• IV therapy, including starting it, giving it or monitoring it, blood products included
• Patient assessment
• Relaying verbal prescription orders when nothing is written down

This is allowed, within limits that shift based on who delegates. When a physician delegates, you can give only a single intramuscular, intradermal or subcutaneous injection, and the delegating provider must be on site (medical board rules).

The nursing board takes a tougher line. An advanced practice registered nurse can delegate injectable medication solely to a certified medical assistant, only in an ambulatory care setting, and only while the nurse is on site (12 AAC 44.966).

Working under an advanced practice nurse means that nurse has to confirm you hold a current national certification. The certification must be national, not a license issued by Alaska. The nurse must also check your criminal background at hiring and then every 5 years (nursing board rules).

For other nurses, delegating medication to a certified medical assistant is allowed only once you finish a board-approved medication training course. So in a nurse-led clinic, both the certification and the course matter if you plan to give medications.

The Alaska program listings show the accredited programs available.

Rather than licensing medical assistants for x-ray work, Alaska regulates the equipment itself. Each x-ray machine in Alaska must be registered with the Alaska Department of Health. Each facility has to document the training of every operator (7 AAC 18.420).

Operating fluoroscopy equipment calls for a minimum of 10 hours of instruction.

Career school programs tend to be brief. Among the 378 career schools reporting it, the median completion time is 9 months, with the shortest taking 2 months and the longest 32.

Across the 392 career schools that publish a full program price, the median comes to $17,257 with tuition, fees and books included. For 437 public colleges, the median in-district cost for a full-time year of study is $4,346 (IPEDS 2023-24). Among the programs we list, 1,049 are at schools participating in federal student aid.

Our listings include 30 programs done through distance education, 14 of them accredited. Coursework happens online, while the supervised clinical practice, such as a practicum or externship, takes place in person.

Medical assistants earned a national median of $45,690 a year in May 2025, or $21.97 an hour (BLS).

For comparison, median yearly pay in related roles looks like this: nursing assistants earn $42,260, phlebotomists earn $45,230, and medical assistants sit at $45,690. Higher up the scale, licensed practical and vocational nurses earn $64,400, while registered nurses earn $97,550.

We list 1,094 medical assistant programs spanning 50 states and Washington, DC, with 484 accredited by CAAHEP or ABHES. Each state program page lets you choose one accredited program and send that school a brief request for information.

Ready to get started? Visit our Alaska medical assistant programs page, choose one accredited program, and use the Request information form after the program listings to send that school your name, email, phone, ZIP code and start time.