Medical assistant certification in Arkansas

Medical assistants aren't licensed by the state, though the Arkansas Medical Board does recognize them. Act 472 of 2009 allows physicians to pass tasks along to trained staff members who are commonly known as medical assistants.

Under Arkansas's Rule 31, a medical assistant is someone a physician employs, assigns certain tasks to, and who holds no license for that work. Arkansas names no state exam or required program, and the physician must confirm you can do each task through your training, experience and direct observation.

Delegation is when a physician gives one of their own tasks to a trained employee. Responsibility for your work stays with the physician, and everything you do has to happen under their supervision.

Before handing you a task, the physician has to be sure the work calls for no medical judgment, turns out the same way each time and can be done by following exact steps that don't change.

A few limits cover what you can do:

• Drugs may be given only within the delegating physician's office, and only ones that call for no substantial specialized judgment.
• You may not hand a delegated task off to another person.
• Anesthesia can never be delegated to anyone unlicensed.
• You can't be shown to the public as someone holding a physician, nursing, physician assistant or other professional license.

In Arkansas, anyone who takes x-rays of patients must hold a Department of Health license issued under Act 1071 of 1999. Working as a medical assistant doesn't stand in for one.

The Limited Licensed Technologist credential covers just the body areas you tested on during the Limited Scope Examination, such as chest, extremity, skull/sinus, spine or podiatry. People learning on the job can get a temporary license while they get ready for that exam.

Approved on April 3, 2025, Act 437 of 2025 allows physician assistants to hand off tasks under the same law, Ark. Code 17-95-208.

An updated delegation rule has also been proposed by the Medical Board, and the public comment period for it ended June 14, 2026. The draft keeps calling trained, unlicensed employees medical assistants and opens delegation up to physician assistants.

Because Arkansas leaves training up to you, an accredited program is a clear way to show a physician you're ready for the tasks you want to take on, and many career school programs take about 9 months. Across the country, we list 1,094 medical assistant programs, of which 484 carry CAAHEP or ABHES accreditation.

Distance education classes exist at some programs, though supervised clinical practice always happens in person. Per BLS, medical assistants had median earnings of $45,690 annually in May 2025, which works out to $21.97 an hour.

Ready to get started? Open our Arkansas program page, choose the accredited program that appeals to you, and send the Request information form after the program table. The form sends your name, email, phone, ZIP code and preferred start time to that one school, so you can begin planning today.