Medical assistant certification in Delaware

Regulation 11.0 of the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline says that when a physician hands a task to a non-physician, that physician remains accountable and has to supervise properly. Being attached in name alone doesn't count.

Depending on the task, supervision takes one of two forms:

• Direct supervision means the physician is physically in the building. This level applies whenever a diagnosis gets made or a prescription treatment plan begins.
• Indirect supervision means the physician is on site or reachable electronically, with the ability to arrive within 30 minutes.

A standing order is a written set of instructions a physician signs off on ahead of time. Such orders can't cover diagnosing or prescribing, although they can cover starting non-prescription medicines.

The nursing rules allow an APRN (an advanced practice nurse) to assign and oversee medication administration by a medical assistant, but only when that assistant has completed a medical assistant training program and keeps a current national certification. The Board of Nursing put this rule in place through a final order dated September 13, 2022.

Where a practice is staffed solely by APRNs, one of them has to be physically present whenever the assistant administers medications. If a physician hands off duties to an assistant while an APRN oversees the work under the organization's policy, accountability still rests with the physician.

The takeaway: in a practice with APRNs, completing a program and getting nationally certified is how you qualify to give medications.

The state issues certificates to people who perform x-ray work. To become a radiation technician, you pass an approved exam without having graduated from a radiologic technology program. People who don't meet national registry requirements can qualify through the ARRT State Limited Scope exam instead.

Anyone whose certificate lapses can't x-ray patients until they're recertified, and their employer risks a citation.

The site's listings cover 1,094 medical assistant programs nationwide. Among them, 484 hold accreditation from CAAHEP or ABHES, the two national bodies that evaluate programs. If you're in Delaware, an accredited program lays solid groundwork for the national certification that certain duties require.

Nationwide, programs generally look like this:

Distance learning is an option too: 30 programs can be finished online, and 14 of them carry accreditation. Coursework happens over the internet, while the supervised clinical portion takes place face to face.

As of May 2025, medical assistants earned a median of $45,690 per year, which works out to $21.97 an hour, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To put that in context, nursing assistants made $42,260, phlebotomists made $45,230, and licensed practical nurses made $64,400.

After you spot an accredited program on your state's program page, fill out the "Request information" form that appears after the program tables. You select one accredited program, then enter your name, email address, phone number, ZIP code, and preferred start time. That single school receives your request.