Medical assistant certification in Maryland

No. The state does not make certification a condition of working. Under Maryland law, you may work without holding a license when a physician or physician assistant hands duties over to you. To delegate just means the physician gives you a task but keeps responsibility for it.

The Board's rule on this point creates no license, certificate or registration for medical assistants. It only expects that you have been trained. The rule names no national exam.

Training matters here, because the physician decides whether you have the knowledge and skills for each task.

A physician may only delegate duties that suit their practice and that you have been prepared to handle. They also remain answerable for your work. This is why offices check your training carefully before assigning anything to you.

How much you may do depends on how near the physician must be. Maryland works with 2 terms. With on-site supervision, the physician is at the site and immediately available in person. Direct supervision means the physician is right there in the room, treating the patient personally.

These limits come from the Board's delegated-duties list.

Certain work belongs to the physician regardless of your training. That same rule says you may never:

• perform physical exams
• give anesthesia or sedation, except for topical or small amounts of local anesthetic
• begin treatment on your own
• give medical advice on your own
• deliver physical therapy

Limited x-ray work has a separate state registration requirement. Starting January 1, 2025, only people the Board of Physicians has registered as Limited X-Ray Machine Operators may take limited x-rays. It is a registration rather than a license.

To be eligible, Maryland law calls for:

1. 6 months working in clinical care.
2. A limited x-ray course that includes 115 hours in the classroom and 480 hours of clinical practice.
3. At least 75% on each part of the ARRT limited scope exam. ARRT is the national body for radiologic technologists.

The imaging itself covers only chest, spine, and extremity x-rays, and a physician or radiographer has to be on site or immediately available. When x-rays are part of your plan, choosing a program that points toward this path from the beginning makes things easier.

Most programs are short. At the 378 career schools across the country that report it, the typical program takes 9 months, with a range of 2 to 32 months.

Nationally, among career schools that price the full program, the median runs $17,257 covering tuition, fees and books. Public colleges show a median of $4,346 in district for one year of full-time study. Out of the programs this site lists, 1,049 sit at schools participating in federal student aid.

This site lists 1,094 medical assistant programs nationwide, with 484 holding CAAHEP or ABHES accreditation. Accreditation means an outside organization has looked the program over. Maryland doesn't require it, but it gives you and employers more to go on.

Distance education is an option for 30 programs, and 14 of those hold accreditation. Coursework happens online, but supervised clinical practice always takes place in person. Visit the Maryland program page, choose one accredited program, and send its Request information form with your name, email, phone number, ZIP code and preferred start time.

As of May 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put medical assistants at a national median of $45,690 per year, which works out to $21.97 per hour.