Medical assistant certification in Nevada

Under the state Medical Practice Act, a medical assistant is a person who does clinical work under a physician or physician assistant while holding no state license for that work. The job title is written into law, but no state test, card or registry comes with it.

Yes. A physician or physician assistant cannot let someone work as a medical assistant without enough preparation behind them. Poor supervision of a medical assistant is treated as unprofessional conduct on the doctor's side, so clinics pay attention to your training background.

Finishing a program is the clearest way to prove that preparation. An accredited program has been checked and approved by an outside group such as CAAHEP or ABHES. Ready to start? Pick an accredited program from the table on our Nevada programs page, then send that school the short Request information form below it.

Delegation means a doctor or physician assistant passes a task of theirs on to you. Board of Medical Examiners regulation R096-16, effective since December 21, 2016, allows this only if all 3 points hold:

1. They are sure you have the know-how and practice to carry out the task without risk.
2. No separate license or certification is needed for that task.
3. They employ you, or you share the same employer.

Your employer also has to write down, in your employment file, that you were trained and are competent before any task is assigned. Without that note, the task cannot be passed to you.

Diagnosing, beginning treatment and prescribing drugs stay with the doctor or physician assistant. You may not do them.

You can give injections, with conditions. An injection counts as an invasive procedure because it enters the body. For this kind of task, the doctor or physician assistant who delegated it must be immediately available to supervise you in person.

The state drug law also includes medical assistants among the people allowed to handle and give prescription drugs. This happens at the prescribing physician's direction and under supervision from a physician or physician assistant.

One exception exists to in-person oversight. A doctor may supervise you by phone or another instant method only if every point applies: the patient is located in a rural area, the doctor is a long way off, the need is urgent, and that patient is already under the doctor's care.

In this rule, rural covers any part of Nevada outside the larger cities: Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Elko and Henderson.

X-ray work is separate. The state calls for a license or limited license issued by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health. Capturing images without one counts as a misdemeanor.

This limited x-ray license covers only set image types. To qualify, you take a course built around ASRT's Limited X-Ray Machine Operator Curriculum, then pass the ARRT limited-scope radiography exam. The license may cover areas like chest, extremities, spine and extremity, skull and sinus, podiatric or bone density imaging, and it stays valid for 2 years.

If x-ray duties matter to you, ask whether that course is part of a school's program.

The numbers below are national figures drawn from the program details and earnings figures we publish.

Of the 378 career-school programs that report a length, 257 run 7 to 9 months. Across our listed programs, 1,049 participate in federal student aid.

Certain programs offer online classes. The supervised clinical practice, called an externship, still happens in person at a clinic. Nationwide, 30 programs offer classes entirely by distance education, and 14 are accredited.

Once a Nevada program feels like the right fit, the Request information form you'll find on our Nevada programs page lets you send your details to that one school.