Medical assistant certification in Oklahoma

Under Oklahoma's medical practice act, an unlicensed trained assistant may provide care when a licensed physician directs and oversees that work and Medical Board rules are met (59 O.S. 492(E)). The physician must supervise and control your work, and Medical Board rules make the physician responsible for delegating tasks only to qualified people.

So your preparation still counts, even though Oklahoma sets no exam of its own.

According to the Medical Board, poor delegation counts as unprofessional conduct. Delegation is when a doctor or nurse passes a task to another person. A physician can be cited for giving work to someone who is not qualified, or for not taking full responsibility for people under supervision.

Because the physician is responsible for who gets each task, training you can point to is a real advantage when you apply.

Signing prescriptions is one job a doctor can't hand to you. That means you can't sign prescriptions. A physician can't hand that task to anyone except as the physician assistant law allows.

If you work under a licensed nurse, that nurse may assign only tasks that call for no nursing assessment, judgment, evaluation or teaching. Your employer also needs documented competencies for you. Competencies are written records showing you were checked and can do a given task the right way (Oklahoma Board of Nursing).

That same board says nurses should not pass medication administration to unlicensed workers, unless state or federal rules make an exception.

At a med spa, Medical Board guidance says the doctor has to be present before, during and after each treatment or procedure an unlicensed trained assistant performs.

The state names no license for the person operating a diagnostic x-ray machine. Rather, the State Department of Health permits the machine itself, issued to the owner or lessee, with medical facilities paying $95 for each tube.

Even so, the state x-ray rule requires each operator to learn, and prove they can follow, the operating and safety procedures set by the permit holder. In practice, that means you learn the safety steps of the clinic that owns or leases the machine, and you show you can follow them before you take x-rays.

The numbers below are drawn from programs listed nationwide plus national pay data.

Among career school programs that report length, 257 of the 378 run 7 to 9 months. Public colleges often bill annually, whereas career schools tend to charge one price for the entire program, so look at the full price before deciding.

The site lists 1,094 programs. Of those, 484 are CAAHEP-accredited programs or programs at ABHES-accredited schools. Of the 1,094 listed programs, 30 let you take all your classes by distance education, and 14 of those are accredited.

Even with online classes, there is a clinical portion done in person. The in-person clinical hours are supervised practice in a clinic, as a practicum or externship.

Of the listed schools, 1,049 take part in federal student aid programs. To ask an Oklahoma school about its program, open the Oklahoma programs page, choose one accredited program, and send the Request information form below the table. Your request goes only to that school.