Medical assistant certification in Pennsylvania

No. Under Section 17 of Pennsylvania's Medical Practice Act (1985), a doctor may delegate a medical service to a trained person when accepted medical practice allows it and no law or regulation bars it. Delegating means the doctor gives you the task and stays answerable for it.

The law's word for that helper is technician. A technician is an unlicensed person who has built up expertise through training, education or experience, and that description covers a medical assistant.

A doctor can only hand you a task that fits accepted medical practice and isn't barred by any law or rule. The State Board of Medicine adds one more limit: a doctor may not delegate anything where performing the task, or recognizing when something goes wrong, calls for knowledge that non-doctors don't normally hold.

The patient has to hear that the task is being handed over, and must not object. Explaining it out loud is all that's needed.

No rule says the doctor has to be physically present. Responsibility stays with the doctor, who must be reachable in a way that matches the difficulty of the task, your level of skill and the risk to the patient.

A doctor has to be sure of your education, training, experience and current skill before any task comes your way, so the work gets done safely. Training is how you show a doctor you're ready, so finishing a program can help you get trusted with more. Our Pennsylvania medical assistant programs page lets you look at training options side by side.

Here is the one place a test score is mandatory. Anyone who isn't a registered technologist must earn a score of at least 70 on the ARRT Limited Examination in Radiography. The required exam depends on which body parts you'll x-ray.

Any of these x-rays has to happen on the doctor's premises, with direct supervision. Direct supervision means the doctor lays out specific instructions and keeps track of the procedure, though watching it in person isn't required.

Among the 378 career schools nationwide reporting this, the median completion time is 9 months. The bulk of these programs, 257 in all, run 7 to 9 months, and 19 of them finish in 6 months or less.

1,049 of the programs we list are at schools that take part in federal student aid.

With online programs, the coursework happens through distance education, while the clinical practice always takes place in person. That clinical piece, usually called an externship, means supervised hands-on work inside a real medical setting. Nationwide, 30 programs let you finish the classroom portion through distance education, and 14 of those hold accreditation.

Our site lists 1,094 programs, and 484 of them hold accreditation from CAAHEP or ABHES. Pick an accredited program on our Pennsylvania programs page today and send its short Request information form. That school will tell you when its next class starts.