Medical assistant scope of practice in California

No. California does not require medical assistants to hold a state license or certification, according to the Medical Board of California.

Some tasks still need training first, though. California requires specific training before medical assistants give certain injections, perform skin tests or draw blood.

Next step: Before choosing a school, check how it covers the required training, because without it you can't give injections or draw blood. On our California program page, pick an accredited program and send the short Request information form beneath the tables to ask that school about its training.

You need to finish a set minimum amount of training before giving an injection, performing a skin test or drawing blood. The Medical Board requires 10 hours of blood draw training and 10 hours of injection and skin test training.

Blood draw training includes venipuncture, which is taking blood from a vein, plus skin puncture, such as a finger or heel prick. Injection training covers 3 routes: intramuscular (into a muscle), subcutaneous (below the skin), and intradermal (within the skin).

Any program you choose should include these hours. Check that a school covers them before you enroll.

Your supervising physician or podiatrist must authorize the task, check the medication and dose, and be physically present in the treatment facility. State law makes one exception, as the Medical Board explains.

Put simply, you are not the one deciding what to give or how much.

With the training finished, you may give injections by the intramuscular, intradermal or subcutaneous routes, including scheduled drugs, once a licensed person has checked the medication and the dosage. The one thing you can never inject, even with training, is any kind of anesthetic.

Starting an IV, disconnecting one, and injecting medication or giving an injection through an IV line are all outside your role. The Medical Board places these tasks beyond what a California medical assistant may do, and no amount of training changes that.

These national median amounts come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and cover May 2025.

At the median, medical assistants earn $21.97 an hour. If you're comparing these roles, the table shows how their national median pay differs.

When comparing programs, ask how each one covers the required injection, skin test and blood draw training. Of the 1,094 medical assistant programs we list nationwide, 484 hold accreditation from CAAHEP or ABHES. These counts come from federal college data and from the CAAHEP program list.

Programs are generally brief. Among the 378 career schools that report this information, the median time to complete is 9 months, and 257 take 7 to 9 months. Among 392 career schools that publish a whole-program price, the median comes to $17,257, covering tuition, fees and books. At 437 public colleges, median in-district tuition and fees are $4,346 for a year of full-time study.

Some people prefer studying at home, and 30 programs offer their classes through distance education, with 14 of those accredited. The supervised clinical hours in these programs take place in person.

Without the required training, you can't give injections or draw blood in California. Pick an accredited school on our California program page and send its short Request information form. Your request goes to that one school, so you can ask how it teaches the injection and blood draw hours you'll need.