I am graduating from my medical assisting school in two weeks then i have a 6 week externship to complete. i am not sure what to do after regarding getting my certificatiion, or my registration. does anyone have feedback on this?

Are You Still In School? yes

Are You Working? not yet

It appears form previous posts that certification is more widely recognized. Good luck on your exam!

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RMA/ CMA/CNA/graduate LPN

Are You Still In School? yes

Are You Working? yes

It depends on the school from which you graduated whether or not you may sit for the AAMA or AMT exams. In order to sit for the "CMA" credential offered by AAMA or the "RMA" credential offered by the AMT, you will need to have graduated from a program that is either CAAHEP or ABHES certified. (By the way, there is NO difference in the CMA or RMA credential).

You may also be able to sit for the RMA exam given by the AAMP (American Assocation of Medical Personnel).

Check with you school to see what exam they have been "certified" to give.

I do not know what a "CPT" certification is. Are you refering to a Medical Coding certification? If so there are 2 organizations you may wish to contact:
1. The American Acamdemy of Professional Coders
( http://www.aapc.com )
2. The American Health Information Management Association ( http://www.ahima.org )

or you can also try:
The American Billers Association at
http://www.ambanet.net/AMBA.htm

As far as "getting credentials" what is it you want to do? If you are interested in mainly clinical duties get the RMA or CMA. If you are interested in billing and coding, obtain a coding credential from one of the above organizations.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: B.S.E., RMA, AHI

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

CPT is certified phlebotomy tech

If you plan or want to be drawing blood on a regular basis,then get certified in it. You will have to have a teacher or a lab supervisor sign a phlebotomy exam application on how many successful draws you did.
Depending on the MA program though,there may not have been enough training in phlebotomy to pass any test in it. The questions are very difficult,a lot of clinical science. What was taught at my MA school was a joke,a LOT was left out.
As to wondering what to do after completing your externship,schedule a medical assisting certifying exam as soon as possible while the information is still fresh in your head.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: PBT/RMA

Erin, Is your school aligned with an MA certifying organization, (eg, AMT, AAMA, AAMP). First you need to find out this info from your instructor. In most of the doctor's offices around here, you may work as an MA/Phleb without any certification at all!

Also, most of the hospitals and remote sites (like those from LabCorp)and very willing to hire medical assistant, both certified and not. You just need to present yourself well in the interview.

Not that certification isn't necessary. I think it is a good step. Also, if you want to sit for a RPT (Registered Phleb Tech, or I guess there are some certifying agencies that use the initials CPT)you need to find out the criteria to sit for their exams. Most phlebs exams require a certain number of successful sticks as well as a writte exam.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: B.S.E., RMA, AHI

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? yes

i am actually doing my externship with my own doctor and i just got hired as an emergency room tech at my local hospital where i will be working on the weekends and i will be doing phlebotomy and ekg's and all other skills i learned as an MA. i still am going to take my rma test at my school cause we are qualified to provide the test here.