CMA and RMA are both nationally recognized certifications for medical assistants, and they qualify you for the same jobs at the same pay. The real differences come down to which organization grants the credential, how you become eligible to sit for the exam, and how you maintain your certification over time.
What CMA and RMA Stand For
CMA stands for Certified Medical Assistant, a credential awarded by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). RMA stands for Registered Medical Assistant, awarded by American Medical Technologists (AMT). Both certifications signal to employers that you’ve passed a standardized exam proving competency in clinical and administrative medical assisting tasks.
Despite coming from different organizations, the two credentials carry equal weight in the job market. Most employers don’t distinguish between them when hiring or setting pay. Your salary as a medical assistant depends far more on your geographic location, the type of facility you work in, and your years of experience than on which certification you hold.
Eligibility Requirements
The biggest practical difference between CMA and RMA is how you qualify to take each exam. The AAMA requires CMA candidates to have graduated from a medical assisting program accredited by CAAHEP (the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs) or ABHES (the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools). There is no work experience substitute for this educational requirement.
The AMT offers more flexibility for RMA candidates. You can qualify through a similar accredited program, but AMT also accepts candidates who have completed formal military medical training or who have several years of documented work experience as a medical assistant. This makes the RMA a more accessible option if you entered the field through on-the-job training rather than a formal program.
The Exams Themselves
Both exams are computer-based, multiple-choice tests that cover the same core areas of medical assisting: clinical procedures, administrative office tasks, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, and medical law and ethics. The CMA exam is offered only during specific testing windows throughout the year, while the RMA exam can typically be scheduled year-round at approved testing centers.
Neither exam is dramatically harder than the other. They draw from the same body of knowledge that any trained medical assistant should have. If you’ve completed a solid educational program, you’re preparing for essentially the same content regardless of which test you take.
Keeping Your Certification Current
Recertification is where the two credentials diverge more noticeably. The CMA certification is valid for 60 months (five years). To recertify, you need 60 continuing education units (CEUs) within that five-year window, or you can retake the exam. The AAMA specifies categories for those CEUs, so you can’t fulfill the entire requirement with a single topic area.
The RMA certification through AMT also requires ongoing continuing education, but the structure differs. AMT uses a point-based system with its own deadlines and categories. The total commitment is comparable, but the specific tracking and reporting process feels different depending on which organization you work with.
Both organizations have online portals where you can log your continuing education, check your certification status, and find approved courses. Letting either certification lapse means you’ll need to go through a reinstatement process or re-exam, so staying on top of deadlines matters regardless of which path you choose.
Scope of Practice and Job Prospects
State laws govern what medical assistants can and cannot do, and those laws apply based on your role, not your specific certification. A CMA and an RMA working in the same clinic in the same state are authorized to perform identical tasks. Neither credential unlocks additional clinical privileges that the other doesn’t.
That said, some employers or health systems have a stated preference for one certification over the other, often based on historical relationships with a particular credentialing body. Hospitals and large health networks sometimes specify CMA (AAMA) in their job postings simply because it’s the credential they’ve standardized around. This doesn’t mean an RMA can’t get hired at those facilities, but it’s worth checking job listings in your area to see if one credential appears more frequently than the other.
Which One Should You Choose
If you’re currently enrolled in or planning to attend a CAAHEP or ABHES accredited program, you’ll be eligible for both exams upon graduation. In that case, the decision often comes down to personal preference, testing convenience, and which recertification process appeals to you more.
If you don’t have formal education in medical assisting but do have years of hands-on experience or military medical training, the RMA is likely your only option without going back to school first. This is the single most important distinction between the two credentials for many people entering the field.
From a career standpoint, holding either certification puts you ahead of uncertified medical assistants. Certified MAs tend to earn more, get hired faster, and have better advancement opportunities. The gap between certified and uncertified matters far more than the gap between CMA and RMA, which for practical purposes is negligible.