CMA (AAMA) study materials
CMA (AAMA) study resources

CMA (AAMA) Certification Exam study guide

CMA (AAMA) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

The CMA (AAMA) - Certified Medical Assistant - is a professional credential for medical assistants, administered through the American Association of Medical Assistants. Candidates usually come from accredited medical assisting programs, but it is the AAMA's own eligibility rules, not a single educational path, that determine who may sit for the exam; the Eligibility section of the AAMA site is the authoritative source. The exam tests the full scope of medical assisting across three broad areas: general foundations such as communication, law and ethics, and professional skills; administrative practice such as office management, records, billing and coding, insurance, and scheduling; and clinical practice such as patient preparation, procedures, diagnostic testing, pharmacology, and infection control. Questions reflect the tasks a medical assistant actually performs in an ambulatory setting, so preparation should pair content review with hands-on procedure practice rather than reading alone. The CMA (AAMA) study guide has 3 sections and about 931 words.

01

General: Foundations, Communication, Law, and Ethics

General-domain questions reward precision about boundaries. Expect medical terminology (roots, prefixes, suffixes, plurals), basic anatomy and physiology sufficient to spell and pronounce what a provider dictates, and the professional organizations behind the credential - the AAMA awards the CMA (AAMA), which is recertified every five years through continuing education or re-examination.

315 words, about 2 min
02

Administrative: Scheduling, Records, Billing, and Insurance

Administrative items test rules and arithmetic more than memorized lists. Scheduling formats: stream (one patient per slot), wave (several patients arrive together, staggered), modified wave (a blend), and clustering (grouping similar visits, such as all physicals in one block).

314 words, about 2 min
03

Clinical: Preparation, Procedures, Diagnostics, Pharmacology, Infection Control

Clinical questions combine sequencing and safety. Vital signs anchors: adult pulse 60–100, respirations 12–20, oral temperature about 98.6 °F (37 °C), blood pressure near 120/80.

302 words, about 2 min