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Stepful’s Medical Assistant program is designed for those looking to take the next step in their careers by becoming a certified medical assistant in Maine.
Our online program prepares you to earn your Certified Clinical Medical Assistant certification from the National Healthcareer Association and perform all the duties of medical assistants, including both those in the front office as well as working with patients.
Our Maine Medical Assistant classes take 4 months to complete and cover all essential topics such as medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, healthcare systems, phlebotomy, EKG, patient care coordination, and much more.
The Stepful staff is here to support you at every stage of the journey. From career preparedness to help finding an in-person externship*, we're here to help you launch your career in healthcare.
*Please note, students must be available M-F, 9-5 p.m. to be eligible for externship support.
All medical assistants, whether they work in a physician’s office, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, or from home, must graduate from high school or earn their GED.
Students who do not have a high school diploma can often prepare for and take their GED exam after just a few weeks of study.
Medical assisting is an important job and requires a lot of knowledge and a high skill level. A medical assisting training course helps students master the basics of patient care, anatomy and physiology, infection control, phlebotomy, and much more.
Students can choose to complete a certificate-only program online or through a community college. Alternatively, they may choose to pursue a degree in medical assisting. Online certificate programs are usually the least expensive and take the least amount of time, while degree programs are the most expensive.
At Stepful, we offer a 4-month medical assistant program that gets you ready for the most widely recognized certification in the field. With our engaging online classes, our students consistently surpass the national certification pass rate!
Many training programs include externships as part of their curriculum. During an externship, students spend 40 to 140 hours working alongside an experienced medical assistant, gaining hands-on experience in skills like phlebotomy, placing EKG leads, and collecting samples
Completing an externship is a good opportunity to learn from an experienced medical assistant and make connections that can help you get a job. Our program contains job support options that include mock interviews and resume support to directly help our students land the job or their dreams.
Organizations in Maine, not necessarily in partnership with Stepful, that offer externship opportunities to medical assistants may include Maine General Health and Central Maine Healthcare.
There are several medical assistant certification options for students to choose from. The most common certifications are the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA), the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) offered by the American Medical Technologists (AMT), and the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) offered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA).
At Stepful, we prepare our students for the CCMA certification, as it’s the most popular and widely used nationwide.
Job search sites such as Indeed, Monster, ZipRecruiter, and Connecting Maine can help aspiring medical assistants create resumes, and fill out job applications. Searching directly on an organization's website is another effective way to search for job opportunities in Maine.
Career coaches at Stepful can offer additional support by helping students put together a resume and get more comfortable answering interview questions.
While medical assistants are not required to be certified in Maine, many healthcare organizations in Maine prefer to hire certified assistants.
Instead of having their own license, medical assistants in Maine must work under the supervision of a licensed advanced practice provider or registered nurse. The licensed provider takes ultimate responsibility for the safe care of the patient.
The Maine Legislature states that medical assistants must have the proper training, education, and experience to perform a task safely. Often, it is up to the physician or registered nurse to assess the competency and assign responsibilities to the medical assistant.
The legislature in Maine gives licensed providers a lot of freedom to determine which tasks should and should not be performed by a medical assistant. However, there are a few specific tasks that a medical assistant cannot do in Maine. These include:
Medical assistants in Maine can do any task that a physician or nurse delegates, as long as it is reasonable and safe, and the medical assistant is competent to perform the task.
These tasks may include:
Administrative Responsibilities
Medical assistants have a positive job outlook. In the United States, job openings and opportunities for medical assistants are expected to grow 15% between 2023 and 2033. This is much higher than the expected growth for other jobs across the United States (4%), and other healthcare jobs (12%).
As of May 2023, there are currently about 3,960 medical assisting jobs in the states, or 6.37 per 1,000 residents. Maine cities with the highest number of medical assistants include Portland and Bangor.
Medical assistants in Maine earn a decent salary. The median salary for medical assistants in Maine is $44,610 per year or $21.45 per hour. They have an average pay of $22.45 per hour, or $52,279 per year.
The Maine State Society of Medical Assistants has two chapters, one in Penobscot and another in Kennebec Valley. They offer free continuing education courses, a national conference, medical assisting clothing and supplies, and practice updates for medical assistants.
Other organizations that support medical assistants in their careers include the American Medical Technologists, the National Healthcareer Association, and the American Association of Medical Assistants.
