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What is Accreditation? Programmatic accreditation ensures that students in medical assisting programs receive an education consistent with standards for entry into practice. Medical assistants who graduate from accredited programs are eligible to sit for the CMA (AAMA) Certification/Recertification Examination. Generally speaking, accreditation is a process by which the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB), a Committee on Accreditation (CoA) of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), reviews medical assisting programs to determine if they meet certain criteria. These are set forth in the Standards and Guidelines for Medical Assisting Educational Programs. If the MAERB finds that a program does meet these criteria, it recommends the program for accreditation to CAAHEP. Then CAAHEP makes the final decision on accreditation. Accreditation assists students in identifying quality programs that will provide a pathway to becoming CMAs (AAMA) and facilitate transfer to another institution for additional education. The CMA (AAMA) credential represents a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) who has achieved certification through the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA). For programs, accreditation is designed to stimulate self-improvement by providing a review of the program based on student outcomes. Institutions and programs are responsible for providing clear, accurate and complete information and for involving key faculty and administrators in the review process. The institution/program must keep the MAERB apprised of program changes and outcomes. The process is based on the Standards as well as the Policies and Procedures, which provide the MAERB with guidelines for making recommendations on accreditation status. The Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, via the MAERB, is responsible for assigning an accreditation team that is well-informed and prepared to determine that the Standards are being consistently applied within the program. In programmatic accreditation, the primary focus is on the curriculum and instruction, including assessment of student learning, and the resulting outcomes of students and graduates. These include, but are not limited to, admission, retention, graduation, employment rates, as well as employer and graduate satisfaction. Working together, the institutions, programs, CAAHEP and MAERB are responsible for providing useful evaluation to through cooperation and open exchange of issues and concerns in creative variations for accreditation, and for promoting efficient use of resources.
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