How to Become a Medical Assistant in Alabama

Who can apply

• Alabama has no state license, certificate or registration for medical assistants. The Board of Medical Examiners treats them as unlicensed assistive personnel who work under a physician's delegation.
• Hiring requirements are set by the employer. National certification is voluntary.

Step by step

1. Finish a medical assistant program or get on-the-job training from your employer. Alabama does not require a set program.
2. (Optional) Pass a national certification exam (CMA-AAMA, RMA-AMT, CCMA-NHA or NCMA-NCCT).
3. If you will take x-rays, get the training your employer requires. State rules say the facility that registers the x-ray machine must make sure every operator is adequately instructed in safe operating procedures. Alabama has no x-ray operator permit.
4. Work under a physician's delegation. For injections, the Board's opinion assumes the physician delegates the task and directly supervises it.

Training and exam

Training: No state-mandated medical assistant program or training hours. In a 1999 opinion the Board of Medical Examiners said the physician remains responsible for the actions of an unlicensed employee they delegate tasks to.

Exam: No state exam for medical assistants. National certification exams are voluntary. Alabama has no state x-ray operator exam; the x-ray rule (Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-3-26-.06) requires only that operators be adequately instructed and competent.

What it costs in Alabama

Fixed amounts are set by the state. Items marked “your quote” are priced by private sellers, so enter what you’re quoted.

Good to know in Alabama

What a medical assistant can do in Alabama: The Board of Medical Examiners has no rule on unlicensed staff giving injections. In a 1999 opinion it said that when unlicensed staff in a physician's office give an injection delegated by the physician and under the physician's direct supervision, no Board rule is violated. The physician remains responsible for the employee's actions.

What a medical assistant cannot do: The same opinion says only the physician may decide whether a patient gets a medication, by injection or otherwise. That decision must never be delegated to unlicensed staff.

Working with a physician assistant: The Board's physician assistant FAQ says a PA may delegate giving medications and vaccines to a medical assistant only if the supervising physician expressly approves it in the PA's registration agreement.

X-ray: Alabama has no x-ray operator license or limited permit. Under Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-3-26-.06, the registrant (the facility) must make sure all x-ray equipment is operated only by people adequately instructed in safe operating procedures and competent in its safe use.

Cosmetic injections and IV therapy: The 1999 injection opinion is limited to the facts in the letter it answered. In a later statement the Board said the decision to order and inject neuromodulators (such as Botox) and dermal fillers is the practice of medicine, and it declined to adopt rules letting physicians delegate those injections. A 2022 declaratory ruling says only a physician, or a PA, CRNP or CNM working with one, may diagnose, recommend or prescribe IV medication.

Sources

• Alabama Board of Medical Examiners - Practice Issues & Opinions
• Alabama Board of Medical Examiners - Opinion on unlicensed personnel giving injections (March 23, 1999)
• Alabama Board of Medical Examiners - PA License/Registration FAQ
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-3-26-.06 - Use of X-Rays in the Healing Arts (Cornell LII)
• Alabama Board of Medical Examiners - Statement on Request to Train and Delegate Injection of Neuromodulators and Dermal Fillers (Dec. 2024)