How to Become a Medical Assistant in Minnesota

Who can apply

• Minnesota has no state license or registration for medical assistants. They work as unlicensed staff for the licensed practitioners who employ and supervise them.
• To operate x-ray equipment on people, you must have passed a national or state exam. For most medical assistants this means becoming a registered limited scope x-ray operator by passing the Minnesota limited scope exam (Minn. Stat. 144.121, subd. 5).
• A facility may not let anyone operate its x-ray systems who has not met the exam requirement.

Step by step

1. Finish a medical assistant program or get on-the-job training. Minnesota does not require a specific program.
2. Optional: earn a national certification (CMA, RMA, CCMA or NCMA). Minnesota does not require one.
3. If your job includes x-rays, prepare for the limited scope exam. MDH lists limited scope x-ray operator courses.
4. Mail the MDH Limited Scope X-ray Operator Registration Application with a $25 money order or cashier's check.
5. After MDH notifies you, pay ARRT's $150 fee online. You then have 90 days to take the exam.
6. Take x-rays only of the body regions you passed. Do other clinical tasks only as your supervising practitioner directs.

Official application →

Training and exam

Training: Minnesota has no state-mandated medical assistant program. For x-ray work, the state requires passing the exam, not a specific course. MDH publishes a list of limited scope x-ray operator courses. Students in a training program for a listed x-ray occupation are exempt from the exam only during the program, but this student exemption does not apply to limited scope x-ray operators (Minn. Stat. 144.121, subd. 5(c)).

Exam: Minnesota has no state exam for medical assistants, and national certification exams are voluntary. To take x-rays, you must pass the Minnesota limited scope x-ray operator exam, which ARRT administers. It covers radiation protection, physics and radiobiology, equipment operation and quality assurance, image acquisition, and patient care. It also covers at least one body region: chest, extremities, skull and sinus, spine, or podiatry (Minn. Stat. 144.121, subd. 5(d)).

What it costs in Minnesota

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

How long it takes

After MDH approves your exam registration and you pay ARRT, you have 90 days to take the exam.

Good to know in Minnesota

What a medical assistant can do in Minnesota: Minnesota has no medical assistant statute or rule listing tasks. Medical assistants work under the direction of the licensed practitioner who employs them. With a limited scope x-ray operator registration, a medical assistant may take x-rays of the body regions covered by the exam they passed.

What a medical assistant cannot do: Minnesota has no statute listing tasks a physician may or may not delegate to a medical assistant. Registered limited scope x-ray operators may practice only on the body regions they passed, and may not operate CT or cone beam CT, use contrast media, or use fluoroscopic or mammographic x-ray systems (Minn. Stat. 144.121, subd. 5a). Bone densitometry requires passing the separate bone densitometry operator exam.

X-ray: MDH registers limited scope x-ray operators and bone densitometry equipment operators. Each must pass the exam for the regions or equipment they use. Operators who passed the exam that was required before January 1, 2008 and still hold the original certificate or passing letter may also operate x-ray systems (Minn. Stat. 144.121, subd. 5(b)(4)).

X-ray exam rules: You must pass the core module and the procedure module for a body region before taking x-rays of that region. A failed module must be retaken, with the same application and fees as the first time; passed modules need not be retaken. You may ask MDH to extend the 90-day exam window up to three times, at least one week before it expires.

Sources

• Minn. Stat. 144.121 - X-ray systems; registration; operator examination
• MDH - Limited Scope X-ray Operator and Bone Densitometry Exams
• MDH - Limited Scope Examination Process (PDF)
• Minn. Stat. 147.09 - Exemptions from the Medical Practice Act