Exams / CCMA / What are the CCMA exam requirements?

What are the CCMA exam requirements?

To take the CCMA you need a high school diploma or GED, or be on track to earn one within 18 months. You also need either a medical assistant training program finished in the last 5 years or supervised medical assistant work experience.

Checked against the sources on October 15, 2026.

NHA has one education requirement and two ways to qualify after that.

Education

You need a high school diploma or GED. If you’ll finish one in the next 18 months, you can still test and receive a provisional certification.

Then one of two pathways

Pathway What you need
Training A medical assistant training or education program completed within the last 5 years
Work experience 1 year of supervised medical assistant work within the last 3 years, or 2 years within the last 5 years

If you live in California and qualify through work experience, NHA requires 2 years of medical assistant work within the last 5 years.

NHA’s pages don’t list a minimum age, so check with your program or employer if that applies to you.

Sources

  1. National Healthcareer Association, Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA). Diploma requirement, training and work experience pathways. Checked October 15, 2026.
  2. National Healthcareer Association, NHA candidate handbook. California work experience rule. Checked October 15, 2026.

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More about the CCMA

How much does the CCMA exam cost?

The NHA CCMA exam costs $169. That’s the price NHA lists for the CCMA exam application, and you pay it when you pick your test date.

How long is the CCMA exam?

You get 3 hours to take the NHA CCMA exam. It has 180 questions, and 150 of them count toward your score. The other 30 are unscored pretest questions mixed in with the rest.

What is the CCMA passing score?

You need a scaled score of 390 or higher to pass the CCMA. NHA reports scaled scores from 200 to 500, and the same passing score applies to every NHA certification exam.

CCMA practice test

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