{"id":520,"date":"2025-12-17T07:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T07:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/?post_type=faq&#038;p=520"},"modified":"2025-12-18T12:40:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T12:40:25","slug":"how-long-is-the-aama-certification","status":"publish","type":"faq","link":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"How long is the AAMA certification?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Q: How long is the AAMA certification?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> The <a href=\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\">Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)<\/a> credential awarded by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) is valid for 60 months (5 years). To maintain the credential beyond this period, you must complete a Recertification process before your certification expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What are the requirements to recertify the CMA credential?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> You have two primary pathways to recertify:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Continuing Education (CE) Route:<\/strong> Complete 60 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) within the five-year certification cycle. Of these:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>At least 30 CEUs must be from <a href=\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-difficult-is-the-certified-medical-assistant-exam\/\">AAMA-approved providers<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A minimum of 10 CEUs must be in the area of Administrative duties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A minimum of 10 CEUs must be in the area of Clinical duties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The remaining 10 CEUs can be in either category or in General medical assisting knowledge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Re-examination Route:<\/strong> Retake and pass the current CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination before your credential expires.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: What happens if my certification expires?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> If you do not complete the recertification process by your expiration date, your credential becomes <strong>inactive<\/strong>. You cannot use the CMA (AAMA) title. To regain active status, you must retake and pass the full certification exam again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q: How can I prepare for the initial CMA (AAMA) exam?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A:<\/strong> Successful preparation involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Formal Education:<\/strong> Completing an accredited medical assisting program is the foundational step.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Comprehensive Review:<\/strong> Using official AAMA study guides and outlines to cover all exam content areas (General, Administrative, Clinical).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Practice Testing:<\/strong> Taking timed practice exams to build stamina and identify areas needing further study.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more detailed information on exam content and official recertification guidelines, visit the American Association of Medical Assistants website at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aama-ntl.org\">www.aama-ntl.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","faq-categories":[],"class_list":["post-520","faq","type-faq","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How long is the AAMA certification? - Certilyst<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The AAMA CMA certification is valid for 5 years and requires recertification through continuing education or re-examination. Maintaining the credential demands ongoing professional development in administrative and clinical knowledge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How long is the AAMA certification? - Certilyst\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The AAMA CMA certification is valid for 5 years and requires recertification through continuing education or re-examination. Maintaining the credential demands ongoing professional development in administrative and clinical knowledge.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Certilyst\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T12:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/\",\"name\":\"How long is the AAMA certification? - Certilyst\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T07:20:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T12:40:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"The AAMA CMA certification is valid for 5 years and requires recertification through continuing education or re-examination. Maintaining the credential demands ongoing professional development in administrative and clinical knowledge.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"faqs\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How long is the AAMA certification?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/\",\"name\":\"Certilyst\",\"description\":\"A hub for all your certification exams\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How long is the AAMA certification? - Certilyst","description":"The AAMA CMA certification is valid for 5 years and requires recertification through continuing education or re-examination. Maintaining the credential demands ongoing professional development in administrative and clinical knowledge.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How long is the AAMA certification? - Certilyst","og_description":"The AAMA CMA certification is valid for 5 years and requires recertification through continuing education or re-examination. Maintaining the credential demands ongoing professional development in administrative and clinical knowledge.","og_url":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/","og_site_name":"Certilyst","article_modified_time":"2025-12-18T12:40:25+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/","url":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/","name":"How long is the AAMA certification? - Certilyst","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-17T07:20:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T12:40:25+00:00","description":"The AAMA CMA certification is valid for 5 years and requires recertification through continuing education or re-examination. Maintaining the credential demands ongoing professional development in administrative and clinical knowledge.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/how-long-is-the-aama-certification\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"faqs","item":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/faq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How long is the AAMA certification?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/#website","url":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/","name":"Certilyst","description":"A hub for all your certification exams","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq\/520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faq"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faq-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certilyst.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq-categories?post=520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}