Medical Assistant Jobs and Programs in South Dakota – Schools, Salary, and License Info

How to Become a Medical Assistant in South Dakota

Practicing as a medical assistant in South Dakota is not a faraway thing.

You will be able to do so with the help of the South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners.

With the help of it, you will make sure you meet the requirements to do so.

While becoming a medical assistant in South Dakota is possible by the following steps:

• Register with the Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners
• Consider National Certification
• Pursue Available a Medical Assistant Job in South Dakota
• Maintain and Improve Your Professional Qualifications

The reason this institution deals with medical assistants’ issues, is that the state itself entrusts them to it.

This profession is indeed growing inside South Dakota.

But it is important to let you know that only the qualified and capable individuals can finish their practice in its areas.

Momentarily, 1,090 medical assistants are registered in the state.

All of them are offering their medical services across the state.

In South Dakota however, medical assistants are defined by law.

Their duties are clearly defined as well.

Basically, they are in charge of offering their medical assisting services to people through direct supervision from an approved medical professional.

These duties include:

• Administer basic first aid
• Operate medical office equipment
• Assist with treatment and patient examinations
• Collect routine laboratory specimens
• Administer medications by unit dosage
• Perform basic lab procedures
• Perform general office administrative duties and procedures
• Perform the following clinical procedures:

• • Take vital signs
  • Observe and report a patient’s symptoms or signs
  • Conduct phlebotomy blood withdrawal
  • Make non-intravenous injections
  • Prepare patients for examination
  • Perform aseptic procedures

Medical assistants can work within hospital areas only through their permission.

Step 1. Register with the Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners

Since there’s a law regarding medical assistant practice in South Dakota, we need to know what it says regarding the issue.

According to it, working as a medical assistant in this state is possible by completing these conditions:

• Graduate from an approved medical assistant training program
• Find a licensed physician or medical professional who is willing to directly supervise you
• Register with the South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners

Apart from these requirements, medical assistants need to also register with the Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners.

When doing so, those who employ medical assistants can set their minimum requirements for hiring them.

These requirements include:

• Associate’s degree in medical assisting
• Bachelor’s degree in the medical sciences that focuses on medical assisting
• Master’s degree and advanced graduate degrees in the field of medical sciences
• Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) credential
• Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) credential

Approved Medical Assistant Training Programs

In order to register with the Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners, a medical assistant needs to meet a condition.

He or she must graduate from a medical assistant program.

The program he or she finishes must be accredited.

Or at least, to have standards close to those of an accredited one.

These programs are many in South Dakota.

Especially in certification programs.

Finishing any of them will make the candidate eligible to pursue other credentials in the field in the future.

If nothing else, graduating from accredited schools grants one the opportunity to meet the requirements for CMA and RMA credentials.

But the accreditation needs to be done through these organizations:

• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
• Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)

As you complete a medical assistant degree program you can expect to enroll in courses such as:

• Introduction to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Introduction to health care information management
• Urinalysis
• Phlebotomy
• Anatomy and physiology
• Medical billing and coding
• Limited radiology
• Medical transcriptions
• Medical terminology and communication skills

Completing the Registration Process

Graduating from a medical assisting program in fact is not the end of the story.

After that, the candidate needs to find a medical professional that will supervise his or her work as well.

This professional can be one of these:

• Licensed physician
• Licensed physician assistant
• Licensed advanced practical nurse

After finding the sponsor, the candidate is free to register as a medical assistant in the state.

He or she can do so through the help of the Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners.

precisely with the medical assistant website online.

The procedure can be started by creating an Online Account Request Form first.

As soon as one is done with the form, the Board will take care to send him or her a username and the password that has been used to create the online application.

Registering as a medical assistant has a price of course.

It costs $10.

The candidate can start working in medical assisting as soon as their registration has been approved.

They can do so two years until the next registration expiration date.

Before expiration, renewal is necessary.

Step 2. Consider National Certification

Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)

The CMA credential is the most commonly applied for the credential in US states.

In South Dakota, this credential can be sponsored by the help of the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA).

But it can be earned only after passing the exam as a fit for it.

This exam has a name, and it is the Certified Medical Assistant Exam.

A candidate can take this exam with one condition.

This means he or she needs to have graduated from a medical assistant academic program in the first place.

The program they graduate from must be accredited from one of the two organizations.

Either with CAAHEP.

Or with the ABHES.

That’s what I told you about in the first step, however, repetition is the mother of learning right.

So it will only be useful.

This exam also can be taken online.

To take it, one needs to register for it first.

The length of the exam is usually 160 minutes, with 200 questions to respond.

Questions are multiple-choice and they cover these areas of medical assisting:

• General subjects
• Administrative subjects
• Clinical subjects

The CMA Exam is offered at two Prometric testing centers in South Dakota:

• In Sioux Falls at 4700 South Technopolis Drive, Suite 4
• In Rapid City at 1301 West Omaha Street, Suite 218

Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)

The next credential one can get in South Dakota is the RMA credential.

This is sponsored by the help of the American Medical Technologists organization (AMT).

The candidate will be able to become eligible for this credential by earning a CMA credential with the AAMA organization in the first place.

After this step, he or she can apply for the RMA credential with the AMT.

Step 3. Pursue Available Medical Assistant Jobs in South Dakota

In the process of becoming a medical assistant in South Dakota, is important that one thinks about finding a job.

But a job does not come without searching for it first.

To be near more opportunities in the field, one may join the South Dakota Society of Medical Assistants.

This professional organization will be a source of information for job opportunities, development in the profession, in education, activities as well as inform one with the legislative updates for medical assistants.

A recent sampling of medical assistant vacancy announcements from across South Dakota revealed the following requirements for hire:

• Avera Medical Group in Sioux Falls sought a medical assistant who possessed the following minimum qualifications:

• • Associate’s or technical degree from a medical assistant academic program
  • Any one of the following:
    • CMA credential from the AAMA
    • RMA credential from the AMT
    • Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) from the National HealthCareer Association

• The wellness company Provant was recently seeking a medical assistant for employment at a location in Mobridge who was a holder of a current medical assistant certification
• The Sanford Aberdeen Clinic in Aberdeen was recently seeking a medical assistant with the following minimum qualifications:
  • • Graduate from an accredited medical assistant school
    • CMA credential

Step 4. Maintain and Improve Your Professional Qualifications

Maintaining and improving professional credentials is crucial to ongoing success in medical assisting.

Registration with the Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners is one thing to check for constantly.

This registration normally expires every two years.

The expiration date is 31 December.

The good news is that one can renew it.

For renewal, a fee of $5 is required.

The CMA credential, in addition, will work well for 60 months.

To renew it, the candidate needs to retake the exam or else, make 60 recertification points.

These points need to be taken from different medical categories:

• 10 points relating to administrative duties
• 10 points relating to clinical duties
• 10 points relating to general duties
• 30 points from AAMA-approved continuing education units

The RMA credential, on the other hand, has its own maintenance requirements.

Since it can be renewed, a $50 fee is needed for that.

As well as complete 30 Certification Continuing Program.

This can be done every three years.

One way to improve a medical assisting career is to work on additional education.

Pursuing more advanced degrees in the field of medical sciences opens up many opportunities in the career.

These opportunities may vary from specialized positions in medical assisting up to the more advanced general positions, such as these:

• Physical therapist
• Nurse practitioner
• Registered nurse
• Physician assistant
• Physician and specialized medical doctor positions

The Best Medical Assisting Schools in South Dakota

In the 6 of the medical assisting schools available in South Dakota, you can do enough.

You can attend an accredited program in the field.

This program will prepare you for future education in the field.

Therefore, it’s a mandatory program to pursue if you want to start from zero.

Medical Assisting Salaries in South Dakota

Here are the salary numbers per medical assisting in South Dakota.

These are the main salary numbers that are frequent in the state.

It is sure you will witness any of them.

But you can have the best, as long as you have the qualifications to do so.

Annual Salary Range:

Regional Salary in South Dakota

Medical Assisting by State