Stepful Graduates were hired at
Our Florida program here at Stepful is a 4-month online program for Florida residents. We prepare you to take the Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam from the National Healthcareer Association (NHA). This nationally recognized certificate makes you a more competitive job applicant and ensures that you are ready to work.
Our course includes live, 90-minute classes twice a week with expert instructors. You will complete daily assignments, mock exams, and simulations—100% online. Topics covered include medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, infection control, phlebotomy, EKG measurements, and more.
We also help students find interview opportunities for an in-person externship where they can get comfortable with hands-on skills.* Throughout your placement, you will have a dedicated externship coach as a resource to answer questions, provide guidance, and keep you on the path to success.
After completing our FL medical assistant course, you will be ready to test for your national certification exam. Our students have an 87% CCMA Certification Exam pass rate, which is over 10 percentage points above the national average.
*Please note, students must be available M-F, 9-5 p.m. to be eligible for externship support.
Medical assistants are not required to have a license in the state of Florida. The only requirement is that you graduate from high school or earn your GED.
Completing a course and getting certified isn’t a requirement to work as a medical assistant in Florida. However, employers prefer to hire medical assistants who have some training and are certified.
At Stepful, we prepare our students to take the NHA CCMA exam in 4 months. Get the right training and classes to obtain your certification and increase your chances of landing a job!
Some medical assistant training programs include an externship component where students experience the job firsthand in a healthcare setting.
For example, here at Stepful, we help students who are in good academic and financial standing find an externship with one of our 8,000 partner clinics. This includes 80 to 160 clinical hours that help you get hands-on experience before you start working full-time.
In Tampa the BayCare Medical Group (BMG) offers externships for medical assistants that include training and shadowing opportunities.
With an externship, you get to apply your online learning in real-world situations under professional supervision. This kind of hands-on training is invaluable for you and future employers.
Getting certified shows employers that you are competent and prepared. It can lead you to better jobs and a higher salary. Since Florida does not require a specific certification, you can choose which certifying organization to test with.
Our Florida Medical Assistant Program prepares students to test for the NHA CCMA certification. This certification is more focused on the clinical aspects of medical assisting as opposed to the administrative work.
Job search sites like Indeed and ZipRecruiter list many job openings for medical assistants in Florida.
Likewise, healthcare systems in Florida, like AdventHealth and Lee Health, also have postings for medical assistants in the various hospitals and practices they run.
Here at Stepful, we support you from enrollment to employment. Students have access to resume services, mock interviews, and support finding a job in their areas.
There are no education requirements for uncertified medical assistants in Florida besides having a high school diploma or GED. However, having a certification—such as the CCMA, which is the one you’ll test for after completing our Florida Medical Assistant Training Program—may help you get a job and earn a higher salary.
There are many healthcare careers in Florida that must be licensed, such as physical therapist assistants, certified nursing assistants, and occupational therapy assistants, but medical assistants do not have to be licensed.
Florida has specific language regarding what a medical assistant is allowed to do. The following tasks all fall within a medical assisting scope of practice in Florida:
The role of a medical assistant also includes administrative tasks, such as scheduling appointments, managing patient records, performing medical billing and coding, and more.
Medical assistants are unlicensed individuals who work under the supervision of a physician or other licensed healthcare providers. Generally speaking, they are prohibited from examining, diagnosing, or treating patients.
Here are some specific tasks that medical assistants are not allowed to do:
One of the best things about starting a career as a medical assistant in Florida is the positive job outlook. As of May 2023, Florida has the third-highest employment level for medical assistants in the country, with 55,110 jobs in the state, or 5.76 per 1,000 residents.
Florida cities with the highest number of medical assistants are:
Medical assistants in Florida earn a decent salary, with an average pay of $40,530 per year, or $19.49 per hour.
Medical assistant jobs are expected to increase by 15% over the next decade. This is more than three times higher than the average growth expected for all jobs across the nation (4%) and better than the projected job growth for all healthcare jobs (12%).
This high demand for medical assistants means that certified medical assistants should be able to find a job easily and may be able to negotiate for higher starting wages.
Florida Society of Medical Assistants: The mission of this organization is to provide the medical assistant profession with education, certification, credential acknowledgment, networking opportunities, scope-of-practice protection, and advocacy for quality patient-centered health care. The FSMA is an affiliate of The American Association of Medical Assistants with chapters covering these different parts of the state:
National organizations that support medical assistants in their careers include:
