Partners in Prime: Learn and Grow via Opportunities from AAMA Partners
For those planning to recertify their CMA (AAMA)® credential via continuing education, the AAMA offers numerous options for obtaining continuing education units (CEUs). One of the many ways to do so is by taking advantage of opportunities via AAMA partnerships!
The AAMA partners with numerous organizations to offer learning opportunities for medical assistants. These partnerships provide specialized information and tools for medical assistants who hope to expand their industry knowledge and explore different subject areas while working toward recertification.
The AAMA has active partnerships with the National Association of Health Care Unit Coordinators, the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT) out of the University of Nevada, Reno; the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT); and the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Learn more about how two of these partnerships offer unique and valuable opportunities to medical assistants.
MAP
One of the AAMA’s primary partnerships is the Medical Assistant Partnership for Healthy Pregnancies and Families (MAP), a collaboration between CASAT and the AAMA. This project acknowledges that medical assistants act as valuable liaisons between patients and providers and encourages medical assistants to use their unique role to promote substance-free pregnancies.
MAP’s primary goal is to educate medical assistants about prenatal substance use so that medical assistants can share information with patients and their colleagues. MAP prepares evidence-based, informed materials and resources tailored to medical assistants.
One of the ways MAP aims to educate medical assistants is through free CEU opportunities. Over the next four years, the AAMA-CASAT partnership will offer three new CEU courses each year at no cost to medical assistants via the AAMA e-Learning Center.
These CEU learning opportunities cater to medical assistant roles and scope of practice and are available at no cost for a designated time. Visit the AAMA e-Learning Center for these free CEU opportunities while they’re still available:
- Cannabis Phenomenology, Therapeutics, Misuse—An Evolving Landscape
- Promoting Substance-Free Pregnancy: What Medical Assistants Need for Effective Practice
- Introduction to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: The Medical Assistant’s Role
An additional free course from MAP is available as a new membership benefit for those who sign up for AAMA membership between July 1, 2023, and Oct. 31, 2023 (before midnight).
Simply join or renew your AAMA membership online between July 1, 2023, and Oct. 31, 2023 (before midnight). After you join, in the next business day or so, you’ll get an email from the AAMA office notifying you that you’ve been granted access to the free course in the e-Learning Center. When you’re ready to take the course, sign in to the e-Learning Center and go to “My Courses,” which is visible in the left-side bar. Once you click “My Courses,” you’ll see the course.
Another training and CEU opportunity offered by MAP is the annual Training of Trainers (ToT). ToT participants are trained on a curriculum about excessive alcohol use and the promotion of alcohol-free pregnancies and then agree to use the content to train their local or regional professional groups. ToT participants receive CEUs and a stipend for their successful completion of the training. Keep your eyes on your email inbox! Invitations are sent out from FASD@casat.org before the training.
NCCRT
Another one of the AAMA’s valued partnerships is with the NCCRT. This partnership aims to inform and equip medical assistants with knowledge to educate patients about the importance of colorectal cancer screening and to help patients overcome barriers to being appropriately screened.
The course Experts Discuss Colorectal Cancer Screening and Early Detection Barriers is currently available via the AAMA e-Learning Center thanks to the NCCRT. This course, which was free in March for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, covers relevant information such as current colorectal cancer screening recommendations, barriers to screening tests, and medical assistants’ role in improving screening rates.
Conclusion
The AAMA prioritizes the learning and advancement of medical assistants by offering various opportunities for obtaining CEUs through partnerships. Keep an eye out for new opportunities to come so you can expand your scope of knowledge and get on the fast track to recertification! The best way to keep up to date on news is to subscribe to the AAMA e-Update.