Medical Assisting
Diploma
- Next Start Dates
- January 05, 2026
- February 11, 2026
Start Your Journey with a Medical Assisting Program
If you’ve got a mind for medicine and a heart for healing, our hands-on Medical Assisting Diploma program will help you quickly start a pathway into allied health education programs. Our Medical Assisting program is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) at select campuses.2 As a Medical Assisting student, you’ll learn direct patient care and office administrative skills to help you be career-ready in as few as 12 months.1 Employers recognize that our students are professional, confident, patient and well-prepared from day one.
Not only will you develop specific skills as a medical assistant, but also employer-valued transferable skills, or soft skills, that will help you flourish in any role: critical thinking, digital fluency, information literacy, communication, and ethics and professional responsibility.
Upon successful completion of our Medical Assisting program, you can be assured that you’ll have the necessary skills you need for your career and to sit for an in-demand medical assistants certification examination, such as CMA or RMA, among others.3
On This Page:
Medical Assisting Inspire Grant for Up to $4,000
What Types of Medical Assisting Diploma Courses Will I Take?
You can choose to attend live online and interactive lectures or listen to lectures at a time that’s convenient for you. Online video tutorials are available for every assessment to ensure you are fully prepared to practice hands-on skills and collaborate with other students in your on-campus labs. Gain first-hand experience with routine laboratory procedures, injections, blood draws, EKG testing and emergency management. Mock clinical procedures will help you practice rooming a patient, and virtual simulation labs will help you learn to give direct patient care.
The Medical Assisting Diploma program offers up to four $149 self-directed assessments, which allow you to prove that you already know the content of a particular course and don't need to take it.
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Fundamentals of Clinical Techniques
- Develop and apply skills in injections, phlebotomy and basic patient vital signs
- Understand reasoning and sequencing of immunizations, basic lab functions and proper techniques in providing efficient patient care
- Recognize proper techniques in providing patient care within a clinical healthcare setting and basic laboratory procedures, such as coding
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Clinical Laboratory Applications & Diagnostic Procedures I
- Develop administrative clinical and laboratory skills by incorporating more medical and clinical procedures
- Apply clinical skills within pulmonary, audiology and ophthalmology
- Learn patient care assessment, routine laboratory procedures and applicable test within women’s health
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Administrative Medical Assistant Practices
- Learn, understand and practice front medical office professionalism, including the importance of critical thinking, office policies, confidentiality, maintenance of medical records and communication skills
- Understand medical billing and how to utilize electronic medical records in the healthcare setting
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Medical Terminology
- Understand common medical terminology based on prefixes and suffixes, Latin and Greek origins, and anatomic roots denoting body structures
- Study all body systems with a focus on word parts, basic disease and surgical terms and more
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Medical Assisting Experiential Externship
- Complete training and hands-on experience as a real medical assistant in a physician’s office/clinic or medical center
- Perform medical assistant job duties in both administrative clinical and laboratory settings
Medical Assisting Student Story
Beckie wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life, but thanks to the Medical Assisting program at Rasmussen University, she found her opportunity to help people and find a fulfilling career. Select the video to hear Beckie's full story as a student.
"I was given such a wonderful opportunity from Rasmussen to become a medical assistant. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in life...I wanted to make a difference in people's worlds, so I became a medical assistant."
– Beckie W.
Medical Assistant Graduate and Certified Medical Assistant
Becky:
Hi everybody. My name's Becky. I'm a certified medical assistant at the Moffitt Cancer Center. I was given such a wonderful opportunity by Rasmussen to become a medical assistant. Wasn't even sure what I wanted to do in life. I worked for a big retail giant for 15 years and not getting the personal satisfaction that I was looking for. I wanted to help people and make a difference in, you know, people's world. And I just didn't know which way to go by that. So I became a medical assistant, clearly having no idea what I was doing. But now, five years later, here I am—a medical assistant, helping people, touching lives, one patient at a time. It just brings me such joy and happiness, and we get to be on their journey with them as they fight their way battling cancer. And it just, it's amazing to be a part of their journey. And at Rasmussen, makes it so much easier for you to become a medical assistant, to having organized classes, the one-on-one structure, the field trips that you get to take to see different places where you can really touch a life and touch a patient's life. I wish each one of you a wonderful journey on your new career. Good luck to each and every one of you. And medical assisting is the way to go!
Turn Your Medical Assisting Education Into a Career
We’ve made advancing your education and preparing to become a registered or certified medical assistant even easier by a program that fits into a busy working schedule.
When you’re ready to further your education, you can seamlessly transfer your Medical Assisting Diploma credits toward a Healthcare Associate’s degree specializing in Medical Assisting, or a Health Sciences degree if you live in Illinois, which you can earn in as few as nine months.1 In fact, 23% of Medical Assistant grads continued on for additional education at Rasmussen University.6
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Medical Assisting
Start your Medical Assisting Diploma if:
You’re interested in pursuing a fulfilling career as a medical assistant. After graduation, you can pursue national certified medical assistant examinations with foundational knowledge about allied health education programs. Also ideal for students interested in the opportunity to advance their education toward an Associate’s degree with a medical assistant specialty upon successful completion of the Diploma program.Medical Assistants Certification Examination:
Our Medical Assisting Diploma program will help you prepare for the Certified Medical Assistant or Registered Medical Assistant certification exams.3 Plus, the fee for the first attempt at each exam is included in the total program cost. 7
You may also qualify to register and sit for additional certification exams that can open doors in your career (exams fees not included and some may require additional education or work):8
- RPT (Registered Phlebotomy Technician) through the American Medical Technologist (AMT)
- CPT (Certified Phlebotomy Technician) through the National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
- CMAA (Certified Medical Administrative Assistant) through the NHA
- CET (Certified EKG Technician) through the NHA
- CEHRS (Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist) through the NHA
As a Medical Assistant student, you can also participate in additional certificate/training courses:
- ECG (Electrocardiogram) Certificate through the AMT
- POCT (Point-of-Care Testing), help get reliable testing results for prompt patient treatment, through the AMT
- Immunization Certification through the AMT
Medical Assisting Diploma Common Careers:
- Medical Assistant
- Medical Office Administrative Assistant
Projected Job Growth:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the projected job growth potential between 2023 and 2033 for medical assistants is 15%, which is faster than average.9
Take the Next Step—Talk to Us!
Tuition Costs & Savings
Do the Math:
With a total of 22 courses, full-time or part-time Medical Assisting students can finish for an estimated $20,591. You could also save up to $4,000 with the Medical Assisting Inspire Grant.4
$322 tuition per full-time credit
x 51 total credits
_______________________
$16,882 total full-time tuition
+ $3,710 total fees
_______________________
$20,591 full-time estimated tuition and fees
– $4,000 Medical Assisting Inspire Grant
– $4,958 four self-directed assessments
_______________________
$11,633 full-time estimated tuition and fees
Learn more about the financial aid cost of attendance (COA).
Other Ways to Save
Higher education should be a manageable investment. Talk to an admissions representative and learn how our Medical Assisting Diploma program is designed to be more affordable with transfer credits, self-directed assessments, loans and grants, and corporate and military grants for those who qualify.
Find more about:
Estimate Your Tuition
Rasmussen University is committed to making education more affordable for all students. Our tuition estimating tool can help you visualize the cost of your degree and see what savings opportunities are available to help you achieve it.
Tuition Estimator
Rasmussen University believes in helping you make your education as affordable as possible.
Our interactive tuition estimator is designed to help you discover how much you could save on a degree from Rasmussen University.
Simply enter your ZIP code, select the program and credential you're interested in, and click “next”.
Right away, you can see the total estimated cost of your selected degree.
As you engage with the tool, you may see this number start to go down.
You also have the option to see how attending full-time or part-time could impact your tuition—and what your tuition estimate looks like, broken down by quarter.
The tuition estimator walks you through a number of ways you could reduce your overall tuition.
Click the tabs or the “back” and “next” buttons to move through the tool.
Within each tab, answer the question shown as accurately as you can, by interacting with the slider, select menu or radio buttons shown.
You might not feel totally confident in all of your answers. That's okay. This tool is just generating an estimate of how much your degree might cost.
The last tab of the tool shows you your results, including how much you could potentially save on your Rasmussen degree.
Remember, the numbers shown here are just estimates, and the true cost of your degree will vary.
Talk with an admissions representative for more information about how to make your Rasmussen degree as affordable as possible.
What Do Medical Assistants Do?
Take a look at four important realms of healthcare—hospital, clinical, private practice and ambulatory—in which medical assistants play a vital role to see if this career could be the right path for you.
Read more
What Should I Know Before I Enroll?
Entrance Requirements
Entrance requirements for the School of Health Sciences vary by program. To learn more and receive help planning your healthcare career path, contact an admissions representative who will speak to you about immunizations, background checks and entrance exams.Transfer Student
We believe in giving credit where it’s due. You can get an estimate of your transfer credits without an official transcript in one business day (on average). Talk to an admissions representative today, or explore our Transfer Policy page for our seamless credit policies designed to maximize credits, potentially save money and expedite graduation.
Help Paying for College
Higher education should be a manageable investment. Talk to an admissions representative and learn how these programs can make it more affordable with self-directed assessments, credit for prior learning, loans and grants, scholarship opportunities, corporate grants and military grants for those who qualify.
Where Can I Find a Medical Assisting Program Near Me?
At Rasmussen University, our Medical Assisting Diploma program works to give you the benefits of online learning and on-campus experience. Our campus labs have the equipment and supplies needed to build confidence performing essential medical assisting duties and execute mock clinicals to practice day-to-day skills.
Whether online or on campus, our exceptional support and resources are available to all students. See below to find a Medical Assisting program near you.
Accreditation
Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)
The Medical Assisting Diploma program at the Aurora/Naperville (with an ABHES approved separate education center in Mokena/Tinley Park), Rockford, and Romeoville/Joliet campuses in Illinois; the Fort Myers, Ocala, Central Pasco, and Tampa/Brandon campuses in Florida; and the Bloomington, Eagan, Hennepin/Anoka and Mankato campuses in Minnesota are accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education School (ABHES).
Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)
6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 730
North Bethesda, MD 20852
301-291-7550