The NHA CCMA Exam

You need a high school diploma or the equivalent. NHA also has a provisional route for people who expect to earn one within 18 months.

On top of that you need one of two things. Either you have completed a medical assistant training program at an accredited or state-recognized institution, or you have supervised work experience in the field: at least one year within the past three years, or two years within the past five. NHA decides whether a program or a work history qualifies, so confirm yours with NHA before you register.

180 questions on a computer in 3 hours, which is exactly a minute a question. 150 of them are scored. The other 30 are pretest questions that NHA is trying out; they do not count toward your result.

If PSI delivers your exam, at a test center or by remote proctoring, it has included an embedded calculator and a whiteboard in place of scratch paper since June 1, 2026. We could not confirm what is provided at sessions proctored by a school, so if you are testing at your own institution, ask your proctor beforehand.

Seven domains, and they are far from equal. NHA's test plan gives the number of scored questions in each: Clinical Patient Care 84, Foundational Knowledge and Basic Science 15, Patient Care Coordination and Education 12, Administrative Assisting 12, Communication and Customer Service 12, Anatomy and Physiology 8, and Medical Law and Ethics 7. The percentages in the table further down are those counts out of 150.

Clinical Patient Care is itself divided into six parts, each with its own count: general patient care 28, infection control and safety 15, patient intake and vitals 14, phlebotomy 12, point-of-care testing and laboratory procedures 9, and EKG and cardiovascular testing 6. General patient care alone is larger than any of the six other domains.

How to turn those counts into a study plan is the subject of the separate study guide, linked at the end of this page.

The current exam is the one NHA calls CCMA 3.0, in use since January 10, 2024. It is built on a test plan drawn from a job analysis NHA completed in 2022, which is why the plan carries a 2022 date and the exam a 2024 one.

NHA has released new exams for some of its other certifications in 2025 and 2026. As of October 2026 CCMA was not among them, and the 2022-based test plan was still the one NHA publishes. If you see study material sold as being for a new 2026 CCMA exam, check it against NHA's own test plan.

There are three ways to sit the exam: at your school or training site, at a PSI test center, or online with live remote proctoring through PSI. Which of them is open to you depends on how you are registering, so check with your program or with NHA.

We do not quote either figure. NHA sets both, and we could not confirm the current numbers on a page of NHA's that we read directly.

NHA's candidate handbook states the passing standard, and its store or your school's program office will tell you the fee. If you trained through a program, ask whether the exam fee is already covered before you pay it yourself.

After a first or second unsuccessful attempt you must wait 30 days before you can retake the exam. After a third, the wait is one year. Each attempt needs a new registration and the full exam fee. NHA's candidate handbook is the authority if the rule changes.

Thirty days matters if a job offer or a program deadline depends on your certification, which is the practical argument for sitting one full-length timed practice exam before the appointment.

The CCMA is NHA's credential. The CMA (AAMA) is a different credential from the American Association of Medical Assistants, with its own exam, eligibility rules and content outline. Employers and training programs often name one or the other, so check which one you are being asked for before you register for either.