AAMA appoints Paula Purdy, CMA (AAMA), as Immediate Past President

PORTLAND, Ore. - Nov. 14, 2016 - PRLog -- The American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) met in Reston, Virginia for its 60th Annual Conference. Paula Purdy, CMA (AAMA), was installed as the 2016–2017 AAMA Immediate Past President. In this capacity, Immediate Past President Purdy, a resident of Estacada, represents medical assistants and CMAs (AAMA) across the nation.

Medical assisting is one of the nation's careers growing much faster than average for all occupations, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Medical assistants work in outpatient health care settings. Employers are seeking and recruiting these allied health professionals because of their uniquely diverse clinical and administrative patient-centered training.

Immediate Past President Purdy states, "It is an honor to serve the AAMA and the medical assisting profession. I am passionate about increasing understanding in the marketplace regarding the superiority of CMA (AAMA) certification."

Purdy brings a great deal of experience to her office. She has worked for 33 years at a county medical society. She is the director of operations and manages an allied health staffing service.

Purdy has served in many capacities for the AAMA, including stints on almost all the AAMA committees, including Leadership and Mentoring, Membership, and Awards. Purdy has served her state society as President three times, was awarded the Leadership Betty Hill Award twice, and recently was honored as an Oregon Lifetime Member. On the national level, Purdy has been a recipient of the AAMA's Leadership and Mentoring Award.

The Certified Medical Assistant (AAMA)—or CMA (AAMA)—credential represents a medical assistant who has been credentialed through the Certifying Board (CB) of the AAMA.

The CB of the AAMA was awarded accreditation by the International Accreditation Service (IAS) under ISO 17024, the global benchmark for personnel certification bodies, thus ensuring the CMA (AAMA) represents a world class certification.

The CMA (AAMA) Certification Program remains accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA)—an accrediting arm of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE). Consequently, the CB and its CMA (AAMA) Certification Program are the only medical assisting certifying body and certification program (respectively) that hold accreditation under both IAS and the NCCA.

A rigorous credential, the CMA (AAMA) also is the only certification that requires postsecondary education. Only candidates who graduate from an accredited postsecondary medical assisting program are eligible to sit for the CMA (AAMA) Certification Examination. The CMA (AAMA) must recertify every five years. The National Board of Medical Examiners—responsible for many national examinations for physicians—serves as test consultant for the examination. As a result, the reliability and validity of the CMA (AAMA) credential are of the highest order.

Certification status is a matter of public record and may be released. Every day the AAMA responds to more than 100 employer requests for CMA (AAMA) certification verification—for both current and potential employees.

The mission of the American Association of Medical Assistants is to provide the medical assistant professional with education, certification, credential acknowledgment, networking opportunities, scope-of-practice protection, and advocacy for quality patient-centered health care.