"Medical Assisting is one of the fastest growing careers. United States Bureau of Labor. In 2019 there are 725k professional MA and projected 10-year growth of 19% (2019). There are 409 CAAHEP accredited Medical Assisting programs and an additional 150 programs accredited by ABHES (mainly Career Schools) with approximately 250k students nationally. While medical assistants are not required to be certified in most states at this time, however, employers generally prefer to hire medical assistants who are certified as certification measures a candidate's knowledge and skills against the standards of the medical assisting profession. As of 2019 84% of Medial Assisting students enrolled in CAAHEP accredited programs take professional certification exams upon completion of their program"--