Discover South Carolina’s Best Online Medical Assistant Programs

If you’re looking for a meaningful medical career with excellent job security and a fast path to entry, you’re in the right place. Medical assisting is a fast-growing field, especially in South Carolina, and it allows you to make a living while impacting others. Plus, unlike other medical professions, it’s relatively easy to become a certified medical assistant.

This amazing career path often begins in an online medical assistant program. They can take anywhere from six weeks to a year to complete and often combine virtual courses with optional in-person clinical experience.

One challenge on this career path, though, is the laborious process to find the right online medical assistant program for your needs. It takes a bunch of research to find a program that offers affordability, includes a high-quality curriculum, and prepares you for a medical assistant certification exam. Plus, you may want to find a program that provides the flexibility of online learning.

To make that selection process easier, we’ve researched the best online medical assistant programs in South Carolina and some other essentials you need to know before starting an MA program in this state. Read on to also learn more about how much these degrees cost and your career outlook upon graduation.

Popular Programs for Medical Assistants in South Carolina

When looking at online medical assistant programs in South Carolina, it can be hard to tell which degrees offer an affordable yet high quality program. The following three programs are some of the best in the state and include some fully online options. Even if these programs aren’t right for you, they can be used as a quality barometer to assess other ones.

University of South Carolina Sumter

USC Sumter offers a high quality online medical assistant program in South Carolina. Since there are no prerequisites for this course, the program is a great launchpad for anyone looking to enter the medical field. Once in the program, students take foundational courses in subjects like medical terminology and anatomy. They can also take medical-assisting-specific classes, including courses on improving a medical office, pharmacology, and managing medical records.

Plus, the entire degree can be completed online and offers a rolling start date as opposed to a few set ones throughout the year. Once students complete this program, which usually takes less than one year, they can sit for the certified medical assistant exam administered by the National Healthcareer Association.

Clemson University

If looking for an excellent online medical assistant program in South Carolina, Clemson University should be on your radar. The program is easily accessible since it has no prerequisites, and you can start it anytime instead of being tied to a specific date. Plus, coursework is offered online and learning is self-paced, making it easier to balance this medical assistant program with work or familial obligations.

The program’s main purpose is to educate students on how to assist in clinical and administrative workflows. The robust curriculum has foundational courses in anatomy and medical terminology as well as MA-centered classes. The latter covers topics such as the healthcare revenue cycle, assisting with medical examinations, and medical administration procedures. After completing the program, students can sit for the NHA certification exam.

University of South Carolina Aiken

The University of South Carolina Aiken may be your best bet if you want to get your degree early. This accelerated program can be completed in less than six months, with some students finishing in as little as four months. This online program features virtual modules students complete at their own pace, making this a great option for anyone balancing coursework with professional or personal responsibilities. The program still covers the essentials needed to become a certified medical assistant, including roles with medication administration and minor procedures, performing EKG electrocardiograms, obtaining samples for laboratory testing, and educating patients.

Students also take basic coursework in anatomy and biology to better understand the general medical field. This medical assistant program in South Carolina even offers an optional externship, where students can hone their skills in a real-world setting. Once students finish their degrees, they can be certified by the NHA as a medical assistant.

Salary & Career Outlook for Medical Assistants in SC

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2023

Source: Projections Central, 2020-2030

Before enrolling in a medical assistant program in South Carolina, you probably have questions about what jobs you will be eligible for upon graduation — and how much money you’ll make. Overall, the job growth rate for medical assistants is growing much faster than the demand for other fields. Medical assistants in South Carolina are entering a job market where there is more demand in the state (23%) than at the national level (18.4%).

One downside of working in South Carolina is the salary, as medical assistants make less per year than they do across the entire United States. In South Carolina, the average annual salary of a medical assistant is $38,540, compared to $43,350 at the national level.

That isn’t the case for some big cities in the state, such as Charleston and Greenville, where salaries are more competitive with the national average. Plus, compared to a registered nurse, you’re less likely to need to re-certify if you choose to bring your skills to a higher-paying role in another state.

Medical assistants in South Carolina can also earn more if they complete additional training and take on leadership opportunities at work. In fact, the top 10% of medical assistants can make more than $46,810 a year. The field is also a great starting-off point within the medical field, as there are opportunities to go back to school to become a nurse or healthcare administrator.

Your Questions, Answered

What is the cost of a medical assistant certification program?

Medical assistant programs aren’t cheap. For the three highlighted degrees above, the costs were:

• University of South Carolina Sumter: $2,795
• Clemson University: $2,795
• University of South Carolina Aiken: $2,799

To make the degree more affordable, some programs offer financial aid opportunities, including scholarships, grants, and student loans. For more about available financial aid, contact a school directly. Many schools can also help you build a budget or create a savings plan so paying for your degree causes less financial stress. Some even offer payment plans where you can make monthly payments instead of footing the entire cost of the bill upfront.

How much do medical assistants make in South Carolina?

One thing you may not know about medical assisting is how in-demand a field it is in South Carolina. With a job growth rate of 23%, it offers great financial security. Plus, medical assistants command a healthy salary, with a statewide average annual income of $38,520. But, that’s just the average — some medical assistants make closer to $46,810, and there are opportunities to get additional medical degrees and earn more.

What is the legal scope of practice for medical assistants in SC?

Some health professionals, such as physicians, can be legally responsible if something goes wrong with a patient. This isn’t the case for medical assistants in South Carolina, though the lower liability threshold also means medical assistants can legally provide fewer medical services. Medical assistants play an important role in patient education and can assist with minor procedures and medication administration. They cannot diagnose patients or provide care on their own. In South Carolina specifically, they also cannot inject neurotoxins, operate lasers, or triage patients, among other responsibilities that require supervision from a medical professional.

How do I become a certified medical assistant in South Carolina?

Unlike CNAs and other medical professionals, medical assistants are not certified in South Carolina. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need a certification to work in the state. Most universities in the state offer a NHA certification exam, which is recognized by the South Carolina government. It also notes some other boards may be certified, though it’s vague on which ones beyond four others that are approved for maintaining certification. The safest bet is to attend a program which offers the opportunity to take the certification exam from the NHA.

Tasks that Medical Assistants Can Perform

Many states list the specific tasks that medical assistants can perform, including South Carolina. While South Carolina does provide some guidance on the scope of work, their regulations are more concerned with skills students learn in medical assisting programs than what they do in the field.

There are some procedures they cannot perform, such as administering medication in specific ways, diagnosing patients, or performing surgeries. But for the most part, they can complete many nursing duties under the supervision of a doctor, physician assistant, APRN, NP, RN, or LPN.

Medical assistant duties often include:

• Educating patients
• Reporting lab work
• Documenting a patient’s medical history
• Medical billing and coding
• Completing patient intake forms
• Administering medications
• Scheduling patient appointments
• Maintaining medical supply inventory

If these tasks sound diverse, it’s because medical assisting is a versatile field. It’s a great industry for people looking to explore multiple facets of medicine and to discern which ones peak their interest.

After a few years of experience, medical assistants can complete additional training or pivot into more specialized roles. Specialization could mean working within a specific medical field, such as gerontology or mental health, or it could be a leadership role within healthcare administration or operations.

Sometimes, medical assistants also pivot to related fields, like healthcare leadership or nursing. Many nursing programs see certified medical assistants as ideal candidates for accelerated programs, since moving into a related medical role may be easier after working in the field.