What’s on the CMA (AAMA) Exam? Content Areas Explained

The CMA (AAMA) exam, administered by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) Certifying Board, consists of 200 computerized multiple-choice questions: 180 scored questions plus 20 unscored pretest questions mixed in without identification. Candidates get 160 minutes to answer, split across four 40-minute segments with optional breaks between them. Content is organized into three categories under the Exam Content Outline currently published by AAMA: Clinical Competency (59% of scored questions), General (21%), and Administrative (20%). The minimum passing score is 405 on a 200 to 800 scale. Every scored question maps to one of these three categories and their eight underlying subcategories, so understanding the breakdown tells you exactly where to focus your study time. Below is the full domain-by-domain breakdown, based on AAMA’s published content outline, along with what each category actually covers on test day.

How the Exam Is Structured

The CMA (AAMA) exam is delivered by computer, either at a PSI test center or through live remote proctoring, with scheduling handled through PSI. You get a 5 minute optional tutorial before the clock starts, which does not count against your test time. The 200 questions are then split into four 40 minute segments, with optional breaks between them: 5 minutes after the first segment, 10 minutes after the second, and 5 minutes after the third. AAMA caps the exam appointment at three hours (180 minutes), not counting the tutorial or the post-exam survey: that is 160 minutes of answering time plus up to 20 minutes of optional breaks. Every question is 4-option multiple choice with a single best answer, and the 20 unscored pretest questions are mixed in throughout the exam without any way to tell them apart from the 180 scored questions. That format detail matters for pacing: since you cannot skip the pretest items, budgeting your time across all 200 questions, not just 180, keeps you from running short in the final segment.

The Three Content Categories, by Weight

AAMA weights the exam so more than half the scored questions come from clinical content, with General and Administrative splitting most of the remainder roughly evenly. The bars below are scaled proportionally to each category’s share of the 180 scored questions.

Clinical Competency (59%)

This is the largest category by a wide margin, covering 106 of the 180 scored questions. It groups four subcategories:

• Patient Intake and Discharge: vital signs, medical history taking, patient education, and discharge processes.
• Safety and Infection Control: asepsis, sterilization technique, personal protective equipment, OSHA requirements, and biohazard handling.
• Procedures and Examinations: ECG, specimen collection, point of care testing, phlebotomy, minor surgical assisting, and wound care.
• Pharmacology: medication administration, injections, immunizations, and drug classifications.

General (21%)

The General category tests the professional and interpersonal knowledge that runs underneath every clinical and administrative task, covering 38 scored questions across two subcategories:

• Legal and Ethical Issues: HIPAA, informed consent, advance directives, malpractice concepts, and scope of practice.
• Communication: therapeutic communication, cultural sensitivity, patient advocacy, and conflict resolution.

Administrative (20%)

The Administrative category, 36 scored questions, covers the front-office and billing side of medical assisting across two subcategories:

• Billing, Coding and Insurance: ICD-10, CPT, claims submission, explanation of benefits, and insurance types.
• Schedule Appointments and Health Information Management: scheduling systems, patient flow management, referrals, and health information management, including medical records handling and documentation.

Here is what a scheduling-focused question looks like at the difficulty level the exam actually tests:

How to Use the Weights in Your Study Plan

The category weights are a direct signal for where to spend your study hours, not just trivia about the exam. With Clinical Competency worth 59% of scored questions, a study plan that spreads time evenly across all three categories will under-prepare you for more than half the exam. A more realistic split mirrors the weights: roughly three study sessions on Clinical Competency topics for every one session on General or Administrative topics. Within Clinical Competency, the four subcategories (patient intake and discharge, safety and infection control, procedures and examinations, and pharmacology) are not weighted individually by AAMA, so treat them as roughly equal inside that category rather than guessing which one matters most. The same logic applies inside General and Administrative: AAMA publishes weights at the category level, not the subcategory level, so balanced coverage within each category is the safer approach.

It is also worth noting what does not appear as its own category. AAMA’s outline defines only these three categories and eight subcategories; anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and basic clinical science are not listed as a standalone content area the way they are on some other medical assistant exams. If your training program covered those subjects separately, expect that knowledge to show up folded into Clinical Competency scenario questions rather than tested on its own.

Ready to see where you stand against the full outline? Start a CMA (AAMA) practice test or try a free practice test first to get a feel for the format before committing to a full study plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many questions are on the CMA (AAMA) exam?

200 total: 180 scored questions and 20 unscored pretest questions. The pretest questions are mixed in throughout the exam and are not identified, so every question should be treated as if it counts.

What is the highest-weighted category on the CMA exam?

Clinical Competency, at 59% of scored questions. It covers patient intake and discharge, safety and infection control, procedures and examinations, and pharmacology.

How is the CMA (AAMA) exam scored?

Scores are reported on a 200 to 800 scale, standardized against the performance of first time examinees who graduated from CAAHEP accredited medical assisting programs. The minimum passing score is 405.

Do the 20 pretest questions count toward my score?

No. They are used to evaluate future exam questions and are not scored, but since they are not identified during the exam, candidates cannot tell them apart from scored questions.

Sources

• aama-ntl.org, CMA (AAMA) Exam Content Outline
• aama-ntl.org, Certification

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