Top 7 Certified Medical Assistant Interview Questions to Ask

Certified medical assistants (CMAs) are trained to aid healthcare professionals with a range of clinical and administrative duties. Asking the right certified medical assistant interview questions can be a great way to assess how potential candidates would fit within your healthcare team to facilitate patient care.

Interviews are crucial to the hiring process, adding valuable insight to what a person is like outside of their resume. While creating an effective job description can attract candidates, preparing specific interview questions will really help you determine their fit. To get you started, we’ve compiled the top seven interview questions to ask a medical assistant. Looking for real-time industry insights? See what types of candidates other facilities are looking for in their CMA job postings.

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Certified Medical Assistant Interview Questions

Medical assistants can come with a range of experience. But being experienced doesn’t automatically make someone right for a role. The interview is a time for both you and potential candidates to assess whether your goals and values align beyond their qualifications on paper.

With this in mind, here are seven great certified medical assistant interview questions that can help you bring quality members onto your healthcare team.

1. Tell me about yourself and what interested you in the CMA position.

This is a helpful opener to get a sense of who the candidate is and why they decided to become a medical assistant. Not only does this question guide the conversation toward the position, but it also allows the candidate to discuss their personal journey into the role. This will set the tone for the rest of the interview and introduce what might have motivated a candidate to be in the room with you today.

What to listen for:

• Personal experiences that inspired the candidate to become a CMA
• Genuine interest and passion in healthcare settings and helping patients

Potential follow-up questions:

• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• Why are you interested in working at our facility?

2. What past experiences do you have that make you a good medical assistant?

This question invites the candidate to share what they bring to the table. For some, this may be the first medical assistant job that they’re applying for — which is fine and actually quite common for this role. By asking about relevant experience instead of past work as a medical assistant, you allow candidates of all types to sell their strongest skills.

A candidate’s answer to this question will also help you assess what qualities they think a medical assistant should have, keying you into the values they could bring to the position if hired.

What to listen for:

• Experiences that showcase organization, communication, and teamwork skills
• General familiarity with healthcare or a willingness to learn

Potential follow-up questions:

• Do you have experience with customer-facing or administrative roles?
• Do you have any specialized training or certifications that would help you in this role?

3. How would you handle a situation where a patient is upset or angry?

Medical assistants have a number of patient-facing responsibilities on both the administrative and clinical sides. Sometimes, they may even be the first to hear from a patient who is unsatisfied with their care. Assessing how they handle difficult situations like these can reveal their overall energy and attitude toward communicating with patients.

If your candidate is applying without prior experiences in patient care, be aware that their answer might be based on an ideal of the way they would act. In addition, interview questions for medical assistants with no experience may need to be altered slightly to focus on interactions with the public (or customers) rather than patients.

What to listen for:

• Ability to remain calm and de-escalate more difficult, patient-facing situations
• Willingness to listen to the patient’s perspective and pass issues up the chain of command when necessary

Potential follow-up questions:

• How would you work to protect the privacy and confidentiality of patients?
• Can you give me an example of a time you overcame a difficult situation and share how you handled it?

4. Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict with a clinical team member.

In addition to engaging with patients, medical assistants work with a range of staff, often taking instruction from various health professionals throughout the day. As such, asking certified medical assistant interview questions like this can help you gauge whether a candidate is able to effectively function within a team setting. Asking about conflict resolution is a great way to assess a candidate’s soft skills related to collaboration.

For example, if there’s miscommunication between a doctor and a medical assistant and a patient’s blood pressure doesn’t get recorded, how would the candidate handle this? Would they shift blame or would they calmly talk through what might have happened with the doctor to figure out how to prevent this in the future? Their reactions to these types of scenarios provide insight into their professionalism and ability to take constructive feedback.

What to listen for:

• Willingness to discuss issues in a mature manner, such as taking ownership for mistakes
• Ability to remain professional and respectful toward team members

Potential follow-up questions:

• What would you do if you noticed a team member was breaking protocol?
• What steps do you take to keep your team members informed about patients?

5. Describe your work process when juggling multiple clinical tasks.

Medical assistants typically must juggle many different tasks throughout their day, from scheduling patient appointments to preparing blood samples for exams. Because of this, one or more of your certified medical assistant interview questions should assess time management and task prioritization skills.

Use this question to open up a dialogue about the candidate’s process for organizing their workload. Time management looks different for everyone, and information about how a candidate manages multiple tasks can give you a sense of how they approach their work.

What to listen for:

• Ability to prioritize tasks based on team/patient needs
• Practical strategies, such as making task lists, delegating, and clustering tasks

Potential follow-up questions:

• In general, what is your top priority when delivering care to patients?
• What would you do if the physician asked you for help while you were in the middle of another task?

6. How familiar are you with the medical technology that’s used in the medical assistant role?

From filling out patient health records to taking vital signs, medical assistants must familiarize themselves with various pieces of technology to carry out their responsibilities. This question will allow you to get a sense of the specific skills or knowledge a candidate has regarding medical technology.

You’ll also be able to gauge a candidate’s ability and willingness to learn. Even if a candidate is not an expert on all the technologies used by your team, their attitude toward picking up new skills can indicate how they might adapt to the role and your facility.

If you’re interviewing a medical assistant who has specialized training or additional certifications (such as the National Certified Medical Assistant certification), consider following up with questions about specialized technology they’re familiar with. Advanced medical assistant interview questions (and answers) should reflect the candidate’s higher levels of training and broader range of competencies.

What to listen for:

• General familiarity with various technologies used to deliver patient care
• Openness and eagerness to learn new skills and technologies

Potential follow-up questions:

• How comfortable are you using and documenting health information on a computer?
• Do you have any experience or familiarity with phlebotomy and EKGs?

7. Do you have any questions for me about the CMA position, or this facility?

This is one of the best interview questions to ask a medical assistant before you close out your interaction. It provides an opportunity for the candidate to open up dialogue about topics they’re still curious about. On top of covering any leftover bases, the questions a candidate asks can tell you a little bit more about their interests and motivations regarding the position.

What to listen for:

• Genuine interest in learning more about the role, unit, or facility
• Questions that indicate a candidate’s interest in learning and growing in the role

Potential follow-up questions:

• What excites you most about this role?
• Is there anything in particular you’re eager to learn on the job?

Find Qualified Candidates to Interview Today

Are you ready to bring in candidates who can answer your certified medical assistant interview questions with ease? Post your vacant CMA positions to our nursing job board, and we’ll start matching you with the next great member of your care team.