Medical assistant phone screen questions
Clinics lose medical assistants to the practice that calls back first. A same-day phone screen that confirms certification, rooming experience, and the EHR they know puts you ahead of the practice that calls Thursday.
Eight questions, and what to listen for
Ask them in this order. The first two sort the pool; the middle ones show judgment; the last ones settle logistics before anyone books an interview.
- 1
Are you a certified or registered medical assistant, and through which organization?
Listen for: CMA (AAMA), RMA (AMT), CCMA (NHA), or state registration, and whether it is current.
- 2
Which practice settings have you worked in, and what did your day look like?
Listen for: Rooming, vitals, injections, phlebotomy, prior auths. Family medicine differs from a specialty clinic.
- 3
Which EHR systems have you charted in?
Listen for: Epic, athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, NextGen. Not required, but it shortens training a lot.
- 4
Are you comfortable with injections, EKGs, and blood draws?
Listen for: A direct yes or a clear list of what they have and haven't done.
- 5
Tell me about a time a patient was upset or scared. What did you do?
Listen for: Calm, listening, getting the provider when needed.
- 6
How do you keep rooming on schedule when the provider is running behind?
Listen for: Communication with front desk, prioritizing, keeping patients informed.
- 7
Are you available Monday to Friday with an occasional Saturday?
Listen for: A direct answer.
- 8
When could you start, and can you complete a background check and immunization records?
Listen for: A date and a yes.
Red flags on the call
- Certification lapsed or unclear
- Cannot describe a clinic day
- Unwilling to do injections or draws for a role that needs them
- Saturday availability not workable
Keep it short
Five questions, four to six minutes. Medical assistant candidates are usually applying to several jobs at once; a screen they can finish between shifts gets finished. Save the deeper questions for the interview, where the candidate has already answered these once.
Never ask about age, health, family, religion, or national origin, and do not follow up if a candidate volunteers them.
Be the medical assistant candidate for three minutes
We call your phone and run a real three-question screen for Lakeside Family Clinic, a four-provider family medicine practice in Madison. Your scorecard is emailed to you exactly as a recruiter would see it.
- 1Are you a certified or registered medical assistant, and through which organization?
- 2Which practice settings have you worked in, and what did your day look like?
- 3Which EHR systems have you charted in?
Your phone is about to ring at
Joe from Lakeside Family Clinic will introduce himself and ask three questions. While you talk, try a few things:
- Cut in mid-sentence and notice the pause
- Give a vague answer and hear the follow-up
- Say you are not interested and hear it wrap up
Your scorecard lands in your inbox about a minute after you hang up.
Run this exact screen for every medical assistant who applies
Create a role in PhoneScreen with these five questions, share the link, and every candidate gets the same screen the moment they call. You read the scorecards. First 10 screens are free.
- 1Are you a certified or registered medical assistant, and through which organization?
- 2Which practice settings have you worked in, and what did your day look like?
- 3Which EHR systems have you charted in?
- 4Tell me about a time a patient was upset or scared. What did you do?
- 5Are you available Monday to Friday with an occasional Saturday, and when could you start?
Common questions
Can the screen check certification before we spend time? +
Yes. The certification question is scored as yes/no, so you can filter the list to certified candidates in one click.
Screening for healthcare and senior living · More roles: forklift operator, caregiver, CDL truck driver, line cook, restaurant server, cashier and retail associate · Why the same questions for everyone