Certificate Program
15 weeks/ 430 Clock Hours with 100 hours of Clinical Externship
The Clinical Assistant CA 430 program is designed to prepare the graduate to become skilled entry-level Clinical Assistant and work effectively in the health care environment. Students are trained to become multi-skilled allied health professional such as Medical Assistants, Patient Care Technicians, and Phlebotomy/EKG Technicians with diverse duties in medical offices, hospitals, clinics and health care centers. The program includes ample space lecture and practicing lab skills in our on-campus (work-simulated) doctor’s exam room, phlebotomy and EKG laboratory and patient care room for mock practice patient care procedures. The off-campus clinical externship module of the curriculum is structured to include supervised hands-on training at clinical externship sites such us doctor’s offices hospitals, laboratories, outpatient surgical centers, and endoscopy/colonoscopy clinics and requires skills logs and competency evaluations of of skills performed. Students receive an overview of the front desk duties, scheduling appointments, filling out insurance forms and electronic record keeping. All students will be provided 100 hours of clinical externship.
Objectives and goals:
- Teaching courses in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, clinical procedures interpersonal skills, confidentiality, medical law and ethics, HIPPA, professional behavior, and patient interface as well as basic offices procedures to ensure competency.
- Providing clinical activities within on-campus work-stimulated laboratories that include electronic data entry and electronic records keeping, assisting the physician in patient care responsibilities by recording medical histories, taking vital signs, preparing the patient for examination, assisting physician during patient examination and surgical procedures, collecting and performing various laboratory tests, preparing and administering medications, performing diagnostic procedures such as EKGs and dressings and providing patient education to ensure patient compliance.
- Prepare a knowledgeable entry-level employee with technical skills and work habits necessary to perform effectively in various health-care related fields
- Providing students with off campus clinical externship experience that includes a supervised hands-on training (requiring competencies logs and evaluations) at the clinical site (doctor’s offices, hospitals).
At the completion of the program, the diligent student will be:
- Awarded a Certificate of Completion (Diploma).
- Proficient in performing entry-level Medical Assistant tasks and responsibilities.
- Able to sit for the credentialing examination.
- Able to seek an entry-level employment in facilities such as medical offices, clinics, hospitals and healthcare centers.
Working conditions:
Medical Assistants work in clean, well lit, cool and relatively quiet
environments. They may well be required to stand for long periods of time, and
it is vital their attention be focused on the tasks at hand. They may at times
be exposed to communicable diseases, sights and material.
Most medical assistants work a regular 40-hour week: although they may be
"Part-time", work nights, weekends and holidays on a rotating basis, depending
on their facility.
Employment:
Many medical assistants are employed in Doctor's offices, hospitals, ambulatory
centers, and emergency departments. Some are employed directly by doctors in
the "private assistant role," while others work as surgical assistants. They
are also utilized in clinics, surgery centers, and general and specialty
medical offices. Their broad educational background plus specialized focus,
allows medical assistants to function well in a number of diverse areas of
their field. Employment possibilities in addition to Medical Assistant include, surgery
schedulers, materials management, organ/tissues procurement and preservation,
cardiac catheterization laboratories, product development, EKG technicians,
phlebotomists and marketing and sales. A number of medical assistants become instructors
after 3 years of experience in the field.