Certificate Program
31 weeks/ 900 Clock Hours with 180 hours Clinical Externship
Objectives and goals
The Medical Assistant MA 900 Program is
designed to prepare students to assist healthcare
providers by performing administrative and
clinical duties in a medical office or a medical
clinic.
The main objective of this program is to teach students both basic patient care and medical office support. Students will to take vital signs, perform EKG, urinalysis, Point-Of-Care Testing (POCT), venipuncture, dermal puncture, and administer immunizations. In addition, students will learn the front desk duties i.e. scheduling appointments, filling out insurance forms understand billing and coding concepts and handle various patient related issues. They will be trained how to become multi-faceted members of the health care team and work closely with doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals delivering patient care and assuming appropriate responsibilities before, during and after hospital stays, surgical procedures, and doctor's care. Training also consists of the basic knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology math skills and pharmacology.
The core curriculum for the Medical Assistant MA900 Program is design to meet national standards and competencies for Medical Assistants in preparing individuals to enter the profession of Medical Assistants. Medical Career Institute provides on-campus lectures and work-simulated training with program appropriate equipment needed to successfully prepare students for this highly technical environment. The on-campus classroom and office affords space for lectures, demonstrations and laboratory practice for mock medical office procedures. Space, equipment and supplies for patient care, proper blood drawing and obtaining correct electrocardiograms are also provided in the Medical Assistant classroom and lab area. The off-campus Clinical Externship module of the curriculum is structured to include supervised hands-on training (requiring competencies logs and evaluations) at Clinical Externship Site.
Upon successful completion of the program, the diligent graduates will be awarded the Certification of Completion (Diploma) and should be proficient in performing entry-level clinical and office duties, and can seek an employment in both general practice as well as specialty practice, inpatient and outpatient facilities, emergency rooms, clinics and other health care facilities. .
Working conditions
Medical Assistants work in clean, well lit, and 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. 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.