Certificate Program / 65 Quarter Credit Hours
38 weeks/ 900 Clock Hours with 180 hours of Clinical Externship
The Medical Assistant MA 900 program is designed to prepare the graduate to become skilled entry-level Medical Assistants providing both basic patient care and medical office support. Students are trained to become multi-skilled allied health professional with diverse duties in medical offices, hospitals, clinics and health care centers. The program includes well balanced on-campus space for lectures and demonstrations, on-campus (work-simulated) doctor’s exam room, phlebotomy and EKG laboratory and patient care room for mock practice patient care procedures and as well as proper storage 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 sites such us doctor’s offices, hospitals and health care centers.
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 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.
- Preparing students for medical front office tasks, computer and technical skills, dealing with insurance and billing & coding issues and working habits necessary to perform effectively in various health-care related fields both as administrative and clinical medical assistant.
- 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, clinics and 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.
- Eligible to sit for the credentialing exam administered by American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) (www.aama.org) to become Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) and/or Certified Medical Office Assistant (CMOA
- Able to seek an entry-level employment in facilities such as medical offices, clinics, hospitals and healthcare centers
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. For expected salary please refer to web site: www.salary.com.
Working conditions:
Medical Assistants work in clean, well lit and cool,
controlled and relatively quiet environments. They may
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,
unpleasant odors, sights and biohazard materials and may
have to lift, push or turn disabled patients as well as
equipment. 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.