MEDICAL ASSISTANT (MA)

Is the Medical Assistant Career Still Hot? You bet!
The U.S. Census Bureau emphasizes that the current market trends along with cost control in the health care industry are making medical assisting some of the hottest careers in today's job market. It is hard to imagine that the medical assistant career could ever go away. There is an assistant for every specialty in the medical field, and there even are assistants for assistants. Doctors realize how valuable the medical assistant is for their business and the community, and will therefore always readily hire them to fill various positions in their medical practice. The demand for medical assistants is on the rise assisting is projected to be one of the fastest growing occupations over the 2004-14 period. It is a good time to enter into this exciting career in all disciplines (clinical and administrative areas).

Those who have worked in the profession for a few years often wonder if they should go on and become a nurse but worry that as a nurse they may not get to know their patients as well as medical assistants do, and might not be as closely involved in their health maintenance and recovery path over the long run.

Others continue in the medical assisting field for many, many years, not because of the pay (there still is a big gap between the medical assistant's wages and that of a nurse), but because of the strong relationships they forge with the doctors and other health care staff and also with their patients, which almost always is a long term relationship.

Medical Assistants enjoy employment in offices of physicians; in public and private hospitals, including inpatient and outpatient facilities; chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists; outpatient care centers, public and private educational services, other ambulatory health care services.

http://www.medicalassistantsite.com/
 

Program Overview And Course Description
The Medical Assistant Program is 750 hours, (30 weeks) plus a 160 hour externship program. . The Medical Assistant Program is 750 hours, plus a 160 hour externship program. It is comprised of six modules of 125 hours each in addition to the externship and must be taken in its entirety for a certificate of achievement. Modules are taken in sequence.

The complete program qualifies the student to take either the Certified Medical Assistant certification exams.

Outline of Program:

• Introduction to the Medical Assistant
• Medical Office Billing
• Physical Examination of the Patient& Medical Emergencies
• Phlebotomy (limited to medical assistants) and Body Systems Part 1
• Body Systems Part II & Clinical& Laboratory Procedures
• Pharmacology: Calculations & Dosage Administration &
  Body Systems Part III
• Externship

Requirements:

Applicants enrolling into the Medical Assistant program must meet the minimum general requirements for admission to the college in addition to the following:

• Be 17.5 years of age or older
• Pass the Standard Assessment Exam with a score of 552 or higher
• Students not possessing a high school diploma are eligible to take the Ability to Benefit exam.