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The Medical Assistant is a link between health care providers and their patients, their professional associates, and the suppliers of equipment and medications. The Medical Assistant is the team member who assists the qualified provider in the office or other medical setting, and performs administrative and/or clinical duties.
Demand for the Medical Assistant may occur in business or industrial health centers, health insurance companies, medical clinics, and emergency care centers.
The Medical Assistant has a wide range of duties which are supportive to the physician’s practice. Business/administrative duties include scheduling and receiving patients, obtaining patient information, maintaining medical records, maintaining supplies and equipment, and assuming responsibility for office care, insurance matters, office accounts, fees, and collections. Medically-related duties include assisting with examinations and treatments, taking health histories, performing certain diagnostic tests, carrying out laboratory procedures, and sterilizing instruments and equipment.
Due to the rigor of the Medical Assistant Program, students may wish to adjust their schedules for a lighter course load over 3 or 4 semesters. Students may also elect to talk with their counselors regarding taking Associate Degree courses that may substitute for the Technical Diploma courses. However, all students must complete their final year from August to May to include advanced course work and externship.
Employment of medical assistants has grown faster than average when compared to other health occupations, a trend the U.S. Department of Labor predicts to continue well into the next decade.
Medical Assistants may also advance to become office managers.
The Medical Assistant Supervised Externship experience takes place during the final semester of the program. The student must have satisfactorily completed all of his/her program courses prior to this experience and agree to participate without remuneration. During externship, students will learn about administrative skills, business skills, clinical operations, and laboratory skills.
The externship experience allows students to become familiar with a variety of settings they might encounter in a small office, or a multi-specialty group practice. A Caregiver Background Check is required.
The American Association of Medical Assistants awards the title of Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) to those who pass a national written examination.
Beginning with the administration of the January 2001 Certification Examination, felons are not eligible to sit for the examination unless the Certifying Board (CB) grants a waiver.
