Medical Assistant (Diploma)
Program Overview
Whether in a physician’s office, a clinic, or a hospital, the Medical Assistant performs many services on the physician’s behalf. These may include admissions work, preparing the patient for examination or treatment, operating diagnostic equipment, performing laboratory work, and administering EKGs. The Medical Assistant is responsible for the patient’s medical records and insurance forms and for scheduling appointments and maintaining the physician’s medical records.
Program Purpose
The program provides students with the knowledge and skills required in the areas of anatomy and physiology, pathology of the body systems, medical terminology, medical front and back office procedures, EKG, and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) exempt laboratory procedures to function successfully as an entry-level Medical Assistant in a clinic or physician’s office.
Skills Proficiency
Students must be able to perform certain skills to work as a Medical Assistant. These skills are learned in the lab portion of the program. The classroom portion of the program is divided into one-half lecture and theory and one-half lab, which is where practical application of theory is performed. The instructor evaluates every lab experiment and all practical work. Hands-on instruction with the actual tools of the trade facilitates the transfer from theory to practice. Students perform certain activities on each other. All students must participate. All students must take and pass a clinical skill test before being released for externship.
CPR Certification
To be eligible for American Heart Association (AHA) certification, students must attend all scheduled hours of CPR lecture and pass practical checkoffs and a written exam. A student who is tardy or misses a lecture must repeat the lecture, even if the student passes the checkoffs and written exam. If CPR is offered during another shift in the same term, the student may attend that lecture. If not offered during that term, the student will receive an incomplete for the course until the lecture is repeated. AHA requires that students pass the CPR written test with a grade of at least 84 percent. If below 84 percent, they may retake the exam once. The original test score will be used to calculate the course grade. If the test is retaken and failed a second time, the student must repeat the entire course of CPR instruction. If a student is absent for the entire course, it is his or her responsibility to contact the instructor to find an appropriate session or class to attend. If the student does not do so, he or she may not graduate.
Program Objectives
- To provide a learning atmosphere that is similar to an actual working atmosphere and an experience in the clinical area to correlate with classroom instruction.
- To provide the education and skills needed to pass a certification exam, if needed.
- To instill in the student a sense of professionalism in behavior, attitude, and dress.
Registration and certification requirements for taking and passing these examinations are not controlled by Concorde, but by outside agencies, and are subject to change by the agency without notice. Therefore, Concorde cannot guarantee that graduates will be eligible to take these exams, at all or at any specific time, regardless of their eligibility status upon enrollment.
*These courses are offered online.
**A portion of these courses are offered online.