Medical Assistant - Delta College of Arts & Technology

Medical Assistant from Delta College of Arts & Technology is a Campus Certificate Health Aide degree that prepares you for a Healthcare career. The Medical Assistant program is designed to prepare students for a broad spectrum of entry-level positions in the Medical Assistant field. The student will learn the clinical as well as the administrative aspects of medical assisting. The students will gain lab & clinical competencies including phlebotomy techniques, 12 lead EKG procedures, specimen collection, infection control & safety measures, vital signs, and assisting with minor office surgery and physical exams. The student will gain administrative competencies in medical bookkeeping, medical insurance billing & coding, medical records, medical office software, medical office ethics, injections, and master basic dosage calculations. Approximate completion time: Day?7.5 months Nights?12 months NATURE OF THE WORK: Medical assistant perform routine administrative and clinical tasks to keep the offices and clinics of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors and optometrists running smoothly. The duties of Medical Assistants vary from office to office, depending on the office location, size, and specialty. In small practices, Medical Assistants are usually ?generalists,? handling both administrative and clinical duties and reporting directly to an office manager, physician, or other healthcare practitioner. Those in large practices tend to specialize in a particular are under the supervision of department administration. Medical Assistants perform many administrative duties. They answer telephones, greet patients, update and file patient medical records, fill out insurance forms, handle correspondence, schedule appointments, arrange for hospital admission and laboratory services, and handle billing and book keeping. Clinical duties include taking medical histories and recording vital signs, explaining treatment procedures to patients, preparing patients for examination, and assisting the physician during the examination. Medical Assistants collect and prepare laboratory specimens or perform basic laboratory tests on the premises, dispose of contaminated supplies, and sterilize medical instruments. They instruct patients about medication and special diets, prepare and administer medications as directed by a physician, authorize drug refills as directed, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, prepare patients for X-rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures, and change dressings. WORKING CONDITIONS: Medical Assistants work in well-lighted, clean environments. They constantly interact with other people, and may have to handle several responsibilities at once. Most full-time Medical Assistants work a regular 40 hour week. Some work part-time, evenings or weekends. EMPLOYMENT: Medical assistants held about 387,000 jobs in 2004. About 6 out of 10 worked in offices of physicians; about 14 percent worked in public and private hospitals, including inpatient and outpatient facilities; and 11 percent worked in offices of other health practitioners, such as chiropractors, optometrists, and podiatrists. The rest worked mostly in outpatient care centers, public and private educational services, other ambulatory health care services, State and local government agencies, employment services, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and nursing care facilities. JOB OUTLOOK: Employment of medical assistants is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014 as the healthcare industry expands and because of technological advances in medicine the growth and aging of the population. Increasing utilization of medical assistants in the rapidly growing health care industry will further stimulate job growth. In fact, medical assistants are projected to be one of the fastest-growing occupations over the 2004-14 period. View more details on Delta College of Arts & Technology . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Health Aide courses.