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MEDICAL ASSISTING (MAT)
(Wallace Campus)
Program Description:
The Medical Assisting Program at Wallace Community College has a two-fold purpose. The program seeks to ensure students have opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for the practice of medical assisting and also prepare them to successfully write the American Association of Medical Assistant Certifying Board examination and become a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA). Completion of the Medical Assisting curriculum earns one an associate in applied science degree. The Medical Assisting Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon recommendation of the Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants Endowment (CRB-AAMAE). Accreditation status was reaffirmed in February of 2005 and continues through Fall 2014. Students enrolled in the program at WCC may also focus on short certificate options in the fields of medical transcription and phlebotomy. Completers of the phlebotomy certificate are eligible to sit for the Phlebotomy Technician (ASCP) and Registered Phlebotomy Technician (AMT) certification examinations.
Career Opportunities:
The U. S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics states that employment for medical assistants is projected to grow much faster than average, ranking medical assistants among the fastest growing occupations over the 2008–18 decade. Job prospects in the field should be excellent. About 62 percent of medical assistants work in offices of physicians. Medical assistants perform administrative and clinical tasks to keep the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners running smoothly. The duties of medical assistants vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the practice and the practitioner's specialty. In small practices, medical assistants usually do many different kinds of tasks, handling both administrative and clinical duties and reporting directly to an office manager, physician, or other health practitioner. Those in large practices tend to specialize in a particular area, under the supervision of department administrators.
Skills Needed:
- Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Administrative medical assistants update and file patients' medical records, fill out insurance forms, and arrange for hospital admissions and laboratory services. They also perform tasks less specific to medical settings, such as answering telephones, greeting patients, handling correspondence, scheduling appointments, and handling billing and bookkeeping. Clinical medical assistants have various duties, depending on State law. Some common tasks include taking medical histories and recording vital signs, explaining treatment procedures to patients, preparing patients for examinations, and assisting physicians during examinations. Medical assistants collect and prepare laboratory specimens and sometimes perform basic laboratory tests, dispose of contaminated supplies, and sterilize medical instruments. As directed by a physician, they might instruct patients about medications and special diets, prepare and administer medications, authorize drug refills, telephone prescriptions to a pharmacy, draw blood, prepare patients for x rays, take electrocardiograms, remove sutures, and change dressings. Medical assistants also may arrange examining room instruments and equipment, purchase and maintain supplies and equipment, and keep waiting and examining rooms neat and clean.
Expected Earnings/Salary:
The earnings of medical assistants will vary depending on experience, skill level, and location of employment.
- Median annual wages of wage-and-salary medical assistants were $28,860 based on an hourly wage of $13.87 in May 2010.
- Projections of the low and high ten-percent range from $20,810 to $40,190.
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Medical Assisting