Medical Assistant

Medical Assistant Program (MAP) graduates may assume positions as multi-skilled allied health professionals who perform a wide range of duties in physicians’ offices, clinics, and other outpatient healthcare settings.

This program is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). Upon successful completion of the MAP, students will receive a Certificate of Completion and be eligible to take the national certification exam to become a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA).

The MAP curriculum includes anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, medical law and ethics, oral and written communication, administrative procedures, financial record keeping, mathematics, insurance billing and medical coding, basic office diagnostic procedures, principles of pharmacology and medication administration, venipuncture, basic asepsis, and microbiology.

Students are trained in administrative and clinical procedures performed in physicians’ offices, and the curriculum meets the requirement for certification as a Health Care Assistant, State of Washington, categories A, C, and E. Training will also include professional telephone techniques, scheduling appointments, interviewing and instructing patients, making arrangements for patient admission to a hospital, maintaining financial records and files, completing insurance forms, preparing and maintaining employees’ payroll records, assisting patients in preparing for examinations, cleaning and sterilizing instruments and equipment, collecting specimens, performing electrocardiograms, and assisting physicians with treatments and surgeries.

Included in this program are general education courses in math, public speaking, and sociology, providing knowledge and abilities upon which technical skills are built and personal development enhanced. Additional courses included in the MAP consist of the following: CAH 102 Medical Terminology, CAH 103 Introduction to Health Professions, and CAH 105 Computer Applications for Allied Health Professionals. There is an acceptable replacement course for MAP 168.

This program is approximately five quarters in length, depending on the time students need to satisfactorily complete all graduation requirements.

Students will receive HIV/AIDS and HIPPA certifications from the program, but must obtain a First Aid/CPR for Health Professionals/ Providers card external to the program and prior to externship. Externship hours will vary and will be completed during the day hours for both day and evening students. Students, with the assistance of the Instructors and/or clinical placement coordinator, will have the opportunity to secure their own externship site. Upon completion of the MAP, students will graduate with a Certificate of Completion.

Prerequisites: Students must attend a mandatory orientation/advising meeting with the Instructors in order to register in the program.

Students are required to show proof of a high school diploma or GED upon entry into the MAP. All MAP courses in quarters one through four, including general education courses, must be successfully completed before entering the fifth quarter. See course descriptions for other course prerequisites.

Before entering the Invasive course, students must have current immunizations or laboratory verification of immune status. This includes, but is not limited to, Tetanus/Diphtheria, Hepatitis B, Measles/ Mumps/ Rubella, and Varicella, as required by contracts with clinical facilities and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations. Tuberculosis skin testing is also required.

In order to participate in the externship, students must receive a No Record on File report related to Crimes against Persons from the Washington State Patrol. Each student is required to carry personal health/medical insurance throughout their clinical rotations.

Quarterly-based insurance for students may be purchased; further information is available through the Advising and Counseling Office. No student will be allowed at a clinical site without proof of insurance.

Admission Dates: Summer and Winter quarter start dates for the day program and Fall and Spring quarter start dates for the evening program.

Once a student begins in either the day or evening program section, they will be unable to change sections without authorization from an Instructor.

Program Accreditation

The Medical Assistant Program at Clover Park Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB).

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs

1361 Park Street

Clearwater, FL 33756

(727) 210-2350

Program Requirements

To review course descriptions, please click here.