Administrative Medical Asst.
Degrees & Certificates in this major: Associate of Applied Science Degree
Department Website: Business Technology
Program Contact:
Sally Stouder
Additional Faculty:
Kathy Durling, Rick Durling, Rosemarie Hubley, Mary Ann Lammers, Twila Lehman, Nancy Noe
The Administrative Medical Assistant program prepares students for front office work in physicians’ offices, clinics or hospitals. Medical administrative assistants perform office duties that use their knowledge of medical terms and procedures. Duties may include scheduling and receiving patients; transcribing medical reports; obtaining patient’s data; maintaining medical records; handling telephone calls, correspondence, reports and manuscripts; and eventually assuming responsibility for office management, insurance matters, coding diagnoses and procedures, office accounts, fees and collections. They can assist physicians with reports, speeches and journal articles. All of these tasks require medical administrative assistants to be experts with medical terms.
A person wanting to become an administrative medical assistant should have the ability to get along well with people and the desire to work in a medical atmosphere. A successful administrative medical assistant must be reliable, must enjoy detail work and must work well under stress, as he/she will be dealing with many different people each day — many of whom are ill.
During his/her second year, a student’s work experience consists of 240 hours in a medical administrative assistant or front office position in a clinic or hospital. Students are trained to work independently with minimal supervision. This opportunity provides a bridge between classroom and career.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete an Associate of Applied Science in Administrative Medical Assistant will:
- Function effectively as a team member and/or leaders.
- Interact effectively in oral and written communications.
- Use computers and other technology proficiently for administrative tasks.
- Demonstrate positive interpersonal interactions and diplomacy.
- Manage multi-tasks efficiently.
- Model professional and ethical behaviors, especially confidentiality and compassion.
- Participate in ongoing professional development.
- Solve problems using a variety of appropriate tools.
- Identify process improvement skills.
Program Requirements
The Administrative Medical Assistant program is designed to be completed in two years. This assumes, however, that the entering student already knows how to type by touch and has been placed at or above the following levels on the Computerized Placement Test: WR 121 English Composition and MTH 060 Introduction to Algebra. It is advisable to take the test as early as possible. If developmental coursework is required, we recommend that it be taken the summer term prior to enrolling in the regular degree program. Pre-training might include some or all of the following courses: OA 121 Keyboarding (2 credits), RD 080 Developing Reading Skills or RD 090 Strategies for Effective Reading (3 credits), WR 090 The Write Course (4 credits), MTH 020 Basic Mathematics (4 credits), MTH 060 Introduction to Algebra (4 credits), WR 115 Introduction to College Writing (3 credits).
