College Catalog 2013-2014

Medical Assisting

The Medical Assisting (MA) curriculum prepares students to become valuable members of the health care professional team, of prime importance in helping physicians respond successfully to a rapidly changing environment. Graduates can secure positions as medical assistants in physicians’ offices, medical clinics and hospitals. Other employment opportunities include working as a phlebotomist, insurance billing specialist and a patient service representative.

Medical assistants perform administrative skills in medical records, appointment scheduling, telephone, financial and operations management. Types of clinical and laboratory skills performed by a medical assistant include: taking vital signs; administering medication; performing electro-cardiography and spirometry testing; assisting the physician with specialty examinations; and performing diagnostic laboratory tests in hematology, chemistry, microbiology and immunology.

In addition to the classroom and laboratory components of the program, the students will spend a required number of hours in two different clinical externship experiences. Externship sites include a hospital or outpatient laboratory and a primary care physician’s office or medical clinic where students are given the opportunity to gain experience applying their medical assisting administrative and clinical skills.

Accreditation:
The Community College of Philadelphia Medical Assisting program 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 of the American Association of Medical Assistants’ Endowment (AAMAE).

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
1361 Park Street
Clearwater, FL 33756
(727) 210-2350

Program graduates are eligible to sit for the national certification examination given by the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) and will earn the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) credential upon successful completion of the exam. In addition, students who successfully complete CLT 102 – Phlebotomy are eligible to take the PBT (ASCP) Certification exam.

Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this program graduates will be able to:

Utilize their knowledge to competently and safely perform administrative and clinical medical assisting procedures.
Demonstrate effective communication, critical thinking and problem-solving skills as a medical assistant.
Meet the expectations of today’s health care employers for an entry-level medical assistant.
Practice within the legal and ethical framework of medical assisting.

Program Entry Requirements:
Requirements for admission to the Medical Assisting program include:

High school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED®).
A minimum of one year of high school biology or BIOL 106 or equivalent with “C” or better grades in the past 10 years.
Applicants must demonstrate readiness for ENGL 101 and MATH 118 as determined by the College’s placement tests or by successfully completing identified developmental course work.
Applicants with previous college experience must have a minimum of a 2.25 grade point average.

Conditions for Acceptance:

A record of a complete physical examination, including laboratory test results, must be on file in the curriculum coordinator’s office. Immunizations, including Hepatitis B, must be on file in the program office before the start of a clinical education course. Health problems which would interfere with the applicant's ability to meet the program objectives will be considered individually. Health requirements must be documented in English by a U.S. care provider.
Verification of medical insurance is mandatory.
Applicants must attend a scheduled program orientation prior to entry.
Students are responsible for purchasing uniforms and other related materials required for the clinical and laboratory experiences of the program.
Applicants must obtain a criminal record check and a child abuse clearance prior to entering the program. Prior criminal records may prevent a student from being eligible to take the national certification examination through the AAMA.

The following guidelines are used in making decisions about an applicant’s criminal and child abuse background:

Child Abuse Clearance
Any record results in denial of admission into the MA program.

Criminal Background Check

Any felony conviction within the past ten years results in denial of admission to the MA program.
Any felony conviction more than ten years old will be evaluated based on the nature of the offense, length of time since the offense and any explanatory letters/materials submitted by the applicant or student.
Any misdemeanor will be evaluated based on the nature of the offense, length of time since the offense, and explanatory letter/materials submitted by the applicant or student.

Reconsideration:
An applicant who believes that an error of fact has been made in terms of the information provided to the decision-making committee can request reconsideration by the committee. This request must be made in writing within ten days from the date of the letter notifying the applicant of the decision. The reconsideration should address what the applicant considers to be errors of fact.

Following reconsideration by the decision-making committee, the applicant can appeal the committee’s decision to the vice president for Academic Affairs whose decision is final.

Any official change or the initiation of any governmental proceeding affecting the information revealed by the required criminal or child abuse background check must be reported immediately to the MA curriculum supervisor.

Drug Screening:
The MA program requires participation in clinical education. Some clinical affiliates of the MA program require evidence of a negative drug screening test in order for a student to participate in the clinical part of the clinical laboratory program at their facility. Therefore, any student with a positive drug screening test cannot be admitted into the MA program.

Readmission:

One-time readmission into the Medical Assisting program is permitted.
Students requesting a readmission must meet program entry requirements.
Students may be required to retake MA or general education courses as determined by the curriculum coordinator.
Students who were dropped for unprofessional conduct or safety issues may not be considered for a readmission.
Students must complete the program within five years after their initial enrollment.

A select admission process is utilized. To review this process, applicants are encouraged to make an appointment with an allied health counselor.

Program of Study Requirements:

Students in the MA program may be dropped at any time if, in the opinion of the faculty and curriculum coordinator, such students are not suited to be medical assistants.
Students whose attitudes and/or behaviors appear inconsistent with professional standards may be dropped from the program, pending a review by the program faculty and advisory committee.
Students may not continue in the MA program with a “D” or below in any MA course.
MA students must follow the curriculum sequence according to courses listed in each semester, unless approval is granted by the curriculum coordinator.
MA students must submit proof of two-year CPR certification prior to entering the second year’s spring semester (January).
Second-year MA students must submit the results of a two-step PPD prior to the end of the fall semester.
During all clinical experiences, students must maintain client safety and receive a passing grade for the clinical component of a course. Violation of safety may result in immediate clinical failure, an administrative withdrawal from the program and a failure for the course.
Students dropped from the program because of academic deficiencies will be considered for a second admission to the program after remediation of the deficiencies and recommendation of the MA faculty.

Program of Study and Graduation Requirements
To qualify for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Medical Assisting, students must complete 67 credit hours as prescribed, attain a grade point average of 2.0 or better and no grade below "C" in any required course for the curriculum.

Course Number and Name	Prerequisites	Credits	Gen Ed Req. and Corequisites
MEDICAL ASSISTING COURSE SEQUENCE
FIRST SEMESTER

AH 101 - Introduction to Health Care Professions		3

MATH 118 - Intermediate Algebra or higher		3	Mathematics

SECOND SEMESTER

MA 110 – Introduction to Clinical Skills	Prerequisite: AH 101, Corequisite: AH 103	3

AH 103 – Medical Terminology		3

ENGL 101 – English Composition I		3	ENGL 101

BIOL 108 – Essentials Anatomy and Physiology¹		4	Science

AH 116 - Interpersonal and Professional Skills in Health Care		3

THIRD SEMESTER

MA 115 – Medications and Medical Specialty Procedures	MA 110, AH 103, BIOL 108 which may be taken concurrently	3

AH 120 - Reimbursement Methodologies in Health Care		3

CLT 102 – Phlebotomy		4

AH 112 - Medical Administrative Procedures		3

CIS 103 – Applied Computer Technology		3	Tech Comp

FOURTH SEMESTER

AH 204 - Medical Law and Ethics	ENGL 101	3

ENGL 102 – The Research Paper	ENGL 101 with a grade of “C” or better	3	ENGL 102, Info Lit

AH 190 - Human Disease and Treatment	AH 103, BIOL 107 or BIOL 109	3

AH 220 - Information Management Systems in Health Care	CIS 103, AH 112	3

FIFTH SEMESTER

AH 201 - CPT and ICD Coding	AH 103, AH 190, BIOL 108 or BIOL 109	3

MA 299 – Medical Assisting Externship	CLT 102, MA 115, AH 204	4

Humanities Elective		3	Humanities

Social Science Elective		3	Social Science

MINIMUM CREDITS NEEDED TO GRADUATE: 64

General Education Requirements
All General Education requirements are met through required courses (as indicated above) except for the Writing Intensive requirement and the Interpretive Studies requirement. Therefore, in order to graduate, students in this program must choose one course that is designated Writing Intensive and one course that is designated Interpretive Studies. The same course may be used to fulfill both requirements.View the courses that fulfill all degree requirements and receive a more detailed explanation of the College’s general education requirements to help in your selection.

For More Information Contact:
The Division of Math, Science and Health Careers, Room W2-7, 1700 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130, Telephone (215) 751-8430; or the College Information Center (215) 751-8010.

Revised 051412