Academic Programs and Services

Medical Assisting and Office Management

The Medical Assisting and Office Management (MAOM) 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, procedural coder, and an entry-level medical office manager.

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.

Certain MAOM courses are offered in an accelerated format for students who wish to improve their marketability even before earning their Associate degree. This fast track of course clusters is also available for the student who works during the day and who is interested in rapidly enhancing his/her current skills, or is looking for a career change. The clusters will prepare a student to work in the medical office as a front office assistant, or in the billing office.

Accreditation:
The Community College of Philadelphia Medical Assisting and Office Management Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Curriculum 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.

Program Entry Requirements:
Requirements for admission to the Medical Assisting and Office Management Program include:
1. High school diploma or general education diploma (GED).
2. A minimum of one year of high school biology or BIOL 106 or equivalent with “C” or better grades in the past 10 years.
3. 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.
4. Applicants with previous college experience must have a minimum of a 2.0 grade point average.

Conditions for Acceptance:

1. 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.
2. Verification of medical insurance is mandatory.
3. Applicants must attend a scheduled program orientation prior to entry.
4. Applicants must obtain a Criminal Record Check and a Child Abuse Clearance prior to entering the program. Prior criminal records may prevent from being eligible to take the national certification examination through the AAMA.
5. Students are responsible for purchasing uniforms and other related materials required for the clinical laboratory experiences of the Program. 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 MAOM Program.

Criminal Background Check

• Any felony conviction within the past ten years results in denial of admission to the MAOM 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 students. (Any punishment over one year indicates a felony according to federal sentencing guidelines.)

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 MAOM curriculum supervisor.

Drug Screening
The MAOM program requires participation in clinical education. Some clinical affiliates of the MAOM 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 MAOM program.

Readmission:

1. One time readmission into the Medical Assisting and Office Management program is permitted.
2. Students requesting a readmission must meet program entry requirements.
3. Students may be required to retake MAOM or general education courses as determined by the curriculum coordinator.
4. Students who were dropped for unprofessional conduct or safety issues may not be considered for a readmission.
5. 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:

1. Students in the MAOM 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.
2. 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.
3. Students may not continue in the MAOM program with a “D” or below in any MA course.
4. MAOM students must follow the curriculum sequence according to courses listed in each semester, unless approval is granted by the Curriculum Coordinator.
5. MAOM students must submit proof of two-year CPR certification prior to entering the second year’s spring semester (January).
6. Second-year MAOM students must submit the results of a two-step PPD prior to the end of the fall semester.
7. 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.
8. 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 MAOM faculty.

Program of Study and Graduation Requirements:
To qualify for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Medical Assisting and Office Management, students must complete 64 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.

Download a printable degree description (PDF File) that includes a recommended course sequence grid.