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Program Description:
Students who enroll in this program have the option of earning a certificate, a diploma or a two-year associate's degree of applied science. Those who complete the program also will be qualified to work in the high-growth field of medicine.
Medical assistants typically work in doctors' offices or other ambulatory care settings, where they often are the first professionals that patients encounter. Medical assistants frequently handle initial assessment interviews and procedures, such as taking medical histories and vital signs, performing EKGs and phlebotomy, removing sutures and changing dressings.
They also may assist physicians with patients' exams, and they take care of administrative and clerical tasks, such as answering telephones, scheduling appointments and assisting with insurance billing procedures to ensure that offices run smoothly.
As the population in the United States ages, the field is expected to see steady job growth.
Cherrie Dvorak was the program's first instructor at Craven. She said medical assisting is ideal for students who have an interest in medicine, but aren't sure they want to enter nursing.
"Medical assisting is a way to test the waters," Dvorak said, adding the program is likely to appeal to students of varying ages and life circumstances.
"It will appeal to students who are graduating from high school, it will appeal to moms who are going back to work and it will appeal to people looking for a particular skill in the medical field," she said.
Karen E. Vogel recently became as the program's instructor at Craven. She replaced Dvorak, who re-located to South Carolina.
IMPORTANT: Experiential credits are not accepted.
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