Medical Assistant

Become a medical assistant

Work alongside doctors and nurses.

Medical Assisting careers can open the doors to working alongside doctors and nurses in many health care settings. Some people focus their training on the clinical side of the business so they can have a more direct hands-on approach with patients. Others focus on the office management side of the business, where management, administration, and technological skills allow them to excel.

Wherever you decide to focus, completing your medical assisting training can give you the opportunity to work in a doctor’s office, hospital, long-term care facility, or any other health care facilities that help people in your community. Before graduating, you take the American Medical Tech (AMT) Exam. Once passed, you earn the RMA Credential and are a Registered Medical Assistant.

It’s easy to see the bright side of medical assisting: it provides professional employment in a desirable environment with decent pay. On top of that, you can expect a very healthy job market for many years to come. Yet being a medical assistant also means having a job that can sometimes be quite demanding, and it’s often not glamorous.

About Our Medical Assistant Diploma

The Medical Assistant diploma program at Centura College gives you the knowledge and skills needed to work in healthcare organizations. Some of these facilities include physician offices, hospital laboratories, and urgent care centers.

What Medical Assistants Do

Medical assistants are often charged with balancing both administrative and clinical duties in the workplace. They handle patient records, appointment scheduling, and tasks in the exam rooms. Medical assistants should have interpersonal soft skills, like communication to assist with patients and clients. At Centura College, we’ll teach you about:

• Measuring vital signs and performing EKGs
• Taking urine and blood samples and other urinalysis and phlebotomy procedures
• Administering injections and medications with physician supervision
• Using electronic health records and managing patient information
• Assisting physicians with examinations and laboratory procedures

Medical Assistant Courses

Some of the courses you’ll take during your medical assisting diploma program include:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Medical Terminology
• Principles of Pharmacology
• Medical Office Procedures
• Phlebotomy and Laboratory Procedures
• Exam Room Procedures

Our goal with our Medical Assistant program is to provide you with the skills you need to become employed as a medical assistant. This includes an externship that will allow you to have practical experience with the skills you learned in the classroom and let you start to build professional connections. Our program also has a capstone course that helps prepare you to take the industry certification exams that employers are looking for.

Career Outlook for Medical Assistants

Our Medical Assistant diploma program readies you for entry-level medical assisting healthcare facilities, such as:

• Physicians’ offices
• Nursing homes and assisted living facilities
• Hospitals and outpatient care centers
• Chiropractors’ offices
• Specialty clinics

This program is part of the Medical Assistant Pathways Program, which allows you to choose the level of education based on your career goals.