The Medical Administrative Assistant program at North-West College provides students with the fundamental skills and knowledge required to work with patients and medical records in a health care or medically oriented environment.

The program is divided into eight class course modules, including a 180-hour clinical externship where students will apply the skills they learn in the classroom in an actual health care practice setting.

Courses for this program include:

• Seminar for Success - Orientation and success building course for Career Review of basic math, language, vocabulary, and writing skills. Introduction to core career classes, availability of community resources, outlining, summarizing, managing credit, and other life skills

• Medical Financial Procedures - Medical Terminology, Transcribing, Payroll, Banking, Bank Reconciliation, Bookkeeping, Day Sheets, Accounts Payable – Invoices, Accounts Receivable, Reproductive, Endocrine, Excretory, Special Senses, and Respiratory Systems

• Secretarial - Medical Terminology, Transcribing, Correspondence, Memos, Filing and Maintaining Medical Records, Mail Handling, Accounts Receivable, Collections, Processing Patients, Medical and Legal Issues, Medical Ethics, Nervous and Digestive Systems

• Basic Office - Medical Terminology & Abbreviations, Pharmacology & Use of PDRs, Prescription Authorization, Vital Signs, Disease, Ordering Supplies, Job Responsibilities, Proofreading, Body Structure, Muscular and Skeletal Systems

• Communications/Computers - Medical Terminology, Résumés & Employment Applications, Mock Interviews, Telephone Techniques, Making Appointments, Rapport with Patients & Fellow Team Members, Courtesy & Respect, Scheduling Patients for Surgery, Discharge Summaries, Professional Conduct, Guidance in Professional Appearance & Building Self-Esteem, Doctor & Medical Specialties, Basic First Aid Knowledge, Lymphatic, Cardiovascular, & Integumentary Systems, Introduction to Computers, Word, Excel, Medi-Soft, Processing Electronic Insurance Claims, Creating Professional Quality Résumés, Internet, Advanced Word and Excel

• Insurance II - Insurance Terminology, CPT Coding, ICD-9 CM Coding, Insurance Billing (CMA-1500) for: Private Insurance, Medicare, Medi-Cal, SDI, and Worker’s Compensation, Insurance Verification

• Career Seminar - Internship Workshop, Career Readiness Workshops, New Student Orientation, and CPR Certification

• Clinical Internship - Internship to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom in an actual practice setting