Medical Assistant Classes
Medical assistants can work for nearly any health care provider, including private practices, clinics and hospitals large and small. Doctors, nurses and patients all depend upon the professionals in medical assisting jobs to accurately complete their responsibilities.
Because the position involves clinical and administrative duties, in order to be successful and assist physicians and nurses, students in medical assisting programs learn the front office skills such as medical insurance billing as well as clinical procedures.
The medical assistant courses include training that will help you to be successful on both sides of a physician’s practice. The MA program at First Institute includes the following classes:
- Anatomy & Physiology – Introduction to the various body systems and principles of human physiology.
- Medical Terminology – Communication is important in a medical setting. This covers basic structure of medical words, including prefixes, suffixes, roots and combining forms and plurals.
- Computer Billing – Students in this course will learn about computer operations and software applications used by health care providers.
- Medical Insurance Billing & Coding – All medical procedures are assigned a code. In order to make sure the patient and insurance company are billed properly, medical assistants must keep accurate billing records.
- Clinical Procedures – Introductions to basic clinical skills including taking vital signs, assisting with basic and specialty examinations, and patient preparation.
- Medical Office Procedures – Provides instruction in the fundamentals of the operation and maintenance of a medical office.
The job outlook for medical assistants
Medical assisting is one of the fastest growing occupations in the country. This can be attributed to several factors, including the increasing average age of the U.S. residents who require more procedures; federal legislation (the Affordable Care Act) will increase the number of insured people in the country; as medical practices switch to electronic health records, medical assistants’ responsibilities will continue to change.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics* estimates that the number of medical assistant jobs will increase by 29% by 2022.
Are you ready for a new career?
If you are interested in a rewarding career in the growing health care industry and would like to know more about First Institute’s medical assistant classes, call 815-459-3500.
* Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-assistants.htm
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