Lakeland
Medical Assisting Certificate/Area of Specialization (3550)
The medical assisting certificate program prepares competent, responsible, and caring entry-level medical assistants through education, practice, and community experiences in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains to enter the profession. In addition, the program fosters professionalism, ethics, person growth and development, and lifelong learning.
Medical assistants are essential members of the healthcare team. They are versatile healthcare professionals who commonly work in outpatient settings, including clinics, medical offices, and outpatient surgical centers.
Medical assistants play a crucial role in healthcare by handling a diverse range of clinical and administrative tasks vital for ensuring quality patient care. Administrative responsibilities encompass greeting patients, updating records, scheduling appointments, and managing insurance paperwork, while clinical duties involve measuring vital signs, obtaining medical histories, performing lab tests through blood drawing, and assisting providers during examinations, procedures, and minor surgeries. These tasks form the core functions of medical assistants, although their specific duties may vary depending on the healthcare setting in which they work.
The Lakeland Community College Medical Assisting program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.com) upon the recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB). CAAHEP 9355-113th St. N. #7709 ~ Seminole, FL 33775 ~ 727-210-2350
Admission Procedures
Students must meet specific admission requirements for this program and are advised to meet with a counselor and the program director.
Listed below are requirements for admission to the Medical Assisting certificate program:
- Complete college application
- Complete college placement test or meet test exemption requirements
- Place into MATH 0850 Beginning Algebra or successfully completed MATH 0745 Essential Skills for Algebra
- Place into ENGL 1110 English Composition I (A) or ENGL 1111 English Composition I (B) or successfully completed ENGL 0111 Fundamentals of College Literacy
- Declare medical assisting as major and must have a minimum 2.0 GPA for admission.
- Applicants must meet with the program director and counselor to review the program prerequisites and requirements
Applicants who have completed the requirements for admission will be accepted into the program on a space-available basis.
Admission Procedures' Notes
Applicants must meet with the program director and counselor to review the program prerequisites and requirements.
Applicants who have completed the requirements for admission will be accepted into the program on a space-available basis.
MDAS 1700 Medical Assisting Practicum requires students to be at least 18 years of age and have graduated from high school prior to beginning practicum hours.
Other Notes
MDAS courses must be taken sequentially unless approved otherwise by the program director.
HLTH courses can be taken out of sequence, but students must pass each course with a grade of "C" or higher to participate in the practicum experience (MDAS1700).
For graduation, students need to maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0 and achieve a grade of "C" or higher in all science (HLTH) and program-specific (MDAS) courses.
NOTE: MDAS courses must be taken in sequential order. Please consult with your counselor or program director for assistance in planning your schedule.
| First Semester | Credit Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| The first semester is in Summer | ||
| ENGL 1110 or ENGL 1111 |
English Composition I (A) 1 or English Composition I (B) |
3 |
| HLTH 1215 | Medical Terminology for Health Professions | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 6 | |
| Second Semester | ||
| The second semester is in Fall | ||
| HLTH 1238 | Structure, Function, Disease, and Therapeutics of the Human Body | 4 |
| MDAS 1110 | Administrative Procedures for the Medical Office | 3 |
| MDAS 1150 | Medical Office Insurance and Reimbursements | 3 |
| MDAS 1250 | Medical Office Surgical Procedures | 2 |
| Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Third Semester | ||
| The third semester is in Spring | ||
| HLTH 1600 | Basic Pharmacology | 2 |
| MDAS 1210 | Basic Patient Skills | 2 |
| MDAS 1220 | Specialty Medical Assisting | 3 |
| MDAS 1300 | Physician Office Laboratory | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 10 | |
| Fourth Semester | ||
| The fourth semester is in Summer | ||
| Full Summer Session | ||
| MDAS 1700 | Medical Assisting Practicum | 3 |
| MDAS 1800 | Medical Assisting Seminar | 1 |
| Credit Hours | 4 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 32 | |
| 1 | English course selection is based on placement test results (ENGL 1111 English Composition I (B) is 4 credits, only 3 credits apply to the certificate). |
| Technical course |