MDA 275 - Medical Assisting Practicum

3 credit hours - 160 hours supervised, unpaid field experience.
Concluding medical assisting course that provides practical experience in medical offices. Students receive a grade of pass or fail.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of all courses required for the MDA certificate with a minimum of 2.0 GPA; meeting the technical standards of the Medical Assisting department.

Note: Practicum (MDA 275) internship requires 160 hours of unpaid supervised field experience in a physician’s office.

Location(s) Typically Offered: Off Campus (OF)

Term(s) Typically Offered: Fall and spring

Course Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Demonstrate the professional, ethical and legal behaviors of an administrative and clinical medical assistant
- Understands the importance of professional appearance
- Demonstrates professionalism in communication (verbal and nonverbal)
Discuss the legal and regulatory guidelines for a medical office
- Student identifies location of policy and procedure manuals in the clinical setting, including OSHA manuals, MSDS manuals, and general office policies
- Students maintains records demonstrating compliance for legal and regulatory guidelines, such as: HIPAA notifications for clients/patients, quality assurance checks in the clinical areas;
Perform administration functions
- Communicates effectively and professional with all health care providers and patients
- Processes superbills and encounter forms manually, or electronically
- Documents appropriate, using approved medical terminology and abbreviations
- Collects copays and other payments, and documents appropriate entry; processes credit balances
- Maintains the patient medical record according to office policy, including new patient chart assembly, placing outguides, pulling charts, and organizing and filing medical records
- Understands general concepts of insurance, such as indemnity, health maintenance, and management care, and follows insurance guidelines for COB
Perform clinical functions
- Performs patient assessment functions, such as; obtaining and documenting vital signs, obtaining height and weight (adult/child/toddler/infant), vision and hearing screening, ECG’s, and respiratory testing.
- Assist with minor office procedures, including: setting up for procedures; preparing and maintaining sterile areas; obtaining proper consent forms; and disinfecting and sterilizing procedures
- Calculate, prepare and administer medications, including oral, topical, and parenteral (excluding IV)
- Perform basic lab functions, such as urinalysis, basic hematology and chemistry testing, processing, and tracking results
State the types of and indications for the interdisciplinary members of the medical office team
- Identify the roles and functions of the physician, nurse practitioner and/or physician assistant, and clinical manager/supervisor
Delineate the types of outpatient specialties and practices
- State the services offered in specific outpatient offices by specialty
- Differentiate between primary care, referral and consultation