The following information applies to the MAERB/CAAHEP-accredited Medical Assisting Certificate only.

The Medical Assisting Certificate Program prepares students for employment and career in health care industries, such as physician's offices, outpatient clinics, in-patient administration, government, and health insurance industries. The curriculum is designed to provide didactic, laboratory, and externship learning experiences where students develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform medical billing and coding, patient scheduling, data entry into the electronic medical record, electrocardiogram and cardiology diagnostic testing, phlebotomy procedures, basic laboratory tests, and maintain overall daily operations in a clinical setting. Medical assistants are the only multi-skilled allied health professional that is professionally trained to work in ambulatory settings.

Mission and Vision

Mission

The Medical Assisting program upholds the mission of Prince George’s Community College to create conditions for students to achieve academic, career, and personal goals, and meet the region’s present and future priorities by providing excellence in didactic, laboratory, and clinical education and training, and delivering rigorous program and practicum experiences to medical assisting graduates to meet the growing demand for entry-level Medical Assistants in the allied health care fields.

Vision

The vision of the Medical Assisting Program is to maintain the highest standards of education for medical assisting in preparing educationally and technically prepared entry-level medical assistant to serve the diverse needs of the community.

Accreditation

PGCC's Medical Assisting Certificate program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB).

CAAHEP 9355
113th St. N. #7709
Seminole, FL 33775
www.caahep.org / 727-210-2350

Program Goals
  • To prepare medical assistants who are competent in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains to enter the profession (CAAHEP, 2022).
  • Utilize professional and therapeutic communication skills.
  • Perform administrative functions in an outpatient setting.
  • Perform clinical functions/procedures in the outpatient setting.
  • Describe the implications of health law in the clinical setting.
  • Demonstrate the standards of care for the medical assisting profession.
Program Outcomes

The Prince George's Community College Medical Assisting Degree program annually publishes and makes accessible the Annual Review Report (ARF) to prospective and current students, graduates, and the general public. 

Below are the approved results from the 2022 Medical Assisting Education Review Board: 

2021

  • Retention: 100%.
  • Job placement: 100%.
  • Exam passage: 100%.

 
2020

  • Job placement: 100%.
  • Exam passage: 100%.
Advanced Placement

Students may be awarded credit for prior education experiences in which college-level learning may be verified through documentation or assessment. A maximum of 45 credit hours may be transferred to any one associate degree, of which not more than 30 credits may have been earned through nontraditional or non-collegiate sources. The granting of credit for general education requirements for students is determined upon the receipt and review of formal transcripts by the Records and Registration office. This includes high school AP courses and CLEP examinations.

Students can receive advanced placement for MAS 1100 after completing the MAS 1100 advanced placement exam. Students who complete the PGCC MOA (Medical Office Assistant) certificate — or its equivalent — and have a current (NHA) Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) certification will be granted advanced placement for MAS 2010. The granting of advanced placement does not apply to the following courses: MAS 1050, MAS 1060, MAS 2020, MAS 2040, MAS 2050, MAS 2060, MAS 2070, MAS 2110, and MAS 2300.

Articulation Agreements
Experiential Learning and Transfer Credit

Experiential Learning Prior Learning Assessment Network (PLAN)

Students whose personal and professional experiences provide evidence of mastery of college-level subjects may find portfolio assessment an appropriate method of gaining credit for their knowledge and skills. Students who wish to apply for credit through portfolio assessment must attend an orientation to meet with a PLAN advisor and petition to register for CAP-1050 Portfolio Development, a three-hour credit course.

This course guides students through assembling the required documentation and evidence for learning experiences worthy of credit. The completed portfolio is reviewed and evaluated by faculty from appropriate subject matter areas, who determine if credits are to be awarded. A 15-credit limit per degree exists for portfolio and challenge exams. Since writing skills are critical in this process, students must test as eligible for EGL-1010 or, prior to registration, have completed the equivalent college-level writing course in CAP-1050 (college catalog). Credit is not given for experiential learning in the core Medical Assisting courses due to programmatic requirements to fully assess students' knowledge and achievement of the required cognitive, psychomotor, and affective competencies.

Technical Standards
  1. Work up to 8-10 hours performing physical tasks such as walking, sitting, lifting, bending, and turning.
  2. Perform fine motor movements needed to manipulate instruments and equipment.
  3. Communicate effectively — both verbally and written — with peers, patients, and physicians.
  4. Monitor and assess patients' needs using auditory and visual skills.
  5. Work as a member of the health care team to care for patients while maintaining high standards of professionalism.
  6. Work safely with patients who are susceptible to or in the contagious stages of communicable diseases.
  7. Establish and work toward goals in a consistently responsible manner.
Occupational Risks

Medical assisting is a profession with many rewards as a practitioner can perform both administrative and clinical services, filling several roles in a variety of health care environments. 

Medical assistants work directly with providers and patients to provide health care and ensure patient safety. It is a position with a great deal of responsibility. As with any health care position, certain occupational risks come into play with being a medical assistant, and those hazards include the following:

  • Exposure to infectious diseases.
  • Sharp injuries.
  • Bloodborne pathogens and biological hazards.
  • Chemical and drug exposure.
  • Ergonomic hazards from lifting, sitting, and repetitive tasks.
  • Latex allergies.
  • Stress.

At the same time, there are protections set up with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), and those protections are particularly important within health care environments. OSHA has a series of standards that protect the safety of health care workers and patients.

As an accredited medical assisting program, we are required to teach students about the hazards they will face on the job and protocols that can be put into place to ensure a workplace culture that prioritizes safety.