1)The Clinical Medical Assisting Certificate of Achievement: 20 Units
Required Courses:
MEDAS 101A Introduction to Medical Assisting 2 Units
Introduction to foundational theory and skills in medical assisting: Scope of practice; law and ethics; HIPAA compliance; professional and therapeutic communication; telehealth applications, and employment preparation.
MEDAS 101B Disorders of the Body Systems in Primary Care 3 Units
Fundamentals of disorders of the body systems and organs of the human body: Emphasis on becoming familiar with the most common disorders encountered by medical assistants working in ambulatory care medical offices.
MEDAS 102A Clinical Medical Assisting I 3 Units
Fundamentals of clinical medical assisting: Medical and surgical aseptic procedures; vital signs measurement; assisting with physical examinations, positioning, and draping; height, weight, vision, and hearing testing; obtaining patient history; and eye and ear procedures.
MEDAS 102B Clinical Medical Assisting II 3 Units
Intermediate clinical medical assisting: Electrocardiography; radiologic, diagnostic, specialty examinations and procedures; colon procedures, and male reproductive health; urine and blood testing and specimen collection; medical microbiology and principles of phlebotomy.
MEDAS 102C Clinical Medical Assisting III 3 Units
Advanced clinical medical assisting: Basic pharmacology; principles of drug action and side effects on medications; drug dosage calculations; administration of medications in primary care (oral, intradermal, subcutaneous, and intramuscular routes); drug addiction in primary health; and applied phlebotomy skills.
HLTOC 201 Medical Terminology I 2 Units
Study of basic structure of medical words: Prefixes, suffixes, word roots and combining forms, plurals and abbreviations, pronunciation, spelling, and definition of medical terms.
HLTOC 110 CPR and First Aid for Allied Health Programs 1 Unit
Introduction to emergency preparedness: Development of skills and knowledge for
administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid.
COPED 470F Occupational Work Experience in Medical Assisting 2-3 Units
Supervised employment in Medical Assisting or a related field: Extension of classroom learning to the job site. The employment must be related to the student’s educational or occupational goals. Each 75 hours of paid work equals one unit, while each 60 hours of non-paid work equals one unit. Students can earn at most 16 units through general and occupational work experience courses combined but may re-enroll in such courses any number of times until the maximum of 16 units is earned.
2) The Administrative Medical Assisting Certificate of Achievement: 17 Units
Required Courses:
MEDAS 101A Introduction to Medical Assisting 2 Units
Introduction to foundational theory and skills in medical assisting: Scope of practice; law and ethics; HIPAA compliance; professional and therapeutic communication; telehealth applications, and employment preparation.
MEDAS 101B Disorders of the Body Systems in Primary Care 3 Units
Fundamentals of disorders of the body systems and organs of the human body: Emphasis on becoming familiar with the most common disorders encountered by medical assistants working in ambulatory care medical offices.
MEDAS 103A Administrative Medical Assisting I 2 Units
Fundamentals of administrative medical assisting: Appointment scheduling; communication skills and record management, HIPAA, and Electronic Health Records (EHR) confidentiality; professional decision-making and computer skills; practice management; and simulation of EHR to facilitate the office visit.
MEDAS 103B Administrative Medical Assisting II 2 Units
Intermediate administrative medical assisting: Understanding major health insurance plans as related to medical office billing and multiple EHR Applications.
MEDAS 103C Administrative Medical Assisting III 2 Units
Advanced administrative medical assisting: Procedural coding practice management, applying billing to EHR, introduction to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) medical coding system and practice finance, claims processing and reimbursement, and role of office manager.
HTLOC 263 Communication Skills for Healthcare Professionals 3 Units
Principles of effective interpersonal communication for the healthcare worker: Psychological, social, cultural, health status, and linguistic factors that affect personal interactions in a healthcare setting.
HLTOC 110 CPR and First Aid for Allied Health Programs 1 Unit
Introduction to emergency preparedness: Development of skills and knowledge for
administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid.
Recommended Course:
COPED 470F Occupational Work Experience in Medical Assisting 2-3 Units
Supervised employment in Medical Assisting or a related field: Extension of classroom learning to the job site. The employment must be related to the student’s educational or occupational goals. Each 75 hours of paid work equals one unit, while each 60 hours of non-paid work equals one unit. Students can earn at most 16 units through general and occupational work experience courses combined but may re-enroll in such courses any number of times until the maximum of 16 units is earned.
3) The Bridge to Medical Assistant careers Certificate of Completion- (Zero Units) (Administrative and Clinical- 100% Online)
Required Courses:
MEDAS 503 The Language of Medicine
MEDAS 504 Introduction to Medical Assisting
MEDAS 505 Introduction to Pharmacology
MEDAS 506 Administrative Skill
MEDAS 507 Clinical Skill
MEDAS 508
Heartsaver First Aid -CPR & AED
Recommended Course
ESOL 590 English for Special Purposes
Principles of effective interpersonal communication for the healthcare worker: Psychological, social, cultural, health status, and linguistic factors that affect personal interactions in a healthcare setting.
1) First Go Here: https://www.merritt.edu/wp/steps/
To register to get into the system. Once accepted you can satisfy these other requirements:
Verification of all immunizations, background check, and CPR certification see current Medical Assisting student handbook for further details.
2) Then go here:
| Counseling
We also offer e-counseling for specific situations. You will be sent an email invitation just … |
I recommend you discuss your goals and develop an educational plan customized to those goals.
Additional Tips:
Here is the message from our Allied Health Counselor received in February 2021:
I am excited to announce that career education now has its online scheduling link up and running. I have included the online scheduling link for counseling appointments below:
https://esars.peralta.edu/eSARS/MC/CareerEducation/eSARS.ASP
Feel free to share the link with students who are interested in making a counseling appointment.
I realized that I forgot to provide you with information about my schedule at Merritt College.
Allied Health Counselor for Merritt College and his hours are:
- Monday from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
- Wednesday from 8:0 am – 4:30 pm
- Friday from 8:00 am – 10:00 am
3) For general Counseling go here:
Academic Counseling
https://www.merritt.edu/wp/counseling/
For more information you can call (510) 436-2475 or email Counseling.Merritt@peralta.edu For scheduling a General Counseling online ZOOM appointment only, select the icon below and download Zoom on your computer or smartphone before your appointment.
4) Other questions are related to costs.
Costs are quite variable, but the following may give you an idea of expected expenses.
Typically, the costs are roughly $2,000-$3,000 for a 16-unit program considering:
- books and Software ($300)
- tuition ($700)
- Uniforms/Scrubs (2 x $35)
- Castle Branch ($70)
- computer needs (variable-$300-1,000)
- supplies ($100)
- CPR 1st Aid (variable 70-200)
- You may also need to pay out of pocket for vaccinations or titers if you have no insurance.
- Students are able to apply for financial aid
Consider some transportation and living expenses according to your own situation.
