Medical Assistant

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Overview

  • Delivery: Daytime or Online Classes
  • Start: Fall Semester (classroom) or Spring Semester (online enhanced), Full-Time Recommended. Part-time options available
  • Location: Rosemount Campus

Outcomes

Gainful Employment Reports

 

Ask yourself...

  • Are you looking for a meaningful job?
  • Do you like helping others?
  • Do you have an interest in health and medicine?
  • Are you a "people person"?
  • Are you good at multitasking—switching tasks throughout the workday?
  • Do you like variety in your job?
  • Do you have good written and spoken communication skills?
  • Would you like to enter a career in an expanding field?
  • If you have answered YES to all these questions than you may want to consider becoming a medical assistant.

Medical Assistant Blog

Instructor BlogsView regular blog posts by your instructor or program department on industry news, announcements, events, recent projects, success tips, and other material such as photos or video.

Major Description

This program trains students to be professional medical assistants dedicated to patient care management. Graduates are equipped to assist physicians with examinations and treatments, take medical histories, perform diagnostic tests, expose X-ray films, sterilize instruments and supplies, assist with minor surgery and administer medications.

Work Environment

Graduates assist primary care physicians and specialists in clinics ranging in size from single-doctor to large, multi-specialty. Opportunities are also present in a variety of other health care areas.

Potential Job Titles

  • Certified Medical Assistant
  • Medical Assistant
  • Clinical Assistant

Salary Data

  • Average Wage: $16.66/hour
  • Top Earners: $20.79/hour

Program Accreditation

The Dakota County Technical College Medical Assistant Program is accredited by the Commission of Accreditation for Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP), upon the recommendation of The Medical Assisting Education review Board (MAERB).

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
1361 Park St.
Clearwater, FL 33756
727-210-2350

Professional Affiliations

The American Association of Medical Assistants has chapters in Minnesota that allow students to enhance their professional development and prepare for national certification as a Certified Medical Assistant title.

Admissions Requirements

  • Students admitted to the program must meet the standard of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment of 1988, which states that no one can practice in a laboratory without a high school diploma or GED.
  • Students must begin the Hepatitis B vaccination series or sign a declination statement before beginning invasive procedures in the first semester. Proof of immunization is required prior to the externship course.

Course Prerequisites

  • Students must score 66 or above on the Reading Comprehension portion of the ACCUPLACER test to register for MDAS courses. Any student scoring below 66 should take a reading intensive course such as ENGL0123 Medical Reading and Study Skills to help raise his or her score.
  • Students scoring below 38 on the Arithmetic Skills portion of the ACCUPLACER will be required to take MATS0200 Basic Math or MATS0334 Independent Math.

Academic Advisor

Dean

  • Sherralyn Cox
    Dean of Design and Health/Human Services

Instructors

Patrice Nadeau 651-423-8355 patrice.nadeau@dctc.edu BIO Blog
Margaret Noirjean 651-423-8540 margaret.noirjean@dctc.edu BIO Blog
Kathleen Tettam 651-423-8355 kathleen.tettam@dctc.edu BIO  

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