Are you interested in becoming a medical office assistant? Are you organized, detail oriented, and able to successfully juggle more than one task? As a medical office assistant you will be responsible for providing laboratory support services, clinical services, and clerical services within a hospital setting, a clinic, or in a doctor’s office. Although your degree program will not require it, it is common for students to choose an area of specialty within their educational program. For instance, you could choose to focus your studies on clinical assisting or clerical assisting. Should you decide to pursue your online degree program through a campus based format, you will be required to complete hands-on training classes in conjunction with your classroom based instruction. However, in today’s technologically advanced society it is common for individuals to pursue their education in this field through an online learning format.
To obtain proper training to work in this industry you will want to complete a minimum of an associate’s degree program. Within your associate’s degree coursework you will learn about word processing, medical office software programs, how to organize patient information, how to reference patient information using a specific database management program, and how to safely dispose of a patient’s records and still address their privacy requirements. Your courses will also focus on how to create, edit, and maintain a patient’s medical records. Since your position will be largely administrative, you can also expect to complete accounting and business administration courses.
For instance, you will learn about effective time management skills, medical billing in correlation with insurance regulations, bookkeeping techniques, the ethics of business, and how to manage interpersonal interactions within the workplace. You can expect this degree program, which consists of about 67 credit hours, to take about two years to complete. Take a few minutes and peruse the schools that are shown on our site, in search of any schools that particularly interest you. Feel free to request a complimentary information packet from any of these schools so that you will be better able to make an informed decision regarding your education. With your formal training or degree in an area of medical office assisting it may also be possible for you to seek employment as a medical coder or medical biller. In addition, you may also be qualified to work as a dental office assistant. Of course, this profession will allow you to work in a hospital, a doctor’s office, or other medically related facilities.