GCC medical assistant program receives accredited status

IRONWOOD - Gogebic Community College has announced the initial accreditation status for its medical assistant certificate program by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

CAAHEP is the largest program accreditor in the health sciences field. Currently, CAAHEP reviews and accredits over 2,000 educational programs in 26 health science occupations.

"Attainment of this national industry-based accreditation is recognition that the medical assistant program is first-rate and of high quality," said Jim Lorenson, GCC president. "It is evidence that our curriculum and instructional staff meet high standards and prepare our students well for their respective workplace."

In March, a peer review was conducted by members the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB) and the CAAHEP's Board of Directors.

They determined that GCC's program maintains substantial compliance with the nationally established accreditation standards in the three domain areas – cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. The reviewers conducted a two-day intensive assessment of the program by meeting with faculty instructors, staff, current students and the medical assistant advisory board.

"Acquiring CAAHEP accreditation is a significant advantage for our medical assistant students," said Angela MacLeod, medical assistant director and practicum coordinator. "Past and future students will now be able to take the certified medical assistant exam through the American Association of Medical Assistants."

MacLeod said the certificate awarded by the AAMA is the only medical assistant certification that requires graduation from a post-secondary medical assistant program.

"Obtaining these credentials will validate that our students deliver high quality patient care," she said.

In response to the high demand of the aging baby boomer population and the effect on healthcare, providers are hiring medical assistants who are already knowledgeable in both the administrative and clinical practices of healthcare facilities, allowing physicians to see more patients, GCC officials said.

The job outlook for medical assistants from 2012-2022 has a 29 percent growth rate – faster than average for all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

GCC's three semester certificate program includes courses such as anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, administrative procedures, clinical procedures, phlebotomy and pharmacology, along with a 192-hour practicum.

During the practicum, students experience a wide range of health care departments such as laboratory, medical records, billing, cardiovascular, orthopedics, reception, podiatry, surgery center and the eye center.

Within these departments, students practice their skills as taught in the classroom: draw blood, run laboratory tests, assist with eye injections and suture removal, room patients, take vital signs, bill for office visits, assist in telemedicine, and perform many other administrative and clinical duties.

After completion of the practicum course, a one-week on-campus review class rounds out the program, preparing students to sit for a national medical assistant exam. To date, 94 percent of the cohorts have passed a national exam.

Anyone interested in learning more about the medical assistant program at GCC, can contact MacLeod, at 906-307-1245, or angelam@gogebic.edu.