D45400 - Medical Assisting Diploma

The Medical Assisting Accelerated program is limited-enrollment and accepts 13 students per year.

A. PROGRAM SPECIFIC ENTRANCE STANDARDS: 

Admissions Process

The student may apply to the Medical Assisting program once minimum admissions criteria are met. This includes the following: 

• Minimum 2.0 GPA

• All transcripts received - high school and past colleges

• Eligible to take ENG and MAT without a co-requisite.

Placement Test Scores

Students must be eligible to take their gateway Math and English course in order to be eligible to apply. This can be achieved through a High School Unweighted GPA of 2.6 or higher or by presenting acceptable test scores such as SAT, ACT, Accuplacer, or other acceptable scores

The Medical Assisting program indicates the minimum scores required to place into ENG 111 and MAT 110.  Students who have an unweighted high school GPA of 2.6 or higher, have met Multiple Measures for Placement or who have earned appropriate transfer credit in English, Math, or developmental courses with a C, P2 for English, or P1 for Math, or higher may be exempt from placement testing.

GPA

Students must be in good academic standing upon applying to health science programs. Good academic standing is defined as having a 2.0 GPA in the most recent semester attempted as well as maintaining a 2.0 cumulative GPA. 

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

TOEFL scores are required for any naturalized or non-US citizens who speak English as their second language. This test provides evidence of adequate proficiency in the English language. All test scores must be less than five years old.  The minimum acceptable TOEFL scores are based on the following formats: TOEFL iBT Total Score - 80 or higher

TOEFL Essential Overall Band Score: 8 or higher. The test is offered at multiple testing sites nationally or can be taken online and is at the student’s expense.

B. REQUIREMENTS AFTER ACCEPTANCE:

Criminal Background Check/Drug Screening

A criminal background check and drug screening will be required 30 days before starting the Clinical Practicum. All accepted Health Sciences Clinical affiliates will review criminal background reports and drug screenings of students and reserve the right to accept or deny any students based on their consideration of these reports.  Negative reports and/or failed screenings can preclude a student from attending the clinical portion of their prescribed program and thus, will result in the student’s exit from the program.  Students are subject to criminal background check and drug screening at any time during a clinical rotation.  Clinical agencies reserve the right to require additional background checks and drug screens.

Medical Forms/Immunizations

Applicants are required to submit a completed college approved student medical health form to the required document tracking system by the assigned date. The student medical form must include satisfactory health history, physical examination, and immunization report. Failure to submit the required information by the assigned date will result in loss of Medical Assisting admission status and class space will be assigned to another applicant. 

BLS Provider CPR

CPR Certification by the American Heart Association (AHA) in BLS Provider (Basic Life Support including CPR and AED) that includes both performance and testing of criteria is required prior to clinical rotations. Students are responsible for keeping their CPR certification current throughout the duration of the program.

Mandatory Orientation Session

Accepted students must attend a mandatory orientation session with the Medical Assisting Program.

Liability/Malpractice Insurance

Malpractice insurance is required for health sciences students and is assessed as a student fee.

Transportation/Additional Class/Course Materials

Health Sciences students are responsible for their own transportation to off-campus clinical/learning sites.  Materials other than textbooks will be required and are purchased at student’s expense.

Technical Standards

The Health Sciences programs are physically demanding. Students will be expected to perform lifting, pushing, pulling, and carrying tasks to successfully practice in a lab setting, complete clinical affiliations, and safely treat patients.  For more details, please refer to each program of study's physical requirements and technical standards. 

Academic Standards

Upon official acceptance, Health Sciences students are required to maintain the necessary GPA requirements for entry.  Students cannot enter a Health Sciences program while on academic suspension.  Health Sciences students must achieve a grade of "C" or higher in their Health Science courses.  Students may withdraw or be withdrawn from a Health Sciences course.  However, the student will not be allowed to matriculate through their program of study.  Readmission to the program will be required and readmission will be awarded based on admissions criteria completion, policy on readmission, and space availability.  Students completing readmission must meet with the Education Navigator counselor to review their file.

Program Specific Academic Standards: 

See additional Program Specific Standards in the Medical Assisting Student Handbook and specific Medical Assisting course syllabus.

Medical Assisting and progressive related courses must be taken in succession as they appear in the curriculum guide. Medical Assisting students must adhere to the other policies set forth in the Medical Assisting Student Handbook.

C. RE-ADMISSION OR TRANSFER INTO THE MEDICAL ASSISTING PROGRAM:

The student must qualify under the admission criteria in effect at time of readmission or transfer.  A student may be required to re-enter a Medical Assisting course earlier in the curriculum sequence if the student is lacking major content as evaluated by the Program Director.  All Medical Assisting courses completed more than three years prior to re-admission or transfer must either be challenged by exam, including passing an assessment of all skills and/or competencies covered in that course, or the course must be repeated.  Withdrawal or academic failure within the Medical Assisting program will require the student to reapply as a new student.  Advanced placement is dependent upon space availability.

The Medical Assisting Program Director will evaluate transferability of all Medical Assisting courses.  Transfer courses must be equivalent to courses required at the receiving college in both theory and clinical experiences.  The student must provide copies of course syllabi and outlines for those Medical Assisting courses taken to the Program Director.  Students lacking essential content may be required to audit a portion of a course, challenge the content, demonstrate skills or repeat the course as deemed necessary.  The final decision for transfer credit for Medical Assisting courses is determined by the Medical Assisting Program Director.

Applicants must submit a letter explaining the circumstances of any previous exit from any health sciences program. The letter must be sent from the previous Program Director. CCCC’s Medical Assisting Program Director and Vice President of Student Services must approve students who were dismissed, expelled, or suspended for any reason. Students who withhold previous exit information may be dismissed from the program.  A remediation plan may be required.