Medical Assisting Program

The Medical Assisting Program of the American Institute of Alternative Medicine is 720-hour, 53.5 quarter credit hours and is available as either a nine-month full-time program over three 12-week quarters, or as a year-long part-time program over four 12-week quarters. It is designed to provide graduates with the skills necessary to obtain entry-level employment in a variety of multidisciplinary clinical and/or administrative healthcare settings.

AIAM’s Medical Assisting Program not only provides training in all of the required traditional skills necessary for employment in range of medical workplaces - from a single provider office to a large multidisciplinary healthcare clinic or hospital - it also provides an overview of both complementary and holistic methods and current healthcare trends. Importantly, you will also learn crucial communication skills and important life skills to enhance your career success.

A Medical Assistant has training in both clinical and administrative skills necessary for employment within a heath care setting. There is typically more specialization when working in a larger office, clinic, or hospital doing more of either clinical or administrative duties. In a small office, a Medical Assistant usually has a more diverse range of job responsibilities, including both clinical and administrative duties.

Clinical job responsibilities include taking vital signs and medical histories, preparing patients and rooms for examinations and treatments, sterilizing instruments, performing basic laboratory procedures, and assisting the physician with examinations.

Administrative job responsibilities include assuming responsibility for the office’s daily business, including scheduling and receiving patients, obtaining patient data, establishing and maintaining confidential medical records, billing and coding, handling telephone calls, preparing correspondence and reports, purchasing supplies, and maintaining equipment.

Admissions requirements for Medical Assisting are a High School diploma or equivalent, a current Professional Level CPR certification, physical health examination from a DO, MD or chiropractor, and a negative two-step Tuberculosis test.

Coursework includes medical office administration, clinical procedures, pharmacology, business, and computer operations. Externship experiences provide real life experience under the direct supervision of a physician or medical office manager. Theory courses have a 36 student maximum, and lab courses have an 18 student maximum.

Graduates will possess the necessary skills to maintain a career in a medical setting. A diploma is awarded upon successful completion of the program, which requires successful completion of all coursework with a minimum of “C” average in all classes, as well as successful completion of externship requirements.

Medical Assisting program graduates do not require a state license or any additional certification to become employed. However, AIAM Medical Assisting graduates are prepared to successfully meet the eligibility criteria to apply for the national certification process through the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) to become a nationally Certified Medical Assistant. AIAM graduates are also qualified to sit for the NHA Billing and Coding and Phlebotomy national certification exams. Although national certification is not required for employment, having an NHA certification demonstrates that you are proficient. It gives a competitive edge as it separates the serious from the non-serious, and may very well be the deciding factor in obtaining a job or promotion.

View the Medical Assisting Catalog