Medical Office Assistant

Here's how it works: Your at-home learning course includes 11 Instruction Sets designed to take you step-by-step through the techniques and skills you'll employ in your new career as a Medical Office Assistant. Your first Intruction Set will be sent to you as soon as your enrollment has been accepted. Other Instruction Sets will follow as you complete your exams, so that you will always have training materials to work with.

You will need access to a computer to complete this program. Penn Foster recommends the following as minimum specifications: Pentium® II or better processor , using Microsoft® Windows® XP or later. You will also need access to the internet and Microsoft® Office 2007 to complete portions of this program.

Here is an overview of what you'll learn and the order which you'll receive your learning materials:

Instruction Set 1

Learning Strategies
Successful studying methods; creating effective and efficient study tools; using study tools to improve your chances of success.

Introduction to Medical Office Assisting
Duties of a medical office assistant; possible job settings; common medical disciplines; major professional organizations.

Instruction Set 2

Time and Stress Management
Effective stress management coping strategies; setting lifestyle and lifetime goals; eliminating time wasters; setting goals and determining priorities; establishing efficient, effective daily routines.

Interpersonal Communication
Components of communication; developing a pleasing phone personality; scheduling a doctor's workday efficiently.

Law, Ethics, and Medicine
Patient rights; professional liabilityl malpractice and negligence.

Intruction Set 3

Practices in Medical Law and Ethics
Consent; the medical chart; defamation; protection from malpractice claims.

Introduction to Medical Terminology
Common root words, prefixes and suffixes, determining the meaning of a medical term by analyzing its parts.

Textbook: Medical Law and Ethics

Instruction Set 4

Body Systems Terminology 1
The digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems; overall function of these systems.

Body Systems Terminology 2
The musculoskeletal, nervous, and special sense systems; terms related to disease, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of these systems.

Instruction Set 5

Body Systems Terminology 3
The endocrine and circulatory systems; overall function of these systems.

Body Systems Terminology 4
The integumentary and respiratory systems; possible disease and disorders of these systems.

Advances Medical Terminology and Pharmacology
Benign and malignant tumors; types, grades, and stages of cancer; major methods of cancer treatment.

Supplement: Terminology Activities

Instruction Set 6

Written Communication 1
The parts of speech; types of sentences; recognizing common errors in sentencesl the purpose of punctuation; capitalization.

Written Communication 2
Editing and proofreading correspondence; formatting business letters; formal and informal reports.

Written Communication 3
Using a dictionary and thesaurus; using synonyms, antonyms and homonyms; forming the plurals and possessives of nouns.

Instruction Set 7

Medical Filing
Filing systems; organizing and maintaining medical files.

Creating and Maintaining Medical Records
The purpose of medical records; how medical records are maintained; formatting medical reports.

Textbook: Medical Filing

Instruction Set 8

Technologies in the Office
The impact of telecommunication technologies on the office; network systems; the use of computers in today's offices.

Administrative Procedures and Practices
Proper care and maintenance of a medical office, the supply inventory; preparing the office for staff meetings.

Instruction Set 9

PC Basics
The classifications of computers; major hardware components; PC-operating system software; application software.

Keyboarding and Word processing
Keying alphabetic, figure, and symbol keys; using basic word processing functions; formatting business correspondence.

Textbook: Keyboarding and Word Processing

Software:
Keyboarding Pro

Instruction Set 10

Math for the Office Professional
Addtion, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, decimals, and fractions; rates, percents, and percentages.

Financial Management
Basic accounting terminology; commonly used accounting systems; preparing billing statements.

Medical Insurance
Insurance-related duties of the medical office staff; key characteristics of CPT-4, ICD-9-CM, the HCPCS, and the DRG coding systems

Instruction Set 11

Clinical Procedures
The role of pathogenix organisms in disease; controlling and preventing infection; diagnostic tests used in medical offices.

Textbook: Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants

Upon graduation you will receive:

Sphygmomanometer and Stethoscope

Saunders Nursing Drug Handbook

Reference Manual for the Office Professional

Note: The graduation shipment will be sent to you when all program requirements and financial obligations have been met.

Some countries impose certification or registration requirements on certain duties performed by medical office assistants. For the education requirements in your area, please check with your department of health or appropriate ministry.

We reserve the right to change program content and materials when it becomes necessary.

Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions.

Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries registered in the U.S. and other countries.