Medical Office Assistant - Advanced Practice

This session welcomes you to the college, introduces you to your fellow classmates, faculty, and staff, reviews the policies and procedures related to your studies, and prepares the student for their learning experience.

This course provides information and training for using the college’s learning management system, online library resources and electronic textbooks, and an introduction to the tablet technology and Microsoft Office 365 software suite.

Throughout the college’s programs, students utilize technology (electronic books, online library, tablet/computers), use e-mail to communicate with instructors and submit assignments, internet for research and class activities, and use MS Office software to prepare letters and resumes, reports/assignments, and presentations. Multiple resources are provided during this course for students to read and practise their skills including courses in MS Word and MS Excel.

The purpose of this course is to optimize learning through equipping students with effective study techniques. This course also provides an introduction to personality styles that will be encountered in the workplace and allows students to practise appropriate and productive interaction between the various styles. Emphasis is placed on the types of communication that work best with each style in order to achieve a good working relationship and to manage and resolve conflicts that arise. Students are also introduced to strategies for setting personal goals, managing time, and managing the stress that results from study or work and builds on positive group dynamics and setting expectations for student success.
Students will work with teams and clients in a variety of settings. Theory, practical exercises, and activities in this course attribute to these types of settings. 

This course will train students to apply the language of medicine to communicate information, in both written and verbal format, within the health care environment. Students will build a vocabulary of common medical terms and abbreviations applied in office administration/ assistant duties within a medical office and hospital. Students will learn to identify body systems and their basic components and functions, distinguish basic medical terms, abbreviations and specialty of care by identifying the prefixes, suffixes or word root. Importance is placed on spelling and pronunciation of terms associated to the body cavities, body orientation, planes and surfaces of body. In addition, students will learn medical language associated with digestive system, urinary system and integumentary system (skin).

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills that are required to recognize and prevent medical and dental emergencies within a medical/dental office. It will prepare students to assist the physician/dentist in administering immediate care for the client in the medical office environment. Students also participate in CPR-first aid training. Lectures, reading assignments, and laboratory projects will provide a basic understanding of medical emergencies and the role of the office assistant in assisting with the administration of care used in the office. This information permits the student to interpret and relay information and to communicate to the health care team and emergency workers. Subjects include:
-Typical medical emergencies
-Roles of individuals in emergencies
-CPR and first aid training
-WHMIS certification
(*) This one-week course may extend beyond 20 hours due to first aid and WHMIS training on specific days maybe being fullday hours.

Students will learn to work with the specialized terminology of medicine, including the pronunciation and spelling of terms to describe medical circumstances and situations. Students will learn through descriptions, illustrations and exercises to identify the major anatomical features and systems of the body and the common pathologies, which can adversely affect these systems. This second course of three parts on medical language continues to focus on various body systems. Subjects include:  Female reproductive system: organs, menstruation and pregnancy, pathology, clinical tests and procedures  Male reproductive system: anatomy, pathologic conditions, and laboratory tests/clinical procedures  Nervous system: general structure; neurons, nerves, and glial cells; the brain; the spinal cord and meninges; pathology  Cardiovascular system: blood vessels and the circulation of blood; anatomy of the heart; physiology of the heart; blood pressure; and pathology  Respiratory system: anatomy and physiology of respiration; pathology; clinical procedures  Blood system: composition and formation of blood; blood clots; pathology.  Lymphatic and immune systems: lymphatic system; immune system; pathology  Musculoskeletal system: bones; pathology; joints; muscles  Sense organs: the eye; errors of refraction; pathology; clinical procedures; the ear  Endocrine system: thyroid gland; parathyroid glands; adrenal glands; pancreas; pituitary gland; ovaries; testes

Students will gain a better understanding of themselves through an exploration of their personal attributes, transferable skills and learning styles. This course will introduce techniques for time, conflict, and stress management and develop interpersonal communication skills. Fundamental study and motivation skills will be covered, preparing students to excel in their program of choice. Students will also prepare a professional resume and learn how to write effective cover letters.

The third and final course on medical language focuses on the specialized terminology of medicine, including the pronunciation and spelling of terms to describe medical circumstances and situations. This course will train students to apply the language of medicine to communicate information, in both written and verbal format, within the health care environment. Students will build a vocabulary of common medical terms and abbreviations applied in office administration/ assistant duties within a medical office and hospital. Students will learn to recognize, define and distinguish basic medical terms pertaining to different medical specialties and medical specialists such as oncology, radiology, pharmacology and psychiatry. Students will also be able to describe generally used diagnostic tests, therapeutic modalities for each specialty of care.

All businesses need to invoice for services rendered and collect their revenues as quickly and efficiently as possible. Doctors’ revenue comes primarily from the provincial medical insurance scheme. Students will be introduced to the medical billing procedures in accordance with the BC Medical Services Plan (MSP) requirements and create medical billing data using the BC Medical Association Guide to Fees and ICD-9 Diagnostic Codes. WorkSafe BC, the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC), and medical legal billing requirements are also discussed. Students also learn to perform medical billing data entry and preparation of billing statements using the Regent Smart series application, as well as understanding the transmission and receipt of data from the BC MSP office in Victoria. In the second section of this course, students will create patient databases and complete medical office billing procedures using the current software. Students will become familiar with all aspects of billing, including MSP, ICBC, WorkSafe BC, personal, and medical legal billing. They will also learn to schedule appointments, generate day sheets, and transmit claims. Course time is also dedicated to tutorials to learn the MSP system.

Students will learn techniques and procedures used to prepare and administer basic procedures and tests utilized in medical offices.

Topics include:

• Quality assurance and infection control
• Use of personal protective equipment, materials, and maintaining medical & surgical asepsis
• Taking vital signs, respiration rate, blood pressure, height, weight, and vision examinations
• Assisting with medical examinations
• Sterilization procedures
• Urine tests and specimens
• Blood glucose testing procedures
• Various smears and cultures, viruses, Pap smears, and other specimen testing
• Variety of diagnostic tests
• Safe environments, injury prevention
• Causes and prevention of cumulative stress disorders
• Administration of medical supplies

This course builds on the skills learned in the Student Success Strategies course or its equivalent. It provides information on how to use the communication skills learned in order to make a successful presentation to a prospective employer. Students also learn how to uncover the hidden job market and identifyemployment opportunities. Self-assessment during this course allows students to identify their personal skills that are transferable to the work place and to describe these skills to a prospective employer. Students may be videotaped during a mock interview and will participate in the analysis of their performance in the “interview”.