Medical Assisting

Medical assistants are multi-skilled health professionals specifically educated to work in a variety of health care settings performing clinical and administrative duties. The practice of medical assisting necessitates mastery of a complex body of knowledge and specialized skills requiring both formal education and practical experience that serve as standards for entry into the profession.

Wake Tech offers both a one-year diploma and a two-year Associate in Applied Science degree in Medical Assisting, and apprenticeships through WakeWorks are available to students.

The diploma program is a full-time day program, with classes being taught online, hybrid and seated at the Perry Health Sciences Campus, off Sunnybrook Road adjacent to WakeMed in Raleigh. Only a few classes are taught online, so the program cannot be completed online.

After completion of the Medical Assisting diploma, a student is eligible to take a medical assisting credentialing exam (CMA-AAMA or RMA-AMT) and then find employment as a credentialed medical assistant.

The Medical Assisting associate degree courses include all of the Medical Assisting diploma courses, as well as three medical assisting associate courses, which are offered online, and four general education courses.

Coursework includes instruction in scheduling appointments, coding and processing insurance accounts, billing, collections and computer operations; assisting with examinations and treatments; performing routine laboratory procedures; electrocardiography; supervised medication administration; and the legal and ethical issues associated with patient care. Employment opportunities include physicians’ offices, health maintenance organizations, health departments and hospitals.