You may want to take medical assistant in Penn Foster. But, before you register, you need to know whether this program or even this college is accredited or not. You will find the information about it below together with the other information that you need related to Medical Assistant program in Penn Foster.
Is Penn Foster Accredited for Medical Assistant?
Accreditation is important for a college. By having accreditation, a college or school have quality standard. Now, how about Penn Foster Medical Assistant? Is it accredited? According to Get Educated website, the Penn Foster College Medical Assistant Associate Degree Program is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). However, according to Study.com, Penn Foster’s online Medical Assistant Associate Degree program is not accredited. In the Penn Foster website itself, there is no explanation that Penn Foster Medical Assistant degree is accredited.
Nevertheless, Penn Foster College itself has been nationally accredited for more than 40 years. This college has fulfilled the high standards of integrity and performance set by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) in Washington, D.C. This college also has been reviewed and has got some important accreditations and licensing as you can see below.
- Penn Foster is accredited by DEAC (Distance Education Accrediting Commission).
- Penn Foster Career School is accredited by MSA CESS. Penn Foster Career School gets accreditation regionally for non-degree granting postsecondary programs. Besides, regionally, Penn Foster High School gets accreditation for grades 9 through adult by the Commission on Secondary Schools of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA.
- Penn Foster High School gets accredited by Cognia.
- Penn Foster Career School is accredited by IACET.
- Penn Foster College’s Veterinary Technician Associate Degree Program is accredited by CVTEA.
- Penn Foster College is approved by Arizona SARA Council (AZ SARA).
- Penn Foster Career School gets licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools.
- Penn Foster Degree and Undergraduate Certificate Courses gets reviewed by the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service.
- Penn Foster gets a Better Business Bureau accredited business with a BBB Rating of A+.
Penn Foster’ online Medical Assistant Associate Degree program has been designed to prepare its graduates to take some recognized national medical assistant certification exams and also a phlebotomy certification exam including:
- Registered Medical Assistant (RMA), which is offered by American Medical Technologists (AMT)
- Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA), which is offered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
- National Certified Medical Assistant (NCMA), which is offered by National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT)
- Clinical Medical Assistant Certification (CMAC), which is offered by American Medical Certification Association (AMCA)
- Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) certification, which is offered by the National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
This Medical Assistant Associate Degree program has four semesters that you are able to complete flexibly. It also includes an externship for real world, hands on clinical experience. This program has cooperated with the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) where it offers student no cost CCMA exam preparation study materials and an exam voucher to help them with obtaining their CCMA credentials.
Curriculum of Penn Foster Medical Assistant Degree
Earlier, we have mentioned that in the Medical Assistant Associate Degree, there are four semesters which consist of labs covering healthcare fundamentals such as anatomy and physiology, clinical procedures, pharmacology and many more.
The goal of this program is to provide students with the skills and concepts to get employment in an outpatient setting. Students will be given preparation to perform administrative and clinical duties under the direction of mid-level provider, physician and licensed nurse.
So, what the students of Medical Assistant Degree will learn? Here are the curriculum of each semester.
Semester 1
- Basic Skills Assessment
- Introduction to Allied Health
- Information Literacy
- Computer Applications
- English Composition
- Law, Ethics, and Confidentiality in Allied Health
- Medical Terminology
- Proctored Examination
Semester 2
- Nutrition
- Anatomy and Physiology 1
- Anatomy and Physiology 2
- Arts and Humanities Elective
- Business and Technical Writing
- Interpersonal Communication
- Proctored Examination
Semester 3
- Reimbursement Methodologies
- Medical Coding
- Electronic Medical Records
- Essentials of Psychology
- Intermediate Algebra
- Proctored Examination
Semester 4
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Procedures Theory
- Medical Surgical Procedures
- Clinical Procedures Labs
- Externship
- Proctored Examination
Other Things to Know About Penn Foster Medical Assistant Degree
To convince you to choose this program, here we have some questions and answers from Penn Foster website about Medical Assistant Associate Degree.
- How much is the salary for becoming a Medical Assistant?
The median salary of a medical assistants is $34,800 per year. The growth of this job is projected to increase much faster than average in the next several years.
- What to do with a Medical Assistant Associate Degree that we have?
The biggest employers of medical assistants are local, state and private hospitals, outpatient care centers, physicians’ offices, and chiropractic offices. This profession can also work in drug and rehab facilities, nursing homes and assisted living centers.
- How much is a Medical Assistant Association Degree tuition?
The tuition of medical assistant associate degree in Penn Foster is up to $79 per credit. The semester fee adjusts slightly based on our current offer.
- Where can we work as a medical assistant?
If you are interested in a fast-paced career in healthcare, there is no further than the Medical Assistant field. A lot of medical assistants work in physicians’ offices. However, for people who have medical assistants degree, they may be able to work in local, state and private hospitals, and also outpatient care centers and chiropractors’ offices. Usually, most medical assistants work full time. They are also often needed to keep flexible work schedules around weekends, evenings and holidays.
- What certification do we get from the Medical Assistant program?
If you have completed the Medical Assistant Associate Degree program, then you will earn a degree in the field. Certification is offered through independent third parties and it is not able to be given by a school. Nevertheless, Penn Foster Medical Assistant Degree will prepare you to be able to sit for industry exams and includes pre materials for the National Healthcareer Association’s Certified Clinical Medical Assistant Certification and also a voucher to cover the cost of the exam.
