Picture yourself as a medical office assistant working in a physician’s office after completing the required training in less than four months.
It’s possible at Laredo Community College, where a new one-semester basic certificate program for the medical office assistant is set to start this fall.
Prospective students are encouraged to apply immediately for admission to the college and to be considered for admittance to the MOA program in August.
Norma Moore, chair of the Allied Health Department, said that the new training program will prepare students with the professionalism and skills needed to help them adapt to a medical office.
“The basic Medical Office Assistant program will expose students to medical terminology, computer skills and first aid techniques they need to work in a doctor’s office or a clinic,” Moore said. “Additionally, the program will focus on phone etiquette skills, emphasize the importance of being a team player and offer a guide on utilizing conversation skills to communicate appropriately with patients and colleagues in a medical office setting.”
Appropriate posture, self-confidence boosters and reading skills also will be addressed in the classroom, which will be led by medical assisting coordinator/instructor Elizabeth Kurczyn-Valle and other faculty members.
Moore added that the basic MOA program offers a perfect opportunity for graduates to advance their careers toward clinical or administrative certificate programs for the medical office assistant at LCC.
Tuition and books for the 15-hour college credit certificate program are $815, considerably more affordable than that offered by area vocational schools.
Financial assistance is available for eligible students, and job placement is offered to graduates.
“There are lots of jobs out there for the medical office assistant,” Moore noted.
First-time LCC students should complete the Texas Common Application for Admission to Two-Year Institutions, available online at www.laredo.edu/admissions.
The application for admission to the MOA program also is available online at www.laredo.edu/healthsciences or at the LCC Allied Health Center, room 129.
For more information, contact Moore or Valle at 721-5261.
From left, Sandra Salazar and Marissa Rodriguez study the bones of the human skeleton as part of their learning experience in the Medical Office Assistant program at Laredo Community College. A search is under way at the college to recruit students for a new, shorter one-semester MOA certificate program to be launched this fall.
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