Medical Office Assistant

Your at-home learning Program includes eleven 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 Instruction 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.

In order to complete this program, you will need to have access to an IBM®-compatible PC with the following minimum system requirements: Pentium 233 MHz, or faster (Pentium® III or better, recommended); Windows® XP operating system, or Windows® 2000 with SP3; 128MB RAM; 260MB available hard disk space; CD-ROM or DVD drive; Super VGA (800x600) or higher resolution monitor; mouse or compatible pointing device; Internet access (dial-up or broadband).

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

Instruction Set 1

• Introduction to Medical Office Assisting
  • Duties of a medical office assistant; possible job settings; common medical disciplines; major professional organizations.
• Learning Strategies
  • Successful studying methods; creating effective and efficient study tools; using study tools to improve your chances of success.

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 liability; malpractice and negligence.
• Supplement:
  • Improve Your Communication Skills

Instruction 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
• Learning Aid:
  • “Introduction to Medical Terminology” Pronunciation Tape

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.
• Learning Aids:
  • “Body Systems Terminology 1” Pronunciation Tape
  • “Body Systems Terminology 2” Pronunication Tape
• Reference: Dorland’s Medical Dictionary

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.
• Advanced Medical Terminology and Pharmacology
  • Benign and malignant tumors; types, grades, and stages of cancer; major methods of cancer treatment.
• Learning Aids:
  • “Body Systems Terminology 3” Pronunciation Tape
  • “Body Systems Terminology 4” Pronunciation Tape
  • “Advanced Medical Terminology and Pharmacology”
  • Pronunciation Tape
• Supplement: Terminology Activities

Instruction Set 6

• Written Communication 1
  • The parts of speech; types of sentences; recognizing common errors in sentences; 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; creating accurate 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

• Math for the Office Professional
  • Addition, 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
  • Introductions to medical insurance; types of insurance; insurance terminology; the insurance claim process; specific insurance carriers.
• Supplement:
  • HIV/AIDS Awareness

Instruction Set 10

• Clinical Procedures
  • The role of pathogenic organisms in disease; controlling and preventing infection; diagnostic tests used in medical offices.
• Textbook:Clinical Procedures for Medical Assistants
• Learning Aids:
  • “Vital Signs: Temperature, Pulse, Respiration, Blood Pressure, Measurement, and Screening Procedures” Videotape
• Supplements:
  • Finding Work as a Medical Office Professional
  • Bookkeeping Simulation
  • Collated Forms (Control-o-fax)

Instruction Set 11

• 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:
  • South-Western Keyboarding Pro
  • Microsoft® Office

Graduation Set

• South-Western Keyboarding Pro
• Microsoft® Office

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

Online Library and Librarian
Students in ICS Canada have access to an online library for use during their studies. Students can use this library to do the required research in the courses they complete or can use it for general reference and links to valuable resources. The library contains helpful research assistance, articles, databases, books, and Web links. A librarian is available to answer questions on general research-related topics via email and assist students in research activities during their studies with ICS Canada.

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

Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions.
IBM is a trademark of IBM registered in the United States of America and/or other jurisdictions.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel in the U.S. and other countries.