VGCC Medical Assisting Program Trains Multi-Skill Professionals
If you’re interested in an exciting, well-paying profession in the healthcare field, but you don’t want to be a nurse or technician, Vance-Granville Community College has an opportunity for you.
The Medical Assisting program offered at VGCC’s Franklin County Campus in Louisburg trains medical assistants to work in physicians’ offices, health maintenance organizations, health departments and hospitals. The two-year program provides participants with multiple skills to prepare them for a meaningful career.
Medical Assisting students receive instruction in clinical and laboratory procedures and learn to assist with examinations and treatments. They also become qualified to perform administrative functions such as scheduling appointments, coding and processing insurance accounts, billing, collections, medical transcriptions and computer operations.
Upon completion of the program, graduates receive Associate in Applied Science degrees and are eligible to take the Medical Assistants’ Certification Examination to become Certified Medical Assistants.
Vance-Granville’s Medical Assisting program, which began in the fall of 1998, has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.
The demand continues to increase for multi-skilled Medical Assistants, according to Dr. Angela Ballentine, chairperson of Health Education at VGCC. “The word is getting around in the medical community of the skills that trained medical assistants have, and the job market is wide open for these specialists,” she said.
A recent study shows that Medical Assisting is one of the top 10 fastest-growing professions in the nation, according to Tammy Care, program head and instructor for Medical Assisting.
At least 12 graduates of the VGCC Medical Assisting program are employed in healthcare settings in Henderson, Louisburg and Oxford, Care said. During the last semester of the program, students serve internships at clinical sites from Raleigh and Rocky Mount. Care said she regularly receives calls from doctors throughout the area and beyond looking for graduates of the program to employ.
Renita Peace was working in the office of Dr. Francine Chavis in Oxford when she entered the Medical Assisting program. Since graduating with the first class in May 2000, she has moved from administrative work at the front desk to doing clinical work with patients as well as being promoted to office manager.
“I can do so many more things in the office since taking the Medical Assisting course,” Peace said. “I do patient work-ups, draw blood, check blood sugar, all things I learned to do during the course.”
As an example, Peace said she learned to create a diet plan for diabetics during the Medical Assisting training, and now she can help diabetics to better cope with their disease.
A new class in Medical Assisting will begin in Fall Semester, and now is the time to sign up. The deadline for applying for the program is March 1. Persons interested in the program may call Tammy Care at the Franklin County Campus at 919-496-1567 or Student Services at (252) 492-2061.
