Associate of Science in Medical Assisting

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Associate of Science in Medical Assisting
DEGREE

Associate of Science in Medical Assisting

Total Credit Hours: 63-66


About Associate of Science in Medical Assisting

2025 Spring Announcement

Applications for the 2025 Medical Assisting Cohort are officially open.
If you have completed the required courses for program entry with a "C" grade or better, or will complete the requirements by the end of the 2024 fall semester,
please see Mr. Uchima in room 3222, Monday-Thursday between 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
You may also email him at katsuyoshi.uchima@guamcc.edu

Medical Assistants are the only allied health professionals specifically trained to work in ambulatory settings, such as physicians’ offices, clinics, and group practices. These multi-skilled personnel can perform administrative and clinical procedures. Physicians value this unique versatility more and more, as managed care necessitates the need to contain costs and manage human resources efficiently. Medical Assistants are trained allied health professionals who work primarily in physicians’ offices, outpatient clinics, but also in hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Medical Assistants are trained to perform clinical back office procedures and administrative tasks. In contrast to most other allied health professionals who work in inpatient hospital settings, Medical Assistants, work primarily in outpatient clinics under the direct supervision of a physician. One portion of his or her training that concentrates on administrative medical assisting provides suitable background for employment in health maintenance organizations, home health care organizations, and nursing homes. Their training as clinical medical assistants creates a well-rounded Medical Assistant that can perform a variety of tasks both administrative and clinical. The most common task performed by the medical assistant is recording patient history and personal information, measuring vital signs (such as blood pressure), helping the physician with patient examinations, giving patients injections or medications as directed by the physician, scheduling patient appointments, drawing and preparing blood samples for laboratory tests, and entering patient information into medical records. Once a student has successfully completed the Medical Assisting Program, he or she will be prepared to take the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) national certification examination through American Medical Technologists (AMT). The Guam Community College is an affiliated partner with the American Medical Technologist (AMT).

10700 West Higgins Rd, Suite 150
Rosemont, IL 60018
Phone: 847.823.5169
Fax: 847.823.0458

With the exception of enrollment in MS101 Introduction to Medical Assisting, admission to the Medical Assisting program is required before enrollment in any Medical Assisting technical requirement course. Admission to the Medical Assisting program includes:

  • Advisement from Allied Health faculty.
  • Completion of English and Mathematics Placement Tests with minimum scores or completion of English and mathematics development courses and attainment of passing scores.
  • Health Clearance, which includes physical immunization (PPD, Hep B, 1, 2, 3).

Note: The student must have a “C” or better in all courses to receive a certificate in Medical Assisting. Students must pass each course with a “C” or better to continue toward the next course in the program. Those students who do not successfully complete a core technical of related technical requirement course will have to wait a minimum of one year for reentry. For further information, please refer to Medical Assistant Program Handbook.

Pre-requisite courses are not required for program entry, but must be completed for approval for entry into the program learning group or cohort.  When the student enters the learning group, he/she will begin the Medical Assisting Program.
Other Prerequisite:
  • Health clearance to include physical and immunizations- PPD, with the addition of a Hepatitis B vaccine or declination form.
  • Police and court clearance will be required for acceptance into Medical Assistant cohort.

General Education Requirements
Course Course Name Credits
English (Choose 1)
EN110A Freshman Composition with Instructional Lab 4
EN110 Freshman Composition 3
Course Course Name Credits
MA___ Mathematics Requirement 3-4

 
Literacy for Life Requirement 3

 
Humanities & Fine Arts Requirement 3-4

 
Social & Behavioral Sciences Requirement 3
HL190 Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology for Allied Health Professionals 4
Major Requirements
Course Course Name Credits
HL120 Medical Terminology 2
HL131 Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers 1
HL150 Study of Diseases 3
HL201 Medical Law and Ethics 3
HL202 Nutrition 3
HL252 Pathology for Health Professions 3
MS 125 Clinical Medical Assisting: Clinical 1
MS101 Introduction to Medical Assisting 3
MS120 Clinical Medical Assisting: Theory 3
MS121 Clinical Medical Assistant: Laboratory 2
MS140 Administrative Medical Assisting: Theory 2
MS141 Administrative Medical Assisting: Laboratory 2
MS145 Administrative Medical Assisting: Clinical 1
MS160 Introduction to Pharmacology 2
MS161 Administration of Medications: Laboratory 1
MS180 Introduction to Clinical Laboratory 2
MS210 Medical Assisting Critique 1
MS220 Medical Assisting Specialties 3
MS225 Medical Assisting Specialties Clinical 1
MS292 Medical Assisting Practicum 5
Program Total 63-66

2024-2025 College Catalog

Recognizing the necessity for students to succeed in the complex and rapidly changing workplace, Guam Community College offers a general education curriculum that introduces students to major areas of knowledge and methods of inquiry. All degree programs require an interdisciplinary general education component that promotes the development of intellectual skills that enable students to become effective learners and informed citizens. Critical thinking, the use of language and computation, appropriate social skills, global awareness and respect for diverse opinions are among the learning outcomes provided in the general education requirements of each program.

Guam Community College believes that general education provides the academic foundation necessary for students to achieve their life goals. General education is intended to offer students a breadth of quality student learning experiences, encourage their respect for cultural heritage, promote their ethical and responsible social behavior and facilitate their life-long learning.

The General Education program strives to foster student learning and skill development in civic engagement, critical thinking, understanding of the relationship between the individual and society, information literacy, oral communication, quantitative reasoning, and written communication.

Guam Community College believes that high quality general education opportunities for all citizens are necessary for democratic principles and practices to exist and for a sound economy to flourish. The College continually scrutinizes the general education curriculum in order to assure that all degrees and certificates granted by the College support this vision of general education and that it serves as a means to inspire hope, opportunity and responsibility in all its constituencies.

Requirements for General Education follow the options described below. Students declared prior to fall 2010 will follow the requirements indicated in the applicable catalog in which they first declared their major program at the College.
 

Notes on General Education requirements

Students are advised to check the requirements for their specific programs before taking General Education courses.
Courses chosen to meet the general education requirements may not be used to meet the Major Requirements of a student’s specific degree program.

The list contains courses with pre-requisites, so students should make their choices carefully and thoughtfully. Students may consult a counselor or an academic advisor for guidance in choosing any of the course options listed.


IMPORTANT NOTE: Some programs require different levels of coursework to meet General Education requirements, please review the individual programs for more information.

GENERAL EDUCATION
Scope 1: Skills for and Application of Lifelong Learning
Freshman Composition (Choose one course from the following to meet the required 3-4 credits)
Course # Course Name Credits
EN 110 Freshman Composition 3
EN110A Freshman Composition with Instructional Lab 4
EN 111 Writing for Research 3
Mathematics (Choose one course from the following to meet the required 3-4 credits)*
Course # Course Name Credits
MA 110A Finite Mathematics 3
MA 115 Fundamentals of College Algebra 3
MA 161A College Algebra & Trigonometry I 3
*Any college level math will be considered for the completion of this category
Literacy for Life Skills (Choose one course from the following to meet the required 3 credits)
Course # Course Name Credits
CO 110 Critical Thinking for Civic Engagement 3
CS 151 Windows Applications
CS 152 Macintosh Applications
Scope 2: Broad Comprehension of the Development of Knowledge, Practice and Interpretation
Humanities & Fine Arts (Choose one course from the following to meet the required 3-4 credits)*
Course # Course Name Credits
ASL 100 American Sign Language I 4
CH 110 Chamorro I 4
ED 265 Culture & Education in Guam 3
CO 125 Introduction to Human Communication and Speech 3
EN 210 Introduction to Literature 3
HI 121 World Civilization (Pre-historic Time to 1500) 3
HI 122 World Civilization (1500 to Present Time) 3
HI 176 Guam History 3
HM 110 Introduction to Community Services 3
HM 201 Social Welfare & Development: Global Challenges 3
HU 120 Pacific Cultures 3
HU 220 Guam Cultures & Legends 3
JA 110 Japanese I 4
KE 110 Korean I 4
PI 101 Introduction to Philosophy 3
TH 101 Introduction to the Theater 3
VC 101 Introduction to Visual Communications 3
*Any foreign language, humanities, or fine arts course will be considered for the completion of this category
Natural & Physical Sciences (Choose one course and the corresponding lab from the following to meet the required 4 credits)**
Course # Course Name Credits
SI 101/101L Introduction to Chemistry: Theory (3) & Introduction to Chemistry Laboratory (1) 4
SI 103/103L Introduction to Marine Biology: Theory (3) & Introduction to Marine Biology Laboratory (1)
SI 105/105L Introduction to Physical Geology (3) & Introduction to Physical Geology Laboratory (1)
SI 110/110L Environmental Biology: Theory (3) & Environmental Biology Laboratory (1)
SI 141 Applied Physics I
SI 150/150L Introduction to Microbiology: Theory (3) & Introduction to Microbiology Laboratory (1)
SI131/131L Human Anatomy & Physiology I: Theory (3) & Human Anatomy & Physiology I Laboratory (1)
SI132/132L Human Anatomy & Physiology II: Theory (3) & Human Anatomy & Physiology II Laboratory (1)
**The exception to this would be SI141 which does not include a laboratory requirement
Scope 3: Preparation for and Acceptance of Responsible Participation in Civil Society
Social & Behavioral Sciences (Choose one course from the following to meet the required 3 credits)
Course # Course Name Credits
EC 110 Principles of Economics 3
PS140 American Government 3
PY 100 Personal Adjustment 3
PY 120 General Psychology 3
PY 125 Interpersonal Relations 3
SO 130 Introduction to Sociology 3
CJ 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice 3
WG 101 Introduction to Women and Gender Studies 3
*Any social and behavioral science course will be considered for the completion of this category
Minimum General Education Requirements 19

2024-2025 College Catalog


This suggested sequence of courses is based on the 2024-2025 College Catalog. 
 
Year 1
Semester 1 Semester 2
Course Course Name Credits Course Course Name Credits
EN___ English Requirement 3-4 MS101 Introduction to Medical Assisting 3
MA___ Mathematics Requirement 3-4 MS140 Administrative Medical Assisting: Theory 2
HL150 Study of Diseases 3 MS141 Administrative Medical Assisting: Laboratory 2
  Literacy for Life Requirement 3 MS145 Administrative Medical Assisting Clinical 1
HL190 Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology for Allied Health Professionals 4 HL131 Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers 1

 

 

 
HL120 Medical Terminology 2

 

 

 
HL202 Nutrition 3
Total 16-18  Total 14
Year 2
Semester 3 Semester 4
Course Course Name Credits Course Course Name Credits
HL201 Medical Law and Ethics 3 MS120 Clinical Medical Assisting: Theory 3
MS160 Introduction to Pharmacology 2 MS121 Clinical Medical Assistant: Laboratory 2
MS161 Administration of Medications: Laboratory 1 MS225 Medical Assisting Specialties Clinical 1

 
Humanities & Fine Arts Requirement 3-4 MS220 Medical Assisting Specialties 3

 
Social & Behavioral Sciences Requirement 3 MS 125 Clinical Medical Assisting: Clinical 1
 Total 12-13  Total 10
Year 3
Semester 5
 
Course Course Name Credits Course Course Name Credits
MS180 Introduction to Clinical Laboratory 2
 

 

 
MS210 Medical Assisting Critique 1
 

 

 
MS292 Medical Assisting Practicum 5
 

 

 
HL252 Pathology for Health Professions 3
 

 

 
 Total 11  Total  
Program Total 63-66

2024-2025 College Catalog



Upon successful completion of the AS in Medical Assisting program, students will be able to:
  1. Describe legal and ethical principles that affect the role of a medical assistant.                         
  2. Demonstrate proficiency in administrative medical office procedures.
  3. Demonstrate proficiency in clinical procedures.
  4. Perform medical laboratory procedures.

HL131 Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary in an emergency such as rescue breathing and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This course is a related technical requirement for the Certificate and Associate of Science in Medical Assisting.

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