MA 126 - Clinical Office Procedures

Credit Hours: 4

This combination lecture/laboratory course is designed to provide the prospective medical assistant with entry-level skills in clinical office procedures. Instruction includes fundamentals of patient care and infection control as practiced in a medical office during patient encounters. Students are introduced to the infection cycle, medical and surgical asepsis, the principles of standard precautions, the purpose of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the importance of regulation compliance in healthcare settings. Students will also learn the importance of recording patient medical histories and vital signs, proper preparation of patients for examinations and how to assist medical providers during patient screenings, assessments and/or procedures.

Laboratory sessions provide instruction, demonstration and competency evaluations to assess student learning of measuring and recording anthropomorphic vital signs, basic wound care and dressing changes, sterilization of medical instruments and the proper disposal of biohazardous material and medical sharps waste.

Course Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Describe and demonstrate medical aseptic practices that should be followed in a medical office
Demonstrate the proper procedures for taking the vital signs of temperature, pulse, oxygen saturation, respiration and blood pressure
Collect data from the patient for use in the health history, take height and weight measurements, demonstrate proper placement and draping of a patient and proper assisting techniques during the physical examination
Demonstrate proper procedure for weighing and measuring the pediatric patient and growth chart plotting
Demonstrate proper procedure for testing distance and near visual acuity and assessing color vision; perform an eye and ear irrigation and eye and ear instillation.
Identify the infection cycle, including infectious agents, reservoirs, susceptible host, means of transmission and portals of entry and exit
Demonstrate proper procedure for sanitizing office instruments, for sterilizing articles, using moist heat and for chemical disinfection
Demonstrate proficiency in performing sterile dressing change.
Identify instruments used in minor office surgery and demonstrate proper procedure for assisting in minor office surgery while maintaining a sterile field
Describe patient preparation required for various clinical screenings and examinations
Enter patient information on medical chart

Prerequisites: BI 147/ BI 148; MA 115
Corequisites: MA 125
F/S (N)

This course is required for the Medical Assisting AAS Degree and 100% of the Psychomotor and Affective competencies need to be passed.

Reminder: To be eligible for an Associate in Applied Science degree in Medical Assisting, students must attain a C average or better in all MA courses

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