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A Medical Assistant is vital in the day-to-day work of most health care facilities such as doctors’ offices, immediate care facilities, nursing homes, clinics, and hospitals. Certified medical assistants perform both hands-on patient care, such as taking blood pressure and drawing blood, as well as handling administrative and clerical duties, including taking a patient’s medical history and scheduling appointments.

Through American National University’s 100% online Medical Assisting associate degree program, you will participate in clinical laboratory classes using our at-home lab kits to apply the knowledge you have learned in the classroom and build real-world skills today’s employers are looking for. You will also participate in a mandatory externship, which offers further opportunities to apply learned skills and competencies. Our hands-on medical assistant classes will give you the experience and confidence to succeed.

In addition to giving you the skills and techniques needed for employment as a medical assistant, our accelerated medical assistant program also serves as a strong foundation for pursing a bachelor’s degree in Medical and Health Services Management.

Your Learning Experience

Your coursework includes hands-on medical assisting training to develop the skills you need, such as:

• Working within an office environment. You will learn administrative skills, like scheduling and coordinating appointments for patients in inpatient or outpatient settings, or utilizing technology to access electronic health records, sensitive patient information, and handling accounts receivable. You will learn how to do all of their administrative tasks within legal and ethical boundaries as well as within federal and state healthcare legislation and regulations. Additionally, this includes working with other medical professionals like nurses, doctors, and other medical assistants.
• Medical procedures training to cover areas such as taking patients’ vital signs, collecting laboratory specimens, performing routine tests such as electrocardiography (EKG), and administering therapeutic injections and vaccinations. You will also learn how to prepare patients for procedures and treatments as well as assist doctors and nurses with examinations, procedures, and treatments.
• How to communicate with not only their fellow medical professionals, but how to speak with patients with sensitivity to culture and diversity. You will learn to understand and utilize verbal, non-verbal, and written communication to and from a patient with compassion and empathy. You will become a liaison for patients as they navigate their health through tasks like promoting disease prevention, giving instruction on treatment and health promotion, as well as locating community resources.
• You will also complete a foundation set of courses in anatomy, pharmacology, math computations, reference information, and pathology. This will also teach you how to be patient navigators and support in explaining treatment, procedure, and examinations, and answer questions a patient may have about their care.
• A clinical externship of 162 hours of real-world work experience to include caring for patients one-on-one, performing medical procedures, gathering patient information, and helping healthcare facilities stay organized. (See if there is an existing clinical site in your local area.)

For a full version of the lab kit click here. WARNING: Graphic content in this video

In addition to the program outcomes listed, students will take the following certification exams: CPR exam through the American Red Cross as part of MED202 Clinical Medical Assisting, Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) exam offered through the National Healthcareer Association as part of MED298 Medical Assisting Exam Success Class, Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPTC) as part of MED298 Medical Assisting Exam Success Class, and Certified EKG Technician (CET) as part of MED298 Medical Assisting Exam Success Class.

Annual Report Outcomes 

The five-year average for the exam passage rate for the years 2020-2024 is 68%

There are some occupational risks for medical assistants. Read about them here.

Check out our “Not-What-You-Would Expect” Guide to Medical Assisting to learn more about this high-demand field.

Online Tuition Comparison

Total tuition for an associate’s degree in Medical Assisting at ANU is only $30,816. Large online colleges with course-based programs are 3% – 117% higher and do not include fees or textbooks.(1) ANU tuition includes all fees (application, course, technology, graduation, etc.), textbooks, and lab equipment (where applicable).