Medical Assisting Program Receives Seven-Year
Accreditation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1/19/2005
CONTACT: KAYE BATHE, 646-1352
(By Lisa Garrett)
PENDLETON ---Tri-County Technical College's Medical Assisting program
recently received news of its maximum seven-year reaccreditation from
its national accrediting agency.
 The
department was reaccredited through 2011 by the Commission on Accreditation
of Allied Health Education Programs upon the recommendation of the
Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants'
Endowment.
The department was due for a site visit in April. In December the
College received a letter stating that based on the contents of progress
reports and the record of the program, a site visit wasn't necessary. "This
is an incredible compliment, and we are so thrilled," said Kaye
Bathe, Medical Assisting department head. "This is a one-person
department, and things like this don’t occur without the support of
the administration. We accomplished this as a team."
Medical Assisting is the fifth fastest-growing occupation in South
Carolina and Georgia, and typically graduates land jobs well before
receiving their diplomas, said Bathe. There is a huge demand for the
medical assistant, she said, adding that the one-year program is designed
to train students to become multifunctional health care workers in
physicians' and medical offices.
"Medical assisting duties are a good mix of clinical and front
office work. Graduates are so versatile and are cross-trained in every
area of ambulatory care. Their duties range from hands-on patient care,
under physician and nursing supervision, to front office duties," said
Bathe.
Clinical training includes checking a patient's vital signs, phlebotomy,
giving medications, EKGs, laboratory work, urinalysis and assisting
with minor surgical procedures. "It's an unusual discipline with
a strong administrative function including insurance coding and claims
processing," she said. "It's also a profession where job
security is high."
Graduates are employed at urgent care facilities, physicians' offices,
hospitals, and assisted living centers.
"Keep in mind that a medical assistant can have job opportunities
at almost every health care facility," said Bathe.
Displaced workers often enter the program, she said. "We offer
a broad overview of health care in a short time. You can totally redirect
your career in a year provided you have competed the academic prerequisites
for the program."
Community service projects are a way that the Medical Assisting students
can integrate into the big picture of health care, said Bathe. Students
have worked with Anderson Interfaith Ministries' community health screenings
and blood drives, have gathered supplies and sent them to soldiers
in Iraq, and have volunteered with Meals on Wheels, hospices, the American
Cancer Society, the Salvation Army, and crisis pregnancy centers. "These
projects give the students experience and teach them how to they fit
into the big picture, including times of heightened need for disaster
relief. These projects serve the patient education need in addition
to giving the students a level of awareness that this career is a lifetime
commitment that becomes who you are, not just what you do."
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, medical assisting will be one
of the fastest-growing professions, projecting a 59 percent growth.
National certification is an expectation of the program and can mean
a difference in both salary and hiring potential, according to Dr.
Lynn Lewis, chair of the College's Health Education Division.
For more information about the Medical Assisting program, contact
Kaye Bathe at (864) 646-1352 or kbathe@tctc.edu.
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Oconee