Choose Your Program!

You can earn an associate degree in Medical Assisting or a certificate in any of ten different programs. Click or scroll down this page to read more about each one.



  • Visit our Health Technologies Degrees and Certificates webpage to see a list of required courses and other details for each program.
  • Check the state of California's Salary Surfer website for the most current information on potential salaries for each job category. (Select "Health" as the program of study and then scroll down that page to find the job category that interests you.)

phlebotomy student

medical assisting student



Medical Assisting: Associate in Science (A.S.) Degree

  • Minimum time for completion: 18 months full-time, two or more years if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Clinical skills include taking vital signs, assisting with minor surgery, EKGs, routine lab procedures, administration of medications, basic patient care. Administrative skills include computer skills, transcription, scheduling appointments, bookkeeping, billing, insurance, records management, public relations.
  • Career opportunities: Private physician's office, outpatient department, health services, medical clinics, business offices of medical facilities, medical office manager and many others. Full-time, part-time and on-call jobs are available. 


Medical Assisting: Certificate of Achievement-Advanced

  • Minimum time for completion: 18 months full-time, two or more years if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Clinical skills include taking vital signs, assisting with minor surgery, EKGs, routine lab procedures, administration of medications, basic patient care. Administrative skills include computer skills, transcription, scheduling appointments, bookkeeping, billing, insurance, records management, public relations.
  • Career opportunities: Private physician's office, outpatient department, health services, medical clinics, business offices of medical facilities, medical office manager and many others. Full-time, part-time and on-call jobs are available.


Medical File Clerk: Certificate of Achievement

  • Minimum time for completion: Six months full-time, more if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Administrative skills include answering telephones, keyboarding, filing.
  • Career opportunities: Outpatient departments, medical clinics,and private medical offices. Full-time, part-time, job sharing and on-call jobs are available.


Medical Reception: Certificate of Achievement

  • Minimum time for completion: Nine months full-time, more if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Answering telephones, scheduling appointments, records management; some positions may involve using medical codes, completing insurance forms, handling money transactions.
  • Career opportunities: Outpatient departments, medical clinics,and private medical offices. Full-time, part-time, job sharing, and on-call jobs are available.


Medical Records Clerk: Certificate of Achievement

  • Minimum time for completion: Six months full-time, more if part-time)
  • Skills for employment: Administrative skills including customer service skills, assisting patients, assembling and combining charts, answering phones, keyboarding, filing.
  • Career opportunities: Outpatient departments, medical clinics,and private medical offices. Full-time, part-time, job sharing and on-call jobs are available. 


Business Office Clerk: Certificate of Achievement

  • Minimum time for completion: Nine months, more if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Administrative skills including insurance claims billing, collections and appeals, reception relief, and other clerical duties.
  • Career opportunities: Outpatient departments, medical clinics,and private medical offices. Full-time, part-time, job sharing and on-call jobs are available.


Insurance and Coding: Certificate of Achievement 

  • Minimum time for completion: One year full-time, two years or more if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Preparating insurance claim forms, maintaining insurance claims register, tracing unpaid claims, evaluating claims rejection, and translating medical terminology into procedural and diagnostic codes.
  • Career opportunities: Business offices of medical clinics and medical record department. Full-time, part-time and on-call jobs are available.


Lab Assistant: Certificate of Achievement

(Combines Phlebotomy Technician I and EKG Technology)

  • Minimum time for completion: One year if full-time, more if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Performing venipuncture, setting up lab tests and processing specimens for testing in clinical labs of medical clinics and hospitals; performing electrocardiograms (EKGs).
  • Career opportunities: Clinical laboratories or EKG departments of medical clinics and hospitals or private labs. Full-time, part-time and on-call jobs are available.


Phlebotomy Technician I: Certificate of Achievement

  • Minimum time for completion: One year if full-time, more if part-time
  • Skills for employment: Performing venipuncture, setting up lab tests and processing specimens for testing in clinical labs of medical clinics and hospitals.
  • Career opportunities: Clinical laboratories of medical clinics and hospitals and private labs. Full-time, part-time and on-call jobs are available. 
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