Medical Assisting Program Awarded Continuing Accreditation

(Des Moines) – The Mercy College of Health Sciences Medical Assisting Program has just been awarded continuing accreditation for seven years, the longest possible, by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) on recommendation of the Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants' Endowment (AAMAE). Graduates of the program are eligible to sit for the Certified Medical Assistant Exam administered by the American Association of Medical Assistants. The next comprehensive evaluation of the program will include an on-site review and is scheduled to occur no later than March 2015.

Medical Assistants prepare patients for examinations by taking temperature, weight, blood pressure and pulse, and then aid physicians during exams and treatments. They may also give injections, draw blood, prepare lab specimens, and conduct evaluation testing. In addition, they also have administrative duties such as billing and collections, scheduling appointments, maintaining files, preparing reports, and establishing office procedures.

Mercy College is the only Catholic college in Central Iowa and is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA).

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