ADMISSIONS CRITERIA
The Priority Deadline for Medical Assisting is April 1st. All application steps listed below must be completed prior to April 1st to be considered in the initial applicant pool. After the priority deadline, the program will move to rolling admissions until incoming cohort slots are filled.
- Follow the Steps to Apply and Enroll.
- Meet the Testing requirements and complete all required transition/support courses.
- Applicants must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher on a scale of 4.0 on the most recent academic transcript for the last 10 hours of college credit. If you do not have college credits, your cumulative grade point average will be taken from your high school transcript.
- This program has SELECTIVE ADMISSIONS and can only accept 20 students each year. Applicants will be evaluated based on the Health Sciences Admissions Rubric after the Priority Deadline. Although the TEAS test is NOT required for admissions to this program, it can increase the likelihood that a student will be accepted into the program. Please talk with your advisor to determine your best course of action for admission.
Those individuals who are notified of provisional acceptance to the program must attend a mandatory orientation session and have SCC health forms completed by the appropriate medical personnel indicating the candidate is mentally and physically capable of performing the job duties required by this profession.
Once accepted into the program, students will be required to complete an onboarding process, which will include a criminal background check and drug testing prior to participation in the clinical component. If any clinical facility refuses to allow the student to participate in clinical experiences, for any reason, the student will not be able to progress in the program. Each student completing a health science program may be required, by an external agency, to submit a criminal background check and/or drug test prior to a state or national licensing/ certification board approving the graduate to sit for exams.
Due to the rigorous nature of the curriculum, where possible, students are encouraged to have successfully completed general education courses prior to enrolling in program specific courses: ACA 111, BIO 163, ENG 111, ENG 114, HUM 115, NUT 110 and PSY 150 with a "C" or better. See your advisor for acceptable general education substitutes. Additionally, students may take certificate coursework, where appropriate, prior to acceptance into a Selective Health Sciences Program.
ACCREDITATION
The Southwestern Community College’s Associate Degree Medical Assisting program is accredited by the commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education
Review Board (MAERB).
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
25400 US Highway 19 North, Suite 158
Clearwater, FL 33763
phone: 727.210.2350 | website: www.caahep.org
Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB)
20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 1575
Chicago, IL 60606
phone: 800.228.2262 | website: www.maerb.org
Graduates of the 2-year Associate Degree Program may take the national AAMA certification examination to become a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA). The examination is offered online at various testing centers. Scheduling information may be obtained from the AAMA website at www.aama-ntl.org
ACHIEVEMENT & OUTCOMES:
For the most recent reporting year (2018), the medical assisting has reported the following achievement and outcome percentages:
- The Medical Assisting Program has a current retention rate of 80%
- The Medical Assisting Program has a current job placement rate of 100%.
- The Medical Assisting Program has a current exam pass rate of 71.43%
- The Medical Assisting Program has a current graduation satisfaction rate of 100%
