Medical Assisting

Leesa G. Whicker, BA, CMA (AAMA) is a Certified Medical Assistant with a BA in art with a concentration in art history. She is an educator with more than 20 years of experience in the classroom. With 35 years of experience in the healthcare field as a medical assistant, a research specialist in molecular pathogenesis and infectious disease, and a medical assisting program director and instructor, she brings a broad background of knowledge and experience to the classroom. As a curriculum expert, she has served on several committees, including the Writing Team for the Common Course Library for the North Carolina Community College System and the Curriculum Committee at Central Piedmont Community College. She remains an active member of the Curriculum Committee. Leesa was among the first instructors to develop online courses and remains active in online curriculum development. She has presented Methods of Active and Collaborative learning on the national level. Her passion is finding novel and varied ways to reach the ever-changing learning styles of todays students. She currently teaches at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina. Terri D. Wyman, AS, CPC, CMRS has 35 years of experience in the healthcare field, first as a CMA specializing in hematology/oncology and homecare and then in the medical billing and coding field. At the suggestion of a coworker, she began her career in education as instructor and program director for both medical assisting and medical billing and coding programs for several technical schools in New England. Currently, Terri is the financial applications analyst at Baystate Wing Hospital, where her love of teaching continues in the hospital setting. She is active with her local AAPC chapter and is on the National Advisory Board for the American Medical Billing Association (AMBA). She provides continuing education opportunities for AMBA members by writing numerous billing and coding programs and speaking at their national conferences on medical coding topics, including ICD-10. In the rapidly changing world of healthcare billing and coding, she is excited to continue sharing the language of billing and coding with instructors, students, and career professionals. Terri sends special thanks to Dale for his unending support and to Francis Stein, MD, whose patience with a new medical assistant years ago showed her the joy of learning and education.

Unit One: Medical Assisting as a Career
1 Introduction to Medical Assisting
2 Healthcare and the Healthcare Team
3 Professionalism and Success 
4 Interpersonal Communication
5 Legal and Ethical Issues
Unit Two: Safety and the Environment
6 Infection Control Fundamentals
7 Safety and Patient Reception
8 Office Equipment and Supplies
9 Examination and Treatment Areas
Unit Three: Communication
10 Written and Electronic Documents
11 Medical Records and Documentation
12 Electronic Health Records 
13 Managing Medical Records
14 Telephone Techniques
15 Patient Education
Unit Four: Administrative Practices
16 Schedule Management
17 Insurance and Billing
18 Diagnostic Coding
19 Procedure Coding
20 Patient Collections and Financial Management
Unit Five: Applied Anatomy and Physiology
21 Organization of the Body
22 The Integumentary System
23 The Skeletal System
24 The Muscular System
25 The Cardiovascular System
26 The Blood
27 The Lymphatic and Immune Systems
28 The Respiratory System
29 The Nervous System
30 The Urinary System
31 The Reproductive Systems
32 The Digestive System
33 The Endocrine System
34 Special Senses
Unit Six: Clinical Practices
35 Infection Control Practices
36 Patient Interview and History
37 Vital Signs and Measurements
38 Assisting with a General Physical Examination
39 Assisting in Reproductive and Urinary Specialties
40 Assisting in Pediatrics
41 Assisting in Geriatrics
42 Assisting in Other Medical Specialties
43 Assisting with Eye and Ear Care
44 Assisting with Minor Surgery
Unit Seven: Assisting with Diagnostics
45 Orientation to the Lab
46 Microbiology and Disease
47 Collecting, Processing, and Testing Urine and Stool Specimens
48 Collecting, Processing, and Testing Blood Specimens
49 Electrocardiography and Pulmonary Function
50 Diagnostic Imaging
Unit Eight: Assisting in Therapeutics
51 Principles of Pharmacology
52 Dosage Calculation
53 Medication Administration
54 Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation
55 Nutrition and Health
Unit Nine: Medical Assisting Practice
56 Practice Management
57 Emergency Preparedness
58 Preparing for the World of Work
App 1 Diseases and Disorders 
App 2 Prefixes, Suffixes, and Word Roots in Commonly Used Medical Terms
App 3 Abbreviations and Symbols Commonly Used in Medical Notations

Condensed versions of this text are available:
Medical Assisting: Administrative Procedures with Anatomy and Physiology includes units 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9
Medical Assisting: Clinical Procedures with Anatomy and Physiology includes units 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9