Is This Program for You?

If you are interested in a health care career and think you would enjoy the variety of administrative, laboratory, and patient care areas of a physician's office or clinic, a Medical Assistant career will be an excellent choice for you.

Students entering the Medical Assistant program should:

• Show commitment to the patient.
• Enjoy teamwork.
• Deal effectively with stressful, fast paced work.
• Possess effective listening skills.
• Communicate well with others through oral and written means.
• Have good mental dexterity.
• Demonstrate attention to detail.

Program Basics

• Technical diploma, requiring a minimum of one year to complete.
• Day classes.
• High school articulation courses accepted.
• Financial aid available.
• Classes start in August.
• Modified part-time curriculum available in 4-semester plan.
• Students scoring less than 11th grade level in three or more TABE subtests must enroll under a modified program.
• Students must achieve a "C" grade or better (78%) in each course of the program curriculum to be eligible to progress.

Cost of Attendance (COA) 25-26

Cost of Attendance (COA) is a total of all the usual expenses of being a student. The COA sets the maximum amount of financial aid a student can receive.

Based on Wisconsin Residents.

Approximate school costs are for a full-time (12 credit) student over a semester span of 17 weeks.

Fees are legislated by the Wisconsin Technical College System Board.

These costs are estimates and are subject to change without notice.

Admission and Program Requirements

• Submit Application
  
Admissions Preference Policy
Most programs admit students as applications are completed. For certain high-enrollment programs with limited space, applications are reviewed in order of residency and review dates. Programs currently in this category include Radiography, Electrical Power Distribution, Midwifery, Cosmetology, and Nail Technician. Learn more about our Admissions and Wait List Policy.

Academic Preparedness Requirements

Log in to your MySWTC account, go to My Profile → Document Center → All Programs to complete the following:


• Send your transcripts and scores to Southwest Tech: While not required, sending your transcripts and test scores helps us make sure your classes are the right fit. We consider any previous college credit you’ve earned, Accuplacer or ACT scores, high school GPA, or an assessment at your registration session. Submit your high school transcripts, college transcripts, and test scores by emailing admissions@swtc.edu, or mailing them to Southwest Tech, Attn: Admissions, 1800 Bronson Blvd, Fennimore, WI 53809
• Career Assessment Plan
  Start your Student Success Plan by exploring your career interests, talking through your program choice, and confirming your path feels like the right fit. This step can be completed either by setting up a One-on-One Career Assessment Meeting with a recruiter or as part of your Student Success Plan Meeting with an advisor. Schedule a Student Success Plan Meeting by clicking “Make an appointment” with your program advisor.
• Academic Map + Supports & Services Plan
  Continue building your Student Success Plan by planning your courses, reviewing funding options, and connecting with resources. To complete this step, schedule a Student Success Plan Meeting by clicking “Make an appointment” with your program advisor.

Program Outcomes

At the completion of the program, students are expected to be able to:

• Perform medical office administrative functions
• Provide patient care in accordance with regulations, policies, laws, and patient rights
• Perform medical laboratory procedures
• Demonstrate professionalism in a healthcare setting
• Demonstrate safety and emergency practices in a healthcare setting

Technical Skill Attainment (TSA)

This TSA scoring guide will be used to document your attainment of technical program outcomes for the Medical Assistant Degree. To meet the requirements on the scoring guide, you will be asked to draw upon the skills and concepts that have been developed throughout the program and are necessary for successful employment in your field. Results will be used to inspire continual improvement of teaching and learning in Wisconsin Technical College System. In addition, this assessment will provide feedback to you about your performance.

A graduate of the program will have the potential to be employed as a:

• Medical Assistant: Prepares a patient for examination or treatment, takes vital signs, sterilizes instruments, performs simple lab tests, performs electrocardiograms, and assists the physician as needed.
• Claims Analyst: Processes insurance claims on a computer.
• EKG Technician: Operates and maintains electrocardiographic machines, records the heart's electrical activity, and provides data for diagnosis and treatment of heart ailments by physicians.
• Laboratory Assistant: Performs simple laboratory procedures and venipunctures to collect blood specimens.
• Medical Records Clerk: Handles all patient medical records in areas such as progress notes and pulls records of patients on a daily basis.
• Medical Office Assistant: Performs a variety of duties such as bookkeeping, typing, filing, record keeping, customer relations, telephoning, general correspondence, appointments, and patient accounts.
• Phlebotomist: Draws blood samples from patients for lab tests and blood donations. Performs related duties involving patient care and specimen processing with strict adherence to safety procedures to prevent transmission of infectious diseases.

With additional education and/or work experience, graduates may find other opportunities for employment, including:

• Medical Office Manager
• Medical Transcriptionist
• Insurance Coding Specialist

Southwest Tech's Career Connections Center offers Services to assist students looking for job placement.

Credit for Prior Learning

Experience Pays! You've Been There... You've Done That... Let's See If You Can Get Credit For It!

Credit for prior learning gives you opportunities to earn credit for college-level knowledge that you have already acquired. This may be the result of work or volunteer experiences, certifications, apprenticeships, military training, extensive self-instruction, or professional development. Credit for Prior Learning affords you the opportunity to accelerate the completion of your educational goals.

For more information on Credit for Prior Learning see our Credit for Prior Learning page.

At any time, you may Request Credit for Prior Learning.

Medical Assistant Courses that may have Credit for Prior Learning options:

Course #	Course Title	Challenge Exam (Demonstration)	Challenge Exam (Standard)	CLEP	Credential	Portfolio
10-501-101	Medical Terminology
	Available online

Accreditation Status

The Southwest Wisconsin Technical College Medical Assistant 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).

In compliance with Medical Assistant Education Review Board (MAERB) Policy 210, Southwest Tech proudly provides the following data for public review. The information provided in the table below represents the 2019-2023 Cumulative cohort outcomes associated with Southwest Tech’s Medical Assistant Technical Diploma.