Generally, it takes 12 months to obtain either a medical assistant diploma or certificate. During that time frame, the number of courses varies greatly for each program. For example, at the College of Davidson and Davies Counties in central North Carolina, the diploma program consists of 14 courses over two semesters and a summer session. By comparison, at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut, only nine courses over the same time period are required to earn a certificate. Richmond Community College in North Carolina offers a certificate program that requires only eight courses.
The diploma curriculum at Davidson and Davies contains a course entitled "Basic Anatomy and Physiology," which requires four credits hours of classroom work and two hours of lab work per week. This type of course is not listed on either Richmond County or Norwalk's list of courses. Another course taught in the diploma program, but not in the certificate program, is "Exam Room Procedure I," which involves three hours of classroom and four hours of lab per week. The diploma program also lists a three-hour classroom course, "Drug Therapy," that is not found in the certificate program.
Both programs contain a clinical training element. For the diploma program, it consists of one course during the spring semester entitled "Clinical Externship," which takes 15 hours per week of the student's time. By contrast, at Richmond, the "Orientation to Clinical Setting I" course is three hours per week. Further training in the diploma program takes place in the "Laboratory Procedures" class, which involves three classroom hours and four lab hours per week. Richmond does not have a laboratory procedure course, while Norwalk has two, totaling nine credit hours.
Both the diploma and certificate programs prepare students to take the exam to be certified as medical assistants by the American Association of Medical Assistants. However, the diploma program provides more practical experience in exam room and laboratory training, in addition to exposure to a medical office. It packs more classroom, laboratory and practical training into the year of education.