Part of a nationwide network of campuses, the Cleveland location offers a diploma medical assistant program. The program can be completed in 35 weeks of study. The college seeks to give students the skills and knowledge required for both the administrative and the clerical sides of the job. As such it teaches students skills like patient preparation and laboratory procedures, but also looks at topics like medical ethics, communications and law. The program also includes an externship at a medical facility.
Established in 1967, the Cleveland Institute of Dental-Medical Assistants offers students eight- to 12-month programs in five medical fields, including medical assistant training. This program teaches students the clinical and administrative aspects of the job, as well as lab procedures like blood tests and urinalysis. The Cleveland campus, the main one of the institute's three, offers students more than 10,000 square feet of laboratories, classrooms and other facilities. The institute allows students to take courses during the day or in the evening and provides them with an externship and with job placement assistance.
Cuyahoga Community College offers students two medical assistant programs to choose from --- a certificate in medical assisting and an associate of applied science degree in medical assisting. The certificate program requires students to complete 15 courses over three semesters --- one of which is a summer semester. The associate program requires students to take 26 courses over five semesters including a summer semester. Students will take a 220-hour supervised, unpaid practicum upon completion of either program. Both programs address the administrative, clinical, communications, ethical, and legal aspects of medical assisting.
Kaplan Career Institute has campuses across the country, including one in Cleveland offering a medical assistant diploma program. The programs takes nine months to complete, including a 160 hour externship after seven months of study. It puts emphasis on hands-on education in both the clinical and administrative sides of medical assisting, teaching students skills ranging from administering tests to working with medical data. The institute also allows students to become accredited by offering them the National Certified Medical Assistant and Registered Medical Assistant exams, though these are not required to complete the program.