Student Handbook

View the student handbook for more detailed information about the Medical Assistant program including: program outcome statistics, a listing of clinical sites, student policies, and faculty and staff contact information.

Clock-to-Credit Hour Conversion

This program is subject to the Clock-to-Credit Hour Conversion and some courses listed will not be eligible for full financial aid funding based on the program’s credit hours.

For more information, please refer to our Financial Aid Policies.

Scholarship Opportunities

Additional funding may be available to assist with your training through external sources.

Functional Ability Criteria

NTC has developed functional ability criteria that students must meet with or without reasonable accommodations. It is the intent of NTC to fully comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the ADA Amendment Act of 2008. NTC offers reasonable accommodations to students with a disability. Reasonable accommodations include modifications or adjustments that allow individuals with disabilities to gain equal access and have equal opportunities to participate in NTC’s courses, services, activities and use of NTC’s facilities.

Gross Motor Skills

Students must be able to:

• Move within confined spaces.
• Maintain balance in multiple positions.
• Reach above shoulder level (e.g., upper cabinets, filing medical records).
• Reach below the waist (e.g., plug an electrical appliance into a wall outlet).
• Reach out in front.

Fine Motor Skills

Students must be able to:

• Pick up objects with hands.
• Manipulate small objects with hands (e.g., needle and syringe, pencil).
• Write legibly with a pen or pencil.
• Key/type (e.g., use a computer).
• Pinch/pick or otherwise work with fingers (e.g., manipulate a syringe).
• Twist (e.g., turn objects or knobs using hands).
• Use good eye, hand and foot coordination.
• Use simultaneous hand, wrist and finger movement.
• Squeeze with fingers (e.g., use an eye dropper).

Physical Endurance

Students must be able to:

• Stand for up to several hours (e.g., at a client’s side during a surgical or therapeutic procedure).
• Sustain repetitive motions (e.g., CPR, keyboarding).
• Maintain physical tolerance (e.g., work on your feet for a minimum of eight hours).
• Sit for eight hours (e.g., administrative work).

Physical Strength

Students must be able to:

• Push and pull 50 pounds (e.g., position a client, move equipment).
• Support 50 pounds of weight (e.g., assist a client with walking).
• Lift 50 pounds (e.g., transfer a client, bend to lift an infant or child).
• Use manual dexterity and strength to carry equipment and supplies.
• Use upper and lower body strength (e.g., perform CPR, physically restrain a client).
• Squeeze with hands (e.g., operate a fire extinguisher, open a medication bottle).

Mobility

Students must be able to:

• Twist.
• Bend.
• Stoop/squat.
• Move quickly (e.g., respond to an emergency).
• Climb stairs.
• Walk (e.g., walk with a patient or client).

Hearing

Students must be able to:

• Hear normal speaking-level sounds (e.g., person-to-person report, telephone, intercom).
• Hear faint voices.
• Hear faint body sounds (e.g., blood pressure sounds, apical pulse, placement of tubes).
• Hear when not able to see the speaker’s lips (e.g., when their back is turned or masks are worn).
• Hear auditory alarms (e.g., monitors, fire alarms, call bells).
• Distinguish speech in a noisy environment.

Vision

Students must be able to:

• See objects up to 20 inches away (e.g., information on a computer screen, skin conditions).
• See objects up to 20 feet away (e.g., a client across the room).
• Use depth perception.
• Use peripheral vision.
• Distinguish color and color intensity (e.g., color codes on supplies, flushed or pale skin).
• See in a darkened room.

Environment

Students must be able to:

• Tolerate exposure to allergens (e.g., latex materials, chemical substances).
• Tolerate strong soaps.
• Tolerate strong odors.
• Detect odors (e.g., foul drainage, alcohol on the breath, smoke, gases or noxious smells).

Tactile

Students must be able to:

• Feel vibrations (e.g., palpate pulses).
• Detect temperature (e.g., of skin or solutions).
• Detect hot and cold temperatures.
• Feel differences in surface characteristics (e.g., skin turgor, rashes).
• Feel differences in sizes and shapes (e.g., palpate a vein, identify body landmarks).

Reading

Students must be able to:

• Read and understand written documents (e.g., flow sheets, charts, graphs).
• Read digital displays and computer screens.

Math

Students must be able to:

• Comprehend and interpret graphic trends (e.g., vital signs).
• Calibrate equipment.
• Convert numbers to and from the metric, apothecary and American systems (e.g., medication dosages, military time).
• Measure time in hours, minutes and seconds (e.g., during CPR).
• Count rates (e.g., respiration, pulse).
• Read and interpret measurement marks (e.g., measuring tapes, scales, Snellen charts, thermometers).
• Add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers.
• Compute fractions and decimals (e.g., medication dosages).
• Document numbers in records (e.g., charts, computerized databases).

Interpersonal Skills

Students must be able to:

• Establish rapport with individuals, families and groups.
• Respect and value cultural differences in others.
• Negotiate interpersonal conflict.

Communication Skills

Students must be able to:

• Exhibit and comprehend nonverbal cues.
• Teach (e.g., educate a client or family about health care).
• Direct, manage and delegate the activities of others (e.g., medical/technology/scientific terminology).
• Speak English.
• Write English.
• Read English.
• Understand English.
• Listen to and comprehend spoken and written information.
• Collaborate with others (e.g., health care workers, peers).
• Manage information (process and convey information verbally and in writing).

Emotional Stability

Students must be able to:

• Establish professional relationships, including professional and therapeutic boundaries.
• Provide clients with emotional support.
• Adapt to changing environments and stress.
• Deal with the unexpected (e.g., a change in a client’s condition, a crisis).
• Focus attention on tasks.
• Cope with your own emotions.
• Perform multiple responsibilities concurrently.
• Cope with strong emotions in others (e.g., grief).
• Accept feedback appropriately.
• Accept responsibility for your own actions.

Critical Thinking

Students must be able to:

• Comprehend and follow instructions.
• Make decisions independently and collaboratively.
• Synthesize knowledge and skills.
• Identify cause-and-effect relationships.
• Follow a process from start to finish.
• Sequence information.
• Adapt decisions based on new information.

Analytical Thinking

Students must be able to:

• Solve problems.
• Transfer knowledge from one situation to another.
• Process and interpret written and oral information from multiple sources.
• Apply math concepts.
• Analyze and interpret abstract and concrete data.
• Prioritize tasks (e.g., manage time).
• Evaluate outcomes.
• Use short-term and long-term memory.
• Apply mathematical concepts to practical situations.