Practicum Course Overview

 

 

General Practicum Information

MEDIC 226 is the clinical practicum course. This course provides students hands-on field experience working as Medical Assistant in a clinical facility. Essentially, the practicum course is the capstone of the program, where you have the opportunity to put into practice all the things you've learned in the past three semesters. Students are encouraged to view the practicum experience as an extended job interview. The goal is to leave the practicum with hands-on experience, but also with a letter of recommendation or, in best case scenarios, a contingent position offer. 

The basic logistics of the practicum course are as follows: 

  • Students attend a clinical site for a minimum of 8 hours a day, twice a week for a total of 192 hours. Hours must be unpaid. 
  • Students attend either M/W or T/Th weekly for 12 weeks (unless a holiday requires a 13th week). 
  • Students must also attend the lecture portion of the course (this may be synchronously/asynchronously online or on campus) and complete the weekly tasks. 
  • Students are assigned to a practicum location by the clinical coordinator.
  • Placement at a clinical site is contingent upon the student’s achievement of prescribed requirements of both the Medical Assisting Program and the clinical site they are assigned to. 
  • Clinical seats are limited and there is no guarantee that a student will be placed or may change to an alternative clinical site.
  • If the clinical coordinator has assigned the student to a clinical site and the student chooses to refuse the site, the student will then be placed at the bottom of the site placement list and only offered a second clinical site after all other students have been placed, and if a second placement is available. If the student refuses the second clinical site, they will be dropped from the Clinical Practicum course.
  • Attendance policies for the practicum course are outline in the MA Student Handbook. Students are responsible for knowing and adhering to the policy. Failure to do so may result in being dropped from the practicum course. 

Video Overview

Check out the two minute video below for a quick rundown of the practicum course.