Medical assistants are multi-skilled health professionals specifically educated to work in ambulatory settings performing administrative and clinical duties. The practice of medical assisting directly influences the public's health and well-being, and requires mastery of a complex body of knowledge and specialized skills requiring both formal education and practical experience that serve as standards for entry into the profession. 

The Medical Assistant program prepares individuals to assist physicians in their offices or other medical settings. Medical assistants, sometimes referred to as clinical assistants, perform a wide range of duties. The medical assistant is responsible for medical and surgical asepsis, taking vital signs, drawing blood, giving injections, assisting the physician with examinations and surgery, administering ECGs and administering medications. The business/administrative duties include patient reception, appointment making, record keeping, filing, bookkeeping, insurance handling, typing medical correspondence and transcription and computer applications. Laboratory functions include specimen collection, performance of basic laboratory tests and microscopic work. 

The minimum goal for the Medical Assistant program, as identified by the CAAHEP/MAERB, is to prepare competent entry-level medical assistants in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains.