The Medical Assisting: Administrative and Clinical Certificate of Achievement prepares students for work in physicians' offices, medical clinics, hospital outpatient clinics, health agencies, and educational institutions. Students completing the program will be eligible to sit for the California Certifying Board for Medical Assistants (CCBMA) exam. This program provides training in both administrative (front office) and clinical (back office) skills.

The duties of a medical assistant vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the practice and the physician's specialty. In small practices, medical assistants are usually generalists, handling both clerical (administrative) and clinical duties and reporting directly to an office manager or physician. Those in large practices tend to specialize in a particular area under the supervision of department administrators.

Medical assistants perform many clerical (administrative) duties. They answer telephones, greet patients, update and file patient medical records, complete insurance forms, handle correspondence, schedule appointments, arrange hospital admissions and laboratory services, and handle billing and bookkeeping.