Medical Assistant Career Accelerator Program (MACAP)
Participating in this Program
Once you commit to participating in this program, you will be assigned a Program Mentor, an expert faculty member who will guide you through your program. Your Program Mentor will provide you credentials to log in to your Learning Environment.
Welcome to the
WGU Medical Assistant Career Accelerator Program
Get Ready to Grow Your Career!
Congratulations on your decision to participate in Western Governors University's Medical Assistant Career Accelerator Program (MACAP). We're excited to have you on board! This innovative program is designed with input from employers and industry experts to give you the skills and credentials you need to advance your career.
Why did Futuro Health choose to partner with WGU for this important program? Because of our track record of high-quality, career-relevant education that's built to fit the needs of busy working adults.
- Flexibility. Flexible scheduling. 24/7 access to your program. This program will be unlike any education you've experienced before!
- Personalized support. Our faculty's #1 job is your success. Your personally assigned Program Mentor will instruct and guide you through your entire program, and subject-matter expert Instructors will provide learning support to meet your needs.
- Results. Completing this program will tell employers that you've proved you've got what it takes—and you'll accumulate résumé-building badges along the way!
in partnership with
About the Program
Why should I pursue this program?
The purpose of the MACAP is to educate and shape the workforce through medical assistant education. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for medical assistants will increase 29 percent 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. You can help to meet the industry demand by completing the MACAP program and then becoming a certified medical assistant. This certification is your first step to a successful career in healthcare.
What should I expect?
The MACAP education and training provides the industry with highly skilled candidates who are ready for the workforce when they leave the program. The courses offered in the program address social, emotional, clinical and administrative skills. Through scheduled clinical lab experiences, you will demonstrate your competency in a variety of clinical and administrative competencies prior to attending the externship portion of the program. The clinical portion of the program is 160 hours of supervised practice in an ambulatory care setting. The program will prepare you for the Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) exam.
How long is the program?
This program can be completed in about 11 months. This program is a cohort program, which means you will move through the curriculum with a group of peers. Our most successful students commit 20–25 hours per week to study, attend the required online cohort sessions, and meet with their mentors and instructors regularly.
Personalized support and high-quality learning.
Yes, you're in the pilot's seat—but you're not flying solo. You will have a trusted co-pilot and top-notch crew behind you the whole way.
Your co-pilot is your Program Mentor, a faculty member with real-world experience in healthcare and proven skills like life and career coaching. Your mentor's job is to guide you to success from the day you start to the day you finish. You will have check-in calls at least weekly to ensure you're making progress and clear any obstacles standing in your way.
Your crew is made up of highly trained subject-matter experts known as Instructors. These faculty members will work with you one-on-one regularly, and especially any time you're struggling to master a subject or learn a concept. They tailor learning to your needs and help bring the course content to life for you.
Everyone else taking the ride with you is your cohort. You can rely on them to help you get answers to questions, make connections, and complete the courses successfully.
And speaking of course content, you'll have 24/7 access to nationally recognized learning resources of the highest quality. These resources will deliver job-relevant curriculum designed with input from leading employers, including case-based learning for practical skills application and job readiness.
What You'll Get
When you finish this program, you will receive
- A certificate of completion that demonstrates to employers that you completed a rigorous medical assistant program.
- A program transcript, which will outline for employers the knowledge you've gained and the skills you've mastered.
- Transferrable college credit that you can bring with you to future academic endeavors. If you choose to enroll in a WGU bachelor's degree program, you'll have 15 credits to transfer into the B.S. Health Information Management degree program (BSHIM) or 12 credits to the B.S. Health Services Coordination degree program (BSHSC).
Along the way, you will be able to earn credentials that can build your résumé as you progress through the program.
- You will be awarded three badges from WGU marking your successful completion of sections of the program: the Professional Communication and Leadership Badge, the Ready to Work Badge, and the Professional Medical Assistant.
- You will take the AAMA Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) national certification exam as part of this program.
Why WGU?
By enrolling in this program, you are joining a highly respected, high-quality national institution known for changing higher education to change lives. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the U.S. Department of Education-approved accrediting body for the region that includes WGU’s headquarters in Utah. WGU has received praise from leaders of business, healthcare, education, government, academia, media, and beyond. WGU is known for career-focused bachelor's and master's degree programs in nursing and healthcare (including a CAHIIM-accredited program in health information management), business, information technology, and K–12 teacher education.
Finish Courses by Proving What You Know, as Soon as You’re Ready
With competency-based education at WGU, success is measured by actual learning, not class time. You advance by demonstrating that you've mastered the course subject matter—whether you learned it through your study at WGU or picked up that knowledge through years of work experience.
Your progress through a course is driven by you.
Program Mentors
Personally assigned to you from the day you enroll to the day you graduate, your Program Mentor is your faculty member. They will meet with you on a regular basis to provide program instruction, advice, coaching, support, goal-setting—and a healthy dose of cheerleading to make sure you’re celebrating the little and big wins along the way!
Instructors
Learning independently doesn’t mean learning on your own. Instructors are subject-matter experts who work with you regularly to help you with mastering course material. They tailor learning to your needs, and the type and intensity of instructional support you receive varies based on your performance in any particular course.
Frequently Asked Questions
*For the students admitted to MACAP during 2020, there was a 57.31% retention rate. There were no graduates in the 2020 calendar year, so no further outcomes were reported.
