Your choice depends on the career path you’d like to pursue.

If your number one priority is finding a job as a medical assistant as quickly as possible, a diploma program may be a better choice. You can earn a diploma in a year or less when attending full-time and be ready to enter the workforce as a certified medical assistant.

If you envision medical assisting as step one on a long career path in healthcare, you may prefer to choose the associate degree program. In addition to core medical assisting courses, you will take general education classes you can transfer into a bachelor’s degree program in the future. Baccalaureate options for medical assistants include healthcare administration, health sciences and health information management. Earning an associate degree will likely only take a few months longer and position you very well for the next step in your education.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these are the most common places of employment for medical assistants:

• Physician’s offices
• Hospitals
• Offices of other health practitioners
• Outpatient care centers
• Retirement communities / assisted living

Both certificate and diploma programs are field-specific credentials that do not include general education courses required in a degree program. Each can typically be completed faster than an associate degree program.

Certificates are typically the least comprehensive programs, providing the minimum career-focused training necessary to perform a certain type of job.

Diploma programs tend to be more in-depth than certificates, and can include hands-on experience to best prepare you for a wider variety of jobs in the field you’re pursuing.

Herzing University’s diploma programs exist to help you build the foundation for a long career beyond your very first job. Our diploma programs are designed to help you begin and grow your new career.

The most important steps to become a medical records technician are getting the proper education in billing and coding or HIM and becoming certified.

You’ll be in a great position to qualify for entry-level positions and begin your new career path.

Herzing University offers several online degree pathways in the field of healthcare, including associate degrees in:

• Medical Office Administration
• Medical Assisting
• Insurance Billing and Coding Specialist
• Medical Coding
• Health Information Management
• Healthcare Administration

And bachelor’s degree options in:

• Healthcare Administration
• Health Information Management
• Health Sciences

Students looking to build a bachelor’s degree combining healthcare with another concentration may consider a degree in interdisciplinary studies. You can choose two concentrations to merge foundational education in healthcare administration with business, criminal justice or network security.

Our goal is to provide the educational pathway you need to discover the healthcare career you’ve always wanted.