Catalog 2013-2014

Medical Assisting

Physical Standards

  • Lift and carry equipment weighing up to 50 pounds, support and assist patients in and out of a wheelchair, and assist patients on and off of examination tables (up to 25 percent of the workday is spent lifting equipment and patients).
  • Push a patient weighing 200 pounds in a wheelchair.
  • Kneel, bend, stoop, and/or crouch to perform CPR, assist patients, and retrieve items from cabinets located below waist level.
  • Bend, reach above shoulders, and/or twist to position examination table, adjust equipment, or obtain supplies.
  • Have fine motor dexterity in order to grasp with both hands, pinch with thumb or forefinger, manipulate equipment and delicate instruments such as microscopes and sphygmomanometers, perform tasks such as phlebotomy and electrocardiography, draw up and administer medications, handle small containers of potentially biohazardous specimens, use sample measuring devices such as capillary tubes, set up and maintain a sterile field, put on personal protective equipment, operate controls on instruments and equipment, talk on the telephone and write simultaneously, and operate multi-line telephone systems, computer keyboards, and ten-key adding machines.