The goal of the Orthopedic Technician program is to provide Career Technical Education opportunities in the healthcare field. The program provides the skills to work in a medical clinic, medical office, or hospital setting. The program offers hands-on training in Orthopedic skills such as the application and removal of plaster and synthetic casts, assisting others to safely use walking aids such as canes, walkers, and crutches, fitting and adjusting equipment as necessary, and setting up and making adjustments to certain types of traction under the guidance of a physician. In addition, Orthopedic Technicians fabricate splints and manage other medical technology, including braces and cast removal. Students earning the Orthopedic Technician Certificate may be qualified to assist orthopedic surgeons in the care of patients with injuries or diseases of the musculoskeletal system. After completing the required courses, there is a 192-hour internship.

Students must have CPR certification and undergo background checks and drug screening before completing their internship. While certification isn’t required in order to work as an orthopedic technician, earning a professional credential can lead to additional career opportunities. The National Board for Certification of Orthopedic Technologists, Inc. offers the Orthopedic Technologist Certified (OTC) and Orthopedic Technologist Surgery Certified (OT-SC) credentials. Prior to enrolling in this program, it is recommended that students have experience working as a medical assistant or have completed the Clinical Assistant program requirements as this program builds upon those skills and knowledge base. Possible employment settings for students earning the Orthopedic Technician Certificate of Achievement include hospitals, large medical clinics, orthopedic practices, and skilled nursing facilities.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Apply and remove plaster and fiberglass casts.
🗸 Assist patients with the safe use of walking aids such as canes, crutches, and walkers.
🗸 Fit and adjust orthopedic traction equipment and braces under the guidance of a physician.
🗸 Fabricate and apply splints as directed by the physician.

Computer Information Systems (CIS) degree and certificate programs are for the business professional with an emphasis on a variety of computer subjects applicable to the most career paths. The types of jobs held by computer professionals fall into several general categories, including computer design and manufacturing, computer sales and service, system development and programming, computer operations, database management, technical support, and project management. The Computer Information Systems (CIS) program is designed to do the following: introduce students to basic computer literacy skills, build a solid foundation of knowledge to transfer to a four-year institution, enhance, improve, and upgrade current computer skills and business application profi ciency, and provide classes that support the pursuit of computer industry certifications.

The Administrative Assistant Certificate of Achievement provides students with professional office skills and technologies to meet the requirements of a constantly changing office environment. Emphasis is placed on computer applications skills, professional communications, accounting skills, as well as an understanding for the human relations and ethics that are important to success in a today's workplaces. This program offers students the opportunity for direct job entry or for upgrading skills for advancement.

Program Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the Certificate of Achievement in Administrative Assistant, students are able to demonstrate the ability to successfully use basic English language skills (grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc.) in business documents.

The Medical Administrative Assistant program focuses on the many and varied administrative functions of the medical office including personnel supervision, credit and collection procedures, and the management of time and resources. Upon completion of all required courses (25.5 units), students are assisted with placement in an internship in a local health care facility. This is a valuable experience in applying the knowledge and skills acquired in class to the workplace. The following are required prior to entry into the internship: Statement of Eligibility for internship, health statement and physical examination, current CPR certificate, keyboarding proficiency of 35 wpm, basic word processing skills, and completion of all required courses with a grade of C or better. Many facilities are requiring background checks and drug testing prior to entry. Upon completion of the certificate, students are prepared to pursue the following career options: Medical Office Management, Medical Administrative Assistant, Medical File Clerk, and Medical Receptionist.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Describe and identify the ways that medical administrative assistants help ensure the financial success of physician practices.
🗸 Demonstrate the ability to access and input patient information using electronic medical records systems.
🗸 Demonstrate the ability to assist medical care providers in delivering patient care.
🗸 Demonstrate the ability to manage medical front office tasks and responsibilities.

The Insurance Billing Specialist program is designed to train students to: receive medical claim forms; abstract medical information such as diagnosis, prognosis, and dates of treatment from patient records; complete forms; and answer inquiries from doctors, patients, and insurance companies. Billing specialists must have knowledge of medical terminology, diagnostic and procedural coding, as well as the legal requirements for the release of medical information. Upon completion of all required courses, students are assisted with placement in an internship at a medical billing or local healthcare facility. This is a valuable experience in applying the knowledge and skills acquired in class to the workplace. A Statement of Eligibility for Internship, a health statement and physical examination, keyboarding proficiency, basic word processing skills, and completion of all required courses with a grade of “C” or better are required prior to entry into an internship (HTCH 54A). Upon completion of the certificate, students are prepared to pursue the following career options: Insurance Biller, Medical File Clerk, Patient Account Representative, Medical Administrative Assistant, and Medical Office Management.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Describe and Identify the ways that medical insurance billers help ensure the financial success of physician practices and ambulatory settings
🗸 Demonstrate the skills and knowledge needed to complete and submit a professional claim on behalf of medical providers.
🗸 Demonstrate the skills and knowledge needed to work with diagnostic and procedural coding systems.
🗸 Demonstrate the knowledge to work as a liaison between the doctor and insurance companies

This certificate is designed to provide relevant skills to individuals pursuing careers in court reporting in both courtroom and deposition settings, capturing and certifying the verbatim record of legal proceedings. Court reporters are officers of the court and reporters working in California must be licensed by the Court Reporters Board of California, Department of Consumer Affairs. The West Valley College Court Reporting program is recognized by the Court Reporters Board of California to qualify students to sit for the California Certified Shorthand Reporter's licensing examinations. Careers specific to these skills include but are not limited to: Official Court Reporter, Deposition Court Reporter, Hearing Reporter, Freelance Reporter, Reporter for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Convention Reporter.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Produce accurate, properly formatted transcripts of actual court and deposition proceedings.
🗸 Use standard English punctuation and grammar, medical and legal terminology, and apply technology as required to pass the written and skills examinations for licensing.
🗸 Write stenographically, for ten minutes, four-voice testimony at 200 words per minute with 97.5% accuracy as required to pass the skills examination for licensing.

The Educational Captioning certificate goals and objectives are designed to prepare the student to enter careers in educational captioning, also known as CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation). The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lists CART service as particularly useful for people who are deaf or have hearing loss but do not use sign language. Educational captioners use stenography or voice writing to caption classroom lecture and discussion nearly verbatim and in real time, either remotely or on site, enabling hearing-impaired students to attend school and understand what is being discussed in class to facilitate their academic success. Careers specific to these skills include but are not limited to: Educational Captioner (also known as CART Provider), Remote Educational Captioner/CART Provider, Meeting Captioner, and Offline Captioner. With additional training and experience, educational captioners can expand their employment opportunities to include live broadcast captioning.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Explain correct captioning protocol for classroom and meeting environments.
🗸 Recognize and respond appropriately to ethical issues facing educational captioners.
Stenographically or voice write the spoken word at 180 words per minute for computer-aided software translation into English in real time and produce transcripts with 97.5 percent accuracy.

The goals and objectives of the Certificate of Completion for Transcription and Office Support: Voice Writing are designed to prepare students pursuing careers transcribing legal, medical, or general material, and/or providing office technology/office computer applications support with the relevant skills required. Transcribers, also known as transcriptionists, convert speech (either live or recorded) into written or electronic text documents. Transcription services are often provided for business, legal, or medical purposes. Transcribers may work from home, in hospitals or physicians' offices, and in various business environments. Potential jobs in this field include, but are not limited to: Legal Transcriptionist, Web Content Transcriptionist, Video Transcriptionist, General Transcriptionist, Medical Transcriptionist, and Office Support Assistant.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Word to provide entry-level office support.
🗸 Write legal, medical, and general subject matter, using a voice silencer, at a minimum of 120 words per minute.
🗸 Demonstrate proficiency in industry-standard computer-aided software to produce accurate transcripts of legal, medical, and general audio-recorded material.
🗸 Demonstrate recognition and correct spelling of legal and medical terminology and English vocabulary.

The goals and objectives of the Certificate of Completion for Transcription and Office Support: Machine Writing Certificate of Completion are designed to prepare students pursuing careers transcribing legal, medical, or general material, and/or providing office technology/office computer applications support with the relevant skills required. Transcribers, also known as transcriptionists, convert speech (either live or recorded) into written or electronic text documents. Transcription services are often provided for business, legal, or medical purposes. Transcribers may work from home, in hospitals or physicians' offices, and in various business environments. Potential jobs in this field include, but are not limited to: Legal Transcriptionist, Web Content Transcriptionist, Video Transcriptionist, General Transcriptionist, Medical Transcriptionist, and Office Support Assistant.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Demonstrate recognition and correct spelling of legal and medical terminology and English vocabulary.
🗸 Write legal, medical, and general subject matter, stenographically, at a minimum of 120 words per minute on a machine writer.
🗸 Demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Word to provide entry-level office support.
🗸 Demonstrate proficiency in industry-standard computer-aided software to produce accurate transcripts of legal, medical, and general audio-recorded material.

The goal of the Scoping Certificate of Completion is to prepare students for employment opportunities in the scoping field. Scopists assist court reporters in the production of certified transcripts of legal proceedings by using their thorough stenographic language knowledge, along with specialized computer-aided-transcription software, to proofread and correct untranslated and mistranslated stenographic writing to accurate English translation. The courses in this certificate are also designed to provide basic proofreading skills specific to scoping.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Apply knowledge of stenographic theory to identify and correct untranslated and mistranslated stenographic outlines for English vocabulary and phrases, medical terminology, and standard punctuation typically found in verbatim transcripts of legal and other proceedings.
🗸 Identify writing translation conflicts in the reporter's software dictionary and recommend conflict-free solutions.
🗸 Demonstrate fluency in reading and translating stenographic language.
🗸 Use computer-aided-transcription software to mark and correct stenographic writing errors and add new dictionary entries for words, phrases, and proper names that are absent from the software dictionary.

The Proofreading Certificate of Completion goals and objectives are designed to prepare students to enter careers in proofreading verbatim transcripts of legal and other proceedings and general English text. Potential careers specific to these skills include, but are not limited to: Proofreader for Court Reporters, Proofreader (general), Copy Marker, and Technical Writer* (*with additional training).

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program a student will be able to:

🗸 Identify errors in written text and apply correct punctuation, spelling, and formatting to correct or record omissions, errors, or inconsistencies found.
🗸 Define and explain traditional proofreading marks and relevant software proofreading functions, such as the "track changes" function in Microsoft Word.
🗸 Identify homonyms and apply correct spelling within context.