Medical Office Assistant Certificate is a certificate in Health Sciences programme taught at Vancouver Community College in Vancouver, Canada. The programme runs for 6 months, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 2,500 per total for local students.
The certificate builds the knowledge and skills needed to handle medical billing and scheduling, maintain patient records, and carry out clinical procedures alongside other administrative duties across a range of health care settings. Study spans two terms of integrated training, followed by a three-week practicum.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Academic entry is Grade 12 graduation or an equivalent, with English demonstrated either by English 12 at a 'C+' grade or by an assessed equivalent level of English language proficiency. A keyboarding standard also applies: 25 gross words per minute at 98 per cent accuracy on a proctored five-minute test. A criminal record check carried out to VCC's instructions may be required before the practicum placement. VCC strongly recommends, and some practicum hosts require, a negative tuberculosis skin test (or a negative chest X-ray if the skin test is positive) and an immunisation record showing current protection against diphtheria and tetanus, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, hepatitis B, varicella, pertussis and COVID-19, with an annual influenza vaccination also recommended. VCC states this programme is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents and directs international students to VCC International, which lists separately the programmes open to them. College-wide rules also apply: applicants must be 16 or older or a secondary-school graduate, with some exceptions, and official transcripts and every required supporting document must reach VCC before the application counts as complete.
Application Details
Start Date:January and September intakes. VCC's academic year runs in three terms: Winter (January to April), Spring/Summer (May to August) and Fall (September to December).
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through EducationPlannerBC. VCC publishes this programme's windows term by term on its When to Apply page: Winter 2027 entry (January start) — open 1 February 2026, close 1 October 2026; Fall 2027 entry (September start) — open 1 October 2026, close 1 June 2027. Seats go to eligible applicants in the order their applications are completed, so the programme can close before the listed end date once it fills. VCC's page for this programme states it is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and points international students to VCC International, which lists separately the programmes and intakes open to them; there the application periods open on 1 February, 1 June and 1 October of the previous year for the Winter, Spring/Summer and Fall terms, with no fixed closing date — a programme accepts applications until roughly three to four months before classes begin, or until its seats are gone.
