Twenty-five students from American Career College-Ontario this April took a field trip to Loma Linda University Medical Center to see first-hand how medical billing and coding fits into a hospital’s operations.
The class witnessed the interaction between health care professionals and patients, and saw the process for how patients were checked in and out. The cohort also toured through different departments the 25 students had discussed in class, such as neurology, oncology, the cardiac catheter lab and the intensive care unit.
"It was amazing," ACC-Ontario medical billing and coding student Lyndsay Jette said. "It was a real reality check to put in perspective what we were learning in class into a person behind a desk, and know what their job was and that I knew I could be that. It was an awesome experience for all of us. It was great."
Students also watched in awe as an Army helicopter landed on the Loma Linda heliport and delivered an active duty military officer to the emergency room.
"This was truly an eye-opening experience for our students and every one of them was touched by this field trip and really saw a different perspective of health care," Carol Horn, ACC-Ontario MBC program director, said.
Additionally, students went to the embryology museum located on the grounds of Loma Linda. Students learned the different stages of development of the human embryo as well as specific organs, the earliest stages of the development of the cardiovascular/nervous systems, different abnormalities and deformities, and understanding the different cycles of pregnancy and birth.
"Students were blown away by the exhibits and the different types of specimens of deformities such as spinal bifida, conjoined twins, Ambras syndrome, Cyclopia, polymelia and ectopic cordis, just to name a few," Horn said.
