Medical Assisting Online teaches students what they need to know to succeed as medical assistants by placing them in a realistic online "virtual externship." Learning within a "work environment" puts new skills and information into context, which makes them easier to understand and remember. The course consists of two sections, administrative and clinical. Each module is divided into lessons, breaking the learning down into manageable assignments. Each lesson begins with the mentor explaining the lesson learning objectives and providing a reading assignment from the accompanying textbook, giving students the proper foundational information before tackling another "day" on their externship. By the end of the course, students will have learned and mastered all the important content and have practiced all the competencies required of a successful medical assistant.