Physician Professional Coder

About the Program

This program provides you with basic medical knowledge along with the medical coding procedures used to bill insurance companies and to track health conditions and diseases for reporting purposes in a physician's office. Upon successful completion, students will be prepared to sit for the Certified Professional Coder (CPC) certification exam through the American Association of Professional Coders (AAPC).

Program Requirements

You will need a high school diploma or a GED. Additionally, the majority of healthcare facilities require a background and drug screen of all students who enter their facility; therefore all healthcare career students are required to successfully complete a background check and drug screen upon entering any healthcare career program. Students who are not successfully cleared will be unable to complete the clinical portion of the healthcare careers program and thus, will not be eligible to complete the healthcare careers program.

Completion of a student health profile and current American Heart Association BLS for Healthcare Provider certification are also required prior to clinical.

Please direct any question to Amanda Horn at ahorn@nullcecil.edu or (410) 287-1008.

Required Courses

You will need to complete the following courses, totaling 634 hours of instruction/externship experience:

Course Number Course Title
HCG 220 Anatomy & Physiology I for Allied Health
HCG 221 Anatomy & Physiology II for Allied Health
HCG 222 Medical Terminology
HMP 303 Medical Law & Ethics
HMP 312 Insurance and Managed Care
HMP 305 Computer Medical Office Management
HMP 310 Medical Office Procedures
HMP 317 Coding
HCG 211 Professionalism in Healthcare
HMP 400 Physician Coder Externship I
HMP 401 Physician Coder Externship II

Program Approval

National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA)

NC-SARA approved institution logo.

Cecil College is approved by the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) to offer distance education in the member states and territories. Student complaints relating to consumer protection laws offered under the terms and conditions of the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), must first be filed with the institution to seek resolution. The student should begin the complaint process with the institution and if resolution is not found, the student would contact the Institution’s Home State SARA Portal Entity, Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC). For more information, please refer to the SARA complaint process.

Supervised Clinical and Field Training Experiences

Through participation in NC-SARA and compliance with statutory regulations related to training in individual states, Cecil College is approved to offer limited, supervised clinical field experiences in 3 U.S. states to eligible students. The states include Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. These are the locations currently approved for student supervised clinical and field training. Individual state regulations are subject to change without prior notice and the College does not guarantee locations for clinical and field training experiences.

Licensure Requirements

Students who successfully complete a course or program requirements for nursing, teacher education, physical therapist assistant, medical administrative professional, and paramedic will be eligible to meet the national requirements; however, Cecil College cannot confirm whether a course or program meets requirements for professional licensure in each individual state. Prospective students should contact their state for information on the applicable licensing boards to determine whether the program meets requirements for licensure in the state where students are located.

Healthcare Sciences (Associate of Science)

This degree program will offer students, who currently hold a national certification in a field of Healthcare, a flexible degree program designed to provide a sound base of foundational credit coursework and additional career specific studies and/or competencies in a healthcare discipline. Through a combination of general education requirements, core electives and specific healthcare career education studies, graduates are prepared to enter the healthcare workforce in a selected discipline.

Please refer to the college catalog for a complete list of classes required for this degree.


For information about course fees, class times, and location, please visit the Continuing Education and Workforce Development Non-Credit Course Schedule.