Michelle Blesi is a certified medical assistant CMA (AAMA) with 14 years of industry experience. She worked in the family practice area for 10 years, emphasizing clinical and laboratory skills, before changing her focus to leadership and working as a lead in the nursing/lab department and as a clinical manager. Michelle has a diploma in medical assisting (and is certified through the AAMA), a bachelor's degree in psychology, and a master's degree in community psychology, and she completed the Teacher Education Series (TES) courses in spring 2005 at the University of Minnesota. Her coursework included introduction to vocational teaching, course development, instructional methods, philosophy, and student training and assessment. A program director and unlimited full-time faculty member in the medical assistant department at Century College since 2001, Michelle enjoys bringing her career experience into the classroom and making a difference in students' lives. In addition to being program director, she teaches both clinical and laboratory courses, a medical assistant refresher course through CECT, and administrative procedures for medical assistants (both traditional and online). She is also the practicum coordinator and oversees clinical externships for the program. In addition to being the lead author for both the Seventh and Eighth Editions of MEDICAL ASSISTING: ADMINISTRATIVE AND CLINICAL COMPETENCIES, Michelle has contributed to many other Cengage projects, including being the SME for Critical Thinking Challenge 3.0, and completing multiple reviewer projects and test bank completions. Among her many accomplishments are the Board of Trustees Outstanding Educator Award (2012), Golden Apple Award (2010), and Exemplary Faculty Member (2007).