Which Healthcare Programs Offer Hands-On Clinical Training?

Joe Cockrell

Joe Cockrell

| Update: November 14, 2025

When exploring career training in the medical field, one of the most important questions to ask is: What healthcare programs offer hands-on clinical training? Textbooks and lectures can teach you the “what” and “why,” but hands-on training shows you the “how.” At UEI, all healthcare programs are designed with this in mind, blending classroom learning with labs, simulations, and real-world externships so students graduate with the confidence and skills to step into a medical setting.

What Is Hands-On Clinical Training?

Hands-on clinical training gives students the opportunity to practice the skills they’ll actually use in the workplace. Rather than only reading about how to take a patient’s blood pressure or file an insurance claim, students perform these tasks under the guidance of instructors.

What makes this approach a win:

  • Skill Mastery: Students learn techniques through repetition and feedback.
  • Workplace Readiness: Clinical training mirrors real office, hospital, or pharmacy settings.
  • Networking Opportunities: Many programs include externships that connect students with employers.

At UEI, healthcare programs are designed to balance classroom instruction with labs, hands-on practice, and externships. This ensures that by the time students graduate, they’re not only knowledgeable, they’re also job-ready.

Healthcare Programs With Hands-On Training

Medical Assistant

UEI’s Medical Assistant program gives you both classroom instruction and real-world practice. You’ll work through lab modules covering things like infection control, anatomy and physiology, phlebotomy basics, and clinical medical assisting duties. You also complete an externship (typically with a local clinic or doctor’s office), where you’ll apply what you’ve learned, such as taking vitals, assisting with exams, and entering patient data into medical records.

Dental Assistant

In UEI’s Dental Assistant program, you’ll train in labs set up like real dental clinics. You’ll practice chairside assisting, taking dental X-rays, preparing instruments, sterilization, and working in preventative dental procedures. The curriculum includes about 170 externship hours at a local dental office so you can use those skills with real patients and dental teams.

Pharmacy Technician

UEI’s Pharmacy Technician program combines online lectures with in-class lab work. This program teaches you everything from preparing medications in sterile and non-sterile environments to processing prescriptions, performing pharmaceutical calculations, and using pharmacy software. Students also complete a required externship at a retail or hospital pharmacy, giving hands-on exposure to dispensing, compounding, and working under pharmacist supervision.

Medical Billing and Insurance Coding

Some of UEI’s healthcare programs are more administrative in nature. In this program, you’ll work hands-on with billing and claims software, simulate insurance documentation workflows, and practice entering codes using EHR tools. These labs give you a feel for what day-to-day billing teams do in real clinics.

UEI’s healthcare programs are built to ensure students are workplace-ready from day one. Not sure where to start? The UEI Program Match Quiz is a quick way to discover the program that inspires your next chapter.

Joe Cockrell

Joe Cockrell

Joseph Cockrell is a seasoned strategic communications leader with over 25 years of experience, coupled with a distinguished graduate-level education. A former professional journalist, Joseph excels in media relations, crisis communications, corporate reputation management, strategic communications planning, and marketing. Renowned for his proficiency as an expert storyteller, Joseph possesses a unique ability to craft compelling written and video content of the highest caliber. With an extensive background in navigating complex communication landscapes, he brings unparalleled insight and skill to elevate brands and effectively convey impactful narratives.