Should I start off as CNA or Medical Assitant.. need advice!

CNA, definitely.

I second that. I'm finishing up a CNA course myself and have learned so much about basic patient care, which also helps me feel more confident about making the decision to go to NS. My area in particular also seems to have quite a few jobs available, so I'm not too concerned about finding work once I'm finished.

i say cna, because in my school, you need to be a cna first before you apply to be rn, or lpn.
and.. if you are looking for a job, i think course that ends faster is going to give you more money faster...

No, apparently the pay isn't that great (especially considering the high cost of the program) and jobs are harder to find. At least, that's what I gather from a number of threads on allnurses and what I have personally seen in my area. Either way, medical assisting, while part of healthcare in general, is not nursing-related. Being a CNA is though.

Um proper certified medical assistants have to do at least one years education -- at least in my state.

I did CNA and am now in college to become a medical assistant. The job outlook all depends on your area and what kind of program you go to. Mine is through the community college and with pell grants I'm paying 0 dollars a semester . There are a ton of lousy very expensive private for profit companies that off the courses, stay away from them.

All the doctors offices around here use MAs. Every day there is a job listing in the paper for MA. CNA programs out here graduate 15-20 people about every 8 weeks or so. Virtually all of them in our area can't find a job. Where I live they make 9 or less an hour. MAs out of school start at 13 and up.

Less then an RN but the way I look at it, I was wiping rear ends, getting covered in yuck, screamed at, threatened, and belittled by nurses as a CNA. CNA is hard physical work. Those who work at the hospital instead of ltc get treated in the words of one nurse "horribly". I went to respected doctors and asked if they hired MAS and they said "absolutely." the chief of staff at our local hospital said MA was the "way to go" and warned me "not to stop at CNA". RN she said was the ultimate goal but given the years of prereqs and waiting list of the program, over 2 years here, MA was a far better way to work in the meantime. Some day I will be an RN but in the meantime I won't be changing 20 people every 2 hours.

I'am a medical asst. and have been one for the past three years. I do think medical assting will pay you more and you do learn alot of things that you will need eventually in your nursing career. You will learn how to give injections admin ekgs',draw blood among other things. Being a cna you will learn more of the nursing aspect. I'am thinking about maybe going and taking a cna class if i get into nursing school since m.a. jobs are mostly mon-fri 8-5 and that is the time i will be in school. So i would say that since you will need to know basic nursing care anyways go with the cna.

If you're only looking for a transitional job to see you through a few years of school I say CNA. You'll need that $3000 you would have spent on the CNA program when you need to pay tuition for nursing classes. On the other hand I agree with Sonomala; you need a stomach of steel to work as a CNA in some places. So if you don't want to put up with four years of heavy stress spend the 3 grand.