CMA Student Fooled...

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2008

These schools should be shot for the hype they are selling!:angryfire

I totally agree. Completing a medical assisting program 8 years ago was one of the biggest mistakes I've made to date because I was never able to find employment with my MA certificate.

You were acting professionally by not challenging her very erroneous information. I, on the other hand, would have had too difficult of a time keeping my mouth shut. She'll soon realize that her expectations are unrealistic (the hard way, of course).

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 22, 2008

I totally agree. Completing a medical assisting program 8 years ago was one of the biggest mistakes I've made to date because I was never able to find employment with my MA certificate.
You were acting professionally by not challenging her very erroneous information. I, on the other hand, would have had too difficult of a time keeping my mouth shut. She'll soon realize that her expectations are unrealistic (the hard way, of course).

Oh, believe me, I had to literally bite my tongue! One other reason (outside of saving my job) why I didn't challege her is because she was so excited...so into this...without a single thought of who she was talking to ("they will not need nurses forever...) that I couldn't burst her bubble. Heck, I paid $299 for a CMA course, never got certified, but did, in fact work as one through an agency. There was a craze of $299 courses back in those days...and I took one for phlebotomy and another for CMA. Got me plenty! I got my money back and then some.

rngolfer53 · Nov 22, 2008

Working in the Coumadin clinic today, I met a patient that is attending an Associate Degree program to become a Medical Assistant. She was overly excited speaking about this program, saying "Because you see...they will not be using nurses forever... and I can start a job making $40 an hour". She is paying $5000 per semester (two year program), saying that she can probably transfer her credits to becoming an RN and that this school even has a Bachelor's Degree in Medical Assisting. She spoke about the papers she has to do, showed me her work, books, etc... I felt bad for her, because the textbooks were basic duties of a CMA, something that could have been learned in a cheaper program, and they were not even certifying them. She proudly toted her Medical Billing courses, saying "You didn't learn that...", etc...
I have seen courses where people can take individually for so much cheaper at community colleges, in fact, some community colleges offer the CMA course for $1000 for the ENTIRE program.
Since the clinic, where I am a nurse was not the appropriate place to challenge this person who came in the role of my patient, all I could do is wish her good luck, and keep me posted. The other LPN that was listening with me shook her head as this girl left the exam room. She will be thousands of dollars in debt even if she does get a job making $10 an hour. These schools should be shot for the hype they are selling!:angryfire

This is sad, and also avoidable. There are plenty of valid internet sites where it's easy to find average salaries for jobs, including Medical Assistants.

One would think that anyone looking at a career and the expenditure to get qualified would want to find what pay is really like. I guess that's where good old--no pun intended--life experience and a resultant healthy dose of skepticism comes to the rescue.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 22, 2008

This is sad, and also avoidable. There are plenty of valid internet sites where it's easy to find average salaries for jobs, including Medical Assistants.
One would think that anyone looking at a career and the expenditure to get qualified would want to find what pay is really like. I guess that's where good old--no pun intended--life experience and a resultant healthy dose of skepticism, comes to the rescue.

That was the issue that got to me. There is too much information out there to make decisions like this so blindly. In addition, she is a young girl, morbidly obese and on Coumadin due to a blood clot in her leg. The running around it will take to even find a position to pay back all of that money will land her back in the hospital.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2008

This is sad, and also avoidable. There are plenty of valid internet sites where it's easy to find average salaries for jobs, including Medical Assistants.
One would think that anyone looking at a career and the expenditure to get qualified would want to find what pay is really like. I guess that's where good old--no pun intended--life experience and a resultant healthy dose of skepticism comes to the rescue.

Then again, not everyone has equal access to resources and information. I was 19 years old when I enrolled in the MA program, with no personal computer or internet access to do my own research. Public libraries have free internet, but I was too busy with other aspects of my life (working 40 hours per week at menial jobs) to gather enough information to make an informed career selection.

The passage of time and accrual of life experiences are the best teachers ever. I made that mistake once, but I now know to never repeat the mishap.

rngolfer53 · Nov 22, 2008

Then again, not everyone has equal access to resources and information. I was 19 years old when I enrolled in the MA program, with no personal computer or internet access to do my own research. Public libraries have free internet, but I was too busy with other aspects of my life (working 40 hours per week at menial jobs) to gather enough information to make an informed career selection.
The passage of time and accrual of life experiences are the best teachers ever. I made that mistake once, but I now know to never repeat the mishap.

Well, yes, it is true that this girl may have had to make an extra effort to find the information that would save her $$$ and disillusionment. She'll probably soon learn the effort would have been paid back many times.

It's almost always more effective and easier to work smarter rather than harder, even if at first it takes a bit extra.

Of course, at her age I would have probably done pretty much the same thing.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 22, 2008

This is not a young girl, forgot how old she is, but at least in her 30s. She does her papers at home, so, she does have internet access. She seems to have just fallen into that school's game and figured she can get this easy. I don't know many nurses getting $40 an hour, even RNs, so, that was disillusionment. Well, she will see soon enough...

Aneroo, LPN · Nov 22, 2008

Bless her heart!

BabyRN2Be · Nov 23, 2008

I feel so bad for this girl just reading this. Unfortunately, many of these programs absolutely dupe their students. Another unfortunate thing is that once she gets a job as an MA, she'll probably end up calling herself a "nurse" as a lot of MA's tend to do these days. And the patient won't question it. It drove me crazy as when I was pregnant, the MA in my OB's office referred to herself as Dr. So-and-so's nurse when she'd call me on the phone. However, I got a good look at her ID when I was in the office and plain as day it said her name, and that she was an MA and NOT an RN. It's just so sad, really. I honestly feel for this girl.

Batman24 · Nov 23, 2008

Poor thing. She is going to end up with a whole lot of debt and in a job that pays a fraction of what she thinks she will be getting. A few calls around for the going rate for MAs would have done the trick. Shame.

RNDreamer · Nov 23, 2008

What in the world....

A few months ago, my younger sister (20 yo) sent me text, letting me know she was on her way to a school that would charge her $13k for a medical assistant course. (They told her if she didn't sign up that day, the tuition was going to be raised to $16k). She wanted to make sure it was the correct price for this course. I immediately called her and said "DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING!". Long story short, she is applying the LPN schools. Phew!

She was overly excited speaking about this program, saying "Because you see...they will not be using nurses forever... and I can start a job making $40 an hour".