Certified Medical Assistant

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Hey, I am conflicted on how to go about my future career. I would love to be a RN but from talking to the counselors they say its almost impossible to get accepted into their 2 year nursing program. So I was thinking of doing CMA instead. Any suggestions? How much does a CMA make a year compared to an ADN? Thanks for the help.

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Specializes in MDS/ UR.

Perhaps if you use the search engine for the board you might likely find a lot of recent threads on the topic of CMAs,

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Perhaps. Or perhaps you shouldn't bother commenting if you just want to be mean and sarcastic. Perhaps I'm new to this app/site and thought maybe just maybe if I put it up in general discussion someone would help me out. Guess not. Thanks though :)

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Why do they say it'd be impossible to get accepted into a 2 year program? What's required?

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Specializes in MDS/ UR.

My reply to you was not meant to be rude.

I suggested it as an alternative for obtaining information faster.

It has been a topic talked about quite a bit.

I will step aside and let the answers flow for you.

Good luck on your socialization skills.

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To answer your other question, MAs make way less than RNs. RNs start at about $24 per hour, MAs at about $12 per hour. LPNs start at about $18 per hour. It varies by area, of course. But these are close to national averages.

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A CMA is not a Nurse. If you want to be a Nurse, take your pre req's, study hard for those placement/entrance tests, and go for what you truly desire. A CMA has a place within healthcare, however, if you truly want to be a Nurse then you may not be happy as a CMA.

In my area CMA's make 10-12 an hour. ADN makes 20+ starting out.

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According to the counselors you submit an application before you start doing your prerequisites, then assuming you complete the all with a 3.8 GPA or higher they will consider you. Then if they think your worthy they will call you to set up an interview, if you pass that one they will set up another interview. There's two tests in there as well, and even if you are the perfect student and do everything they want they don't have to accept you. So then your stuck with a bunch of prerequisites at you can barely use, maybe to get an associates degree in biology. They even buy out all the seats in the A and P class to make it harder for you to get into the class. I don't want to go through all the stress and bs just to get to the end of the road and have them tell me it's a no go. I want something when I am done with school, I want some guarantee. Otherwise it seems like a waste of time when I could do something else and know that when I'm done I get a degree.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Perhaps. Or perhaps you shouldn't bother commenting if you just want to be mean and sarcastic. Perhaps I'm new to this app/site and thought maybe just maybe if I put it up in general discussion someone would help me out. Guess not. Thanks though :)
Since you are new here, perhaps it would be best not to pick fights in your first post. There was nothing mean or sarcastic in the first response. In fact it was a very helpful post (if you are able to avoid leaping to judgment), meant to save you time in your search for answers. Why wait for others to answer when the answers are already there with a simple search?

And to reiterate: CMA's have very little to do with the field of nursing. Nurses practice under their own licenses. MA's function under the direction of an MD and on his/her license.

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My reply to you was not meant to be rude.

I suggested it as an alternative for obtaining information faster.

It has been a topic talked about quite a bit.

I will step aside and let the answers flow for you.

Good luck on your socialization skills.

I apologize, it's just everyone I talk to gives me different answers or is basically rude to me because I don't know where to start. I want to make the right decision, what's the best plan for my future and my family. I'm so worried I'm going to do all this work an in the end it will have been the wrong life decision. So again sorry for biting your head off, I'm just frustrated.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
...I want something when I am done with school, I want some guarantee. Otherwise it seems like a waste of time when I could do something else and know that when I'm done I get a degree.

Best to realize it now:

There are NO guarantees. Not in nursing, not as a Medical Assistant. NONE.

If you will do as advised and read previous threads, you will find many under- and unemployed nurses and Aides. And before you pay for any type of MA training, keep in mind that the training will likely not be worth paying much for. Many physician offices prefer to train their own MA's.

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Well, if you want to be a RN, I say go straight for that. It won't get any easier later. If you can, it's best to just go straight for RN.

Or if you *really* feel the need to go for something easier to get into first, I advise LPN over MA. LPNs make more than MAs. And your LPN license can be applied toward getting your RN. Having been a MA won't really count toward anything when it comes to furthering your nursing career.

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