dental assisting before a CNA or RN

Published

ok first off let me start by saying im a male tht is only 17 but i am totally thinking about becomeing a nurse... i mostly want to become a nurse because i want to work with the mentaly ill or people with HIV/AIDS but i also want to work as an ER nurse also or in a jail or state pen...

ok so through my local high school they have a CNA program that you can take during the school year and you get credits that go towards college and graduating high school i applied and then notice that i can go throught the comunity college durring the summer well some financial problems occured when my dad was put in the hospital and then i was also told i couldnt do it because my attendance at school was suckish and i will admit i need to work on that. well i took a summer school class this summer and my teacher told us tht we need to differenciate our selfs to the best of our abilities from the rest of the people in our field even with good grades and volunteer work.

:idea:ok so i was thinking about this: you have to be 18 to get a dental assisting certificate in the state of indiana and i was told it take 30day or 6 months i got those answers from two different web sites so i was thingking i could get that then save up and go for a CNA and work my way through college as either a dental assistant or CNA then become an RN mostly in psiciatrics and HIV/AIDS care and emergency care.

ok so would all of those things make me look "different" or "better" than others in the nursing field or higher my chances of a job out of college?:confused:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think you've been mislead about the requirements to become a dental assistant.

I looked up accredited dental assistant programs in Indiana on the DANB website (that's the organization that awards accredation to programs) and found this one: http://health.usi.edu/acadprog/dentasst/curriculum.asp which is 45 credits -- so at least 3 semesters, probably more like 4, which is 2 years. Dental assisting is getting to be an extremely competitive field and tbh I don't think it would actually help you get accepted into a nursing program....

My school looked at grades (that was their most important criteria), recommendations, an essay, and TEAS scores. They didn't even ask me about work or volunteer experience, although I did include it in my essay.

I made the mistake of deciding to work after high school rather than taking out a loan and going to college...I wish I would have taken out the dang loan. It took me 3 years to get back to school and it's so much harder for me now, not only because I've forgotten EVERYTHING I learned in high school including how to study, but also because now I have financial obligations: a car loan, rent, a husband ;) :redbeathe - and I *have* to work while in school. Do well in your senior year -- the last year is usually the one most heavily weighted by undergrad admissions counselors -- get help from tutors, show up on time every day, study, work hard, fill out the FAFSA, apply for scholarships, and if you've still got unmet financial need, take out a loan. It's worth it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

thanks so much for replying:D

well if i go for two years to become a dental assistant then i might as well become a dental hygenist and get paid more cause i was told tht it take two years for a dental hygenist... and that came from a dental hygenist her self... idk tho i get told things by people then they tell me somthing different the nxt day lol or i research and get somthing different....

and when it comes to loans id perfer not to because my mom got into a lot of trouble with loans and credit cards. id rather work for it and go to school and work at the same time. i so dont want to repeat my parents mistakes.

but i guess to i could do a lot of electives that have nothing to do with the criteria to become a nurse like i could study a lot of astronomy or religion or somthing plus the nursing stuff, wouldnt that look good on a transcript? i still have to take the SAT and i still want to get my GPA up and still do the volunteer work only because i feel that i need to volunteer. idk i want to be a nurse bad enough ill do wut ever it takes as long as it take i guess and i think ill go for my CNA in the spring and start saving money i have a whole nother year left after this year in high school... i got kicked out my sophmore year :o i also want to join the peace corps idk if tht will show up on any thing tho...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think you have to have a degree to join the Peace Corps, but there is a similar domestic program called AmeriCorps and they actually offer scholarships in exchange for volunteer work, I think to the tune of about $4,000.

All nursing programs are different, but when weighing GPA amongst candidates, a lot look exclusively at grades in pre-requisite courses. You have to pay for every class you take -- why waste a few hundred bucks on a class that isn't going to help you? If you're worried about GPA, try taking a few remedial classes to start... i.e. if your college has remedial or introductory bio, take that before jumping right into anatomy & physiology; take a refresher algebra class before whatever math is required, etc. Those classes will help you get better grades in your pre-reqs. :)

I think getting your CNA license now is a really good idea -- it will definitely help you save up to pay your way through school :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion