I am now thinking about doing medical assisting. Can anyone give me any info about it? What do they make? My sister has a friend that is suppose to be making $25 an hour but I am not so sure about that.
Anyhow the options for schooling would work out much better for me and give me a great in to the medical field. Do you have to take some sort of national or state exam for medical assisting? Is a diploma and certificate in Medical asssisting the same thing?
My local school charges $12,700 to go for Medical assisting which I think is crazy. I found a online program that only charges $645 and says you can have it in 8 wks. I am just not sure which place to go to. The one online is accredited and my local one is not. I would much rather pay the cheaper price but worry about it all being online. Even the clinicals are online. Not sure how I am suppose to know how to draw blood and give shots from a virtual enviroment. Maybe its not that hard though.
Any info you can give me on pay and where to go to school for this would be great. I prefer online but again worry about the clinicals being online.
Also, can you be trained for this by a Dr's office or must you go to school to be trained?
Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele, IM, OB/GYN, neuro, GI.
I am now thinking about doing medical assisting. Can anyone give me any info about it? What do they make? My sister has a friend that is suppose to be making $25 an hour but I am not so sure about that.
Anyhow the options for schooling would work out much better for me and give me a great in to the medical field. Do you have to take some sort of national or state exam for medical assisting? Is a diploma and certificate in Medical asssisting the same thing?
My local school charges $12,700 to go for Medical assisting which I think is crazy. I found a online program that only charges $645 and says you can have it in 8 wks. I am just not sure which place to go to. The one online is accredited and my local one is not. I would much rather pay the cheaper price but worry about it all being online. Even the clinicals are online. Not sure how I am suppose to know how to draw blood and give shots from a virtual enviroment. Maybe its not that hard though.
Any info you can give me on pay and where to go to school for this would be great. I prefer online but again worry about the clinicals being online.
Also, can you be trained for this by a Dr's office or must you go to school to be trained?
Thanks,
Brandi
I went to school for MA and worked in MD offices for almost 5 yrs and the most I got paid was $10 hr. Let me know where she's getting paid $25 and I'll drop out right now and move to there.
If the school that you found near you starts with a C then DON'T go there. That's where I went and they're nothing but a bunch of liars and will sell you the moon to get in. There entrance exam is a joke but they'll tell you that you're too smart for the MA program and try to sell you another one they offer. I also wouldn't fall for an online course. You won't learn how to do the skills you need to do in the MD office. I went to school for 6 months and had an externship at a MD's office for another 8 wks and when I got a job there still were things that I wasn't comfortable doing just because it wasn't enough time to get comfortable with it.
Most MD offices want people who went to school because they want you to have some of the basic skills but they will train you on the specifics that they do in their office.
Check with your state and see if you have to be certified or registered like another poster mentioned. Where I live you don't although some MD's require it but you'll be paid the same starting off which where I live is $1 OVER minimum wage on average. Really not worth that $10 k to make as much as the bagger at the grocery store.
Also to test how well the students are from the schools that you're interested in look in the paper and call some of the positions that are available in your area and pretend that you're looking for a job. If they ask what school you went to tell them the name and listen to how they respond. I don't know how many offices I called and they told me that they were desperate for help but when they asked what school I went to and I told them majically the position had been filled in those 30 secs. It took me almost a year AFTER I graduated to get a job for $7 hr and I was one of the highest paid people in my class (two students were making $7.25 and $7.50).
My advice would be that if you want to be a nurse call all the nursing schools in your area and see what their admission requirements are. Where I live some of the programs just require basic math to get in which they test you on.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Continuing education courses are seperate from remedial college courses, but can be offered at the same college you attend or different ones. I don't know what area you are living in, so, it is hard to guide you, there. Look into the colleges in your area under their continuing education sections to see what they offer. Many of them will send you their periodicals in the mail so you can see what they offer. The names of the courses may be something like "College Preparation" or something like that.
I found continuing education classes a bit more relaxed. They had tutoring, they worked really hard with students, particularly ones like myself who have not been in school for some time. I was glad I did it and glad it was behind me.
I took them way before, and sat for the community college entrance exam about two years before I actually started school. I passed really well, and when I finally started college, I went straight to the pre-requisites towards my nursing major.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
There are some clinics that will hire a CNA as a medical assistant, because they have acquired the basic skills towards what a doctor's office would require; vital signs, etc. And, if you take an additional course in phlebotomy, it would be even better. Most of the time, the office will train you for the specific things needed for that particular doctor.
From what I saw; medical assistants really did learn much more than what a CNA learns, but they are limited to doctor's offices with no medical benefits. That is the only issue I had with being an MA...many have a hard time trying to find jobs and the limiting of their role to just the office. I literally took a medical assisting course about 17 years ago for $300, and was able to use it to work for an agency for medical assistants. I was already a CNA and phlebotomist, and because I drew blood, I was in higher demand. I did have a few nice assignments, but I did not leave my permanent job for it.
Becoming an MA in 8 weeks? How is that even possible? The program I am attending is a year and a half, and that's only if you test out of the English and Math courses.
Please take my advice--Do not go to either of these schools. The online one sounds like a "diaploma mill" to me (there is no way the AAMA or CAAHEP would accrediate that), and those technical schools that charge thousands of dollars for 9 months are school are horrible, and total crap. They're not even schools, they're "businesses". You won't be able to sit for certification, and your chances of being hired would be lowered if you attended one of these schools.
Try to look for a local community college that is accrediated by CAAHEP, if you really want to be an MA. Maybe one might even have an LPN program which is usually as long (maybe slightly longer) as an MA program.
Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.
I have nothing against MAs, but I have found that CNAs are in much higher demand. Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and agencies hire CNAs but MA jobs are hard to come by. I have worked with MAs in the past who were working as CNAs. I think the whole line about medical assisting being, "one of the fastest growing careers in America" is a gimmick to get people to buy an expensive program. Many of these schools charge 10-20k for a degree but then do not assist their students in finding jobs. Also, being an MA is not a great "career move" because their is no higher step up you can take in that same role. If you want to go onto nursing school you have to start at square one. If you want to go to medical school you have to start at square one. The MA career can be a dead-ender if you want to advance your career.
I've worked as both and neither one required any type of formal schooling. All my training was done on the job. I made about $12/hr as MA and $7/hr as CNA/nurse tech. I can't imagine a MA making $25/hr, though. That's quite a bit more than a RN makes in my area and way more than the LPN's make.
I also can't imagine a MA program taking a year and a half. My husband became a LPN in under a year.
I felt like I learned a lot more valuable info during the time I spent as a MA. My time spent in the docs office helped me to breeze through pharm in NS with very little trouble. I worked with a great doc who was always willing to teach me things.
I am now thinking about doing medical assisting. Can anyone give me any info about it? What do they make? My sister has a friend that is suppose to be making $25 an hour but I am not so sure about that.
Also, can you be trained for this by a Dr's office or must you go to school to be trained?
Thanks,
Brandi
Medical assisting is a certificate program in most states (CMA). I was a practice administrator in a Family Medicine practice and we hired CMAs to do direct patient care. I only hired trained Medical Assistants - not all of them had taken the Certification exam, but it was a condition of employement that they become certified within a year. My practice was part of a large, well-known healthcare network. We paid for our MAs to attend prep courses so they could pass the exam. We encouraged them to attend nursing school, and even paid for it. CMAs are a valuable part of our team, they are the equivalent of PCTs in the hospital setting. THey give injections, perform treatments, and are, with an extra class, trained to draw blood and start IVs. They must work under the direct supervision of an RN and their assigned physician. I loved my CMAs, they were the backbone of my clinical staff. But I doubt if any makes $25/hr. We paid $14 to start and $17 with certification. Don't let a doc train you, you won't be certified. You would probably qualify for financial aid, check it out.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
It seems that the medical assisting career is not regulated, this appears (to me) why there are so many varying sorts of ways to be trained/educated. Some are three months, others are associate degree programs, even others are 9 months. It seems to be an option to be certified or registered and even more are basically trained for the jobs on site with no school...all leading to confusion.
I do think that they can be the backbone to running a doctor's office, most certainly. And, I think they are trained in more than most CNAs. I just don't like the fact that MANY of them have to search for a job like it is a treasure hunt. Most doctors, especially those that work alone or without a nurse have no time to train a new grad with no experience.
i am now thinking about doing medical assisting. can anyone give me any info about it? what do they make? my sister has a friend that is suppose to be making $25 an hour but i am not so sure about that.
i think that's likely boastful rather than truthful.
my local school charges $12,700 to go for medical assisting which i think is crazy. i found a online program that only charges $645 and says you can have it in 8 wks. i am just not sure which place to go to. the one online is accredited and my local one is not. i would much rather pay the cheaper price but worry about it all being online. even the clinicals are online. not sure how i am suppose to know how to draw blood and give shots from a virtual enviroment. maybe its not that hard though.
i paid less than that for my rn, on the other hand an 8 week course could not be much of an education. specifically because it's all online. there's "no" way to learn how to draw blood on give injections online. that's really scary stuff. i would stay away from that like the plague.
also, can you be trained for this by a dr's office or must you go to school to be trained?
thanks,
brandi
it used to be that way but i have no idea how it currently is? my advice would be to get into nursing school, either lpn or rn. good luck.
APBT mom, LPN, RN
717 Posts
I went to school for MA and worked in MD offices for almost 5 yrs and the most I got paid was $10 hr. Let me know where she's getting paid $25 and I'll drop out right now and move to there.
If the school that you found near you starts with a C then DON'T go there. That's where I went and they're nothing but a bunch of liars and will sell you the moon to get in. There entrance exam is a joke but they'll tell you that you're too smart for the MA program and try to sell you another one they offer. I also wouldn't fall for an online course. You won't learn how to do the skills you need to do in the MD office. I went to school for 6 months and had an externship at a MD's office for another 8 wks and when I got a job there still were things that I wasn't comfortable doing just because it wasn't enough time to get comfortable with it.
Most MD offices want people who went to school because they want you to have some of the basic skills but they will train you on the specifics that they do in their office.
Check with your state and see if you have to be certified or registered like another poster mentioned. Where I live you don't although some MD's require it but you'll be paid the same starting off which where I live is $1 OVER minimum wage on average. Really not worth that $10 k to make as much as the bagger at the grocery store.
Also to test how well the students are from the schools that you're interested in look in the paper and call some of the positions that are available in your area and pretend that you're looking for a job. If they ask what school you went to tell them the name and listen to how they respond. I don't know how many offices I called and they told me that they were desperate for help but when they asked what school I went to and I told them majically the position had been filled in those 30 secs. It took me almost a year AFTER I graduated to get a job for $7 hr and I was one of the highest paid people in my class (two students were making $7.25 and $7.50).
My advice would be that if you want to be a nurse call all the nursing schools in your area and see what their admission requirements are. Where I live some of the programs just require basic math to get in which they test you on.