Should I retake Medical assistant training?

[Sweetjen09]

Hello there,

I've been through a very long road these past few years. I originally wanted to be a registered nurse one day. Anyway I went to a medical assistant program in 2012 part time in the evenings. I've never had any luck finding a job because my externship wasn't so great. My school had placed me on like 3 different externship sites for the 200 hours. A very unorganized school. But I got my certificate just never got certified because I didn't even find a job. I've been working in homecare all these years as a chha. But now a lot of the chhas barely work 25 hours a week. I was thinking of maybe becoming certified as a cma now and then get my patient care tech certificate so I can get some experience in that and hopefully land a job as a medical assistant. Or do I have to retake a new medical assistant program? I called the boards and they said I could still take my test to become certified. What should I do? I'm 29 with one son and a baby on the way.

[Missingyou, CNA]

If you had trouble finding a MA job then, it will probably be a waste of time and money to retake the classes.

Some states will reimburse you for your CNA training once you start working in a long term care facility. From there, you can always go onto RN school. Some facilities will offer tuition assistance to their employees.

Check out indeed.com to see what the demand for medical assistants in your area is.

[Eguerrerojbp]

Don't know what part you are from, but in Chicago we have lots of openings for MA's. If you truly can't find a job don't waste your money on the certification. Not unless jobs that you have been looking at require you to be certified or registered.

If I could go back in time I would tell my old self to go straight for RN!

[caliotter3]

In almost all instances your best bet at finding and keeping employment is with CNA. Since you have been working as a CHHA, it would be very easy to transition to a CNA position. You can also combine your CHHA hours with a set schedule as a CNA in a facility. There are many LTC facilities that go begging for CNA's. After some experience there, you can start applying to CNA (PCT) positions in hospitals. Eventually you may even find yourself contemplating LPN or RN school. Not as likely to happen while continuing to pursue the MA track.