So talk to me about Medical Assistant jobs...

[StaceyinLA]

My oldest dd has been in college 3 semesters. She is sitting out this semester, and is probably about to get engaged and, within a year I'm sure, married.

 

She isn't interested in a career per se because she does plan to stay home with her kids, but she wants to do SOMETHING.

 

They have a program through a Medical college here for Medical Assistant. The program, if you go full time, is about 9 months, which includes 6-8 weeks of internship at the ed. They get trained to do quite a variety of things (drawing blood, injections, ekgs, chart work, etc.) My daughter feels like it's something she could enjoy because of the variety. I think with the nurse shortage that this is probably going to be a booming area (albeit not super high paying).

 

Her boyfriend has a really good job that is only going to get better paying. He is very responsible with money as well and already owns a home, doesn't do debt, etc. She is not going to have to earn a ton of income.

 

So what do you all think about this? Would you encourage it, or push her to go back to "real" college, not that it would matter at this point because I think she has her heart set on something that would be finished sooner.

[Nakia]

I think a better option would be a nursing class. She could get her LPN license in about the same amount of time. Then she could do a LPN to RN bridge program in another year. That's what I did. She would have more flexibility, not to mention, more pay as a nurse than a medical assistant. She can do continuing education when she has children to keep her skills up. Then if she decided she wanted to work part time or something later after she has kids, it would be a lot easier to do that as a nurse. That's what I would encourage.

[Danestress]

What if she went ahead and got married whenever they were ready but was in the midst of getting that nursing degree? If her DH is good with money, it probably wouldn't be a huge financial burden for her to put in the extra time, and if she's going to be at work during the early years of her marriage, would she mind being in nursing classes?

 

It seems better financially, and I have always been jealous of how nurses can work a shift or two a week, make pretty good money doing it, and still be home with their kids when their DH's are at work.

[StaceyinLA]

she was mentioning that the Medical Assistants work under the Doctor's license vs the LPN license, so they are actually able to perform any duty the doctor trains them to perform versus being limited by the license.

 

Also, the college that offers the medical assistant is considerably nicer than the technical type colleges in our area that offer the LPN courses.

 

It's half the money to do the Med Asst. as well, and takes less time. I think dd just wants to feel like she has completed something so that she can go ahead and get married and move on. Then, if she wants to progress, she can always go into an accelerated RN program. There is not a really significant income difference between LPN and Med. Asst. in our area. The jump would be going to RN, so that could still be an option down the road with our on-site program at the hospital.

 

IDK. We will weigh pros and cons after meeting with her Monday.

 

I do appreciate the input though, and we are certainly going to give it some thought.

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I did this, 14 years ago.

 

I absolutely loved it. It was not a fluffy or easy course; only a 1/3 of the starters graduated. Those of us who did well had no problem finding good jobs.

 

The bookkeeping and medical transcription skills alone are worth the course, in my opinion. I enjoyed the medical aspect of it, and went to work in the back office for a doctor who allowed me to do everything. Others in my class finished their internships and then found secretarial jobs outside the medical field.

[StaceyinLA]

shorter time in the program, variety of skills learned, etc. It does look to be interesting and she really enjoys stuff like that, but doesn't feel that she would want to be a full-fledged nurse, at least not at this time.

 

I think if that desire comes later, she will have the opportunity, and probably the drive, to make it happen.

[eternalknot]

My friend just completed the MA program. She has two children (8 years old in ps, 3 years old at home) and has no prior college experience. She had been working from home doing telemarketing, but was laid off. Her goal was to find a job to maintain some supplemental income for extras, but still allow her flexibility to be a mostly-at-home-mom who could do carpool and extracurriculars.

 

She considered nursing versus MA, and ultimately went with the MA because it seemed the quicker and easier route to her aforementioned goal. The MA thing seemed great, up until her externship. It was a decent job, decent pay, but the flexibility wasn't there as far as hours go. But we live in an area where these jobs are highly competitive, so YMMV. She is now enrolled in a follow-up program to become an ultrasound technician. It will be an additional 9-11 months of schooling (during which she can work as an MA) but it will give her more flexibility scheduling-wise in the longrun. In hindsight, she wishes she had just done the nursing program to begin with. What she thought she was saving in time and effort (she hated the idea of going back to school), she is losing in terms of a more flexible work schedule. And as a mother, flexibility is definitely her highest priority when it comes to working outside the home. She wishes she had invested the time before she had kids to factor in.

 

Good luck to your daughter either way :)

[Samiam]

I had a friend who became a MA, about 12 years ago. Got hired at the same Dr's office she did her internship at, started doing extra work (for extra $$) at the same office on the transcription side of things. Also started working a couple of weekends at a Walk-in clinic (this was pre-marriage, pre-children so lots of free time) for extra money. Now, 12 years later, she is the Back Office Manager for that same Dr, and making pretty good $$. Of course, she isn't staying home with her children, but to each his own, I guess.

Point is....it is a great career path to take, plenty of jobs out there, either full-time or part-time. If she is interested in it, I say go for it. The RN thing is great, if that is what one wants, but just because she does this, doesn't mean she can go the RN path later on.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I definitely think that the LPN or RN is better route since there are more jobs/flexibility than medical assistants. Check employment ads out, you will not see many medical assistant jobs out there. I am an RN and have found great flexibility like part-time jobs with family medical insurance. Most doctor's offices will not offer that. Also, there are many aspects of nursing such as home health, critical care, long term care, nursing education, dialysis, etc... Ideally she should consider a 2 year RN associate degree since it offers more options. If she is still not interested, another option is medical coding which with certification can be done from home. They have straight courses in that which would enable her to get a job. However, it is a detail job in that dhe would be reviewing charts and coding for diagnosis and procedures.

 

I hope this helps:)

 

:):):)

Thanks,

pris

[FlockOfSillies]

I don't know what the different classifications are in your state, but it sounds like a Medical Assistant out there is similar to a Licensed Vocational Nurse out here. My brother just got his LVN license and is looking for a job. Here in CA, a Certified Nurse Assistant is what my bro calls a "butt-wiper." They aren't qualified to do much else. There are also Physician Assistants, which are like doctors, but they aren't allowed to write prescriptions. My brother found that the waiting list for PA school is quite long, which is why he ended up getting his LVN. He just signed up for a BSN program through Indiana State University. I told him, "Hey! You're homeschooling college!" LOL.

 

I've known so many people (even here on this board) who have gone back to school after kids and have found it to be tough. They're just as smart as they were when they were 18, but they often have to save their studies for the end of the day, when the kids have gone to bed and they're exhausted. Lifelong learning isn't always a walk in the park.

 

I'd recommend that she get the MA certification, and push through to get at least one level beyond that. If she only gets the MA cert, she may find herself in a position where she wants or needs the next level and has to go back to school to get it. Major pain. :tongue_smilie: If she gets that level up front, she'll have more flexibility for better pay. She'll be sitting pretty! And if she does all this before she gets married, she can spend the first few years of her marriage working, instead of going to school. She'll have those years of work experience under her belt when she comes home to have kids, and if she decides to go back to work after kids, that work experience is already on her resume, along with the extra education and training she received.

 

But boy, is it hard to think of those things when you're ring shopping... ;)