After chatting with a few new online friends who are Medical Assistants, I have decided to post my thoughts in this forum. These girls who I have chatted with, are trying to discourage me from entering the MA program. Some of their advice is to "just go to school for nursing". That MA jobs are hard to find, and MA's don't get paid well.

Well, is it possible that I don't want to become a nurse? Maybe I actually want, and would love, to work as a MA. And if you think i'm wrong, just let me find out for myself okay?

I am fully aware that MA jobs are hard to come by these days. But in my city, there are some out there. I have the desire and the drive to land a job. I know it will be a hard, and possibly long process. But I am willing to put forth the effort to achieve this goal.

Yes, MA's don't get paid well. But consider the scope of practice, and the schooling time. I do not expect to graduate and land a job making $25 an hour. I am not stupid. I am aware of the starting pay as a MA in my city, and i'm completely okay with that. Everyone has to start at the bottom. I don't need to make a lot of money to be happy. Right now i'm working for Walmart making $9 an hour, and hating my job. If I land a job making $9 an hour as a MA, that's fine with me. At least I will be happy in my career.

Sorry, just had to vent. Thanks for listening.

Go you! You know what you want, go for it! :)

Your Professional Title/Credentials: RN

Are You Still In School? No

Are You Working? Yes

$9 if your lucky in some offices minimum wage is possible to

Nate, like I said...I know what offices in my city pay. I've done my research. I have yet to find an office that pays below $9.

in Michigan $7.40 8 an hr is now becoming popular

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? no

Way to go, Mel =) I'm very happy to see your excitement for going into this field. Like you, I work a crappy retail job, and if I can get an MA job making what I make now, I'd be happy. There is a lot of negativity, you just have to look past it and mind what you're doing.

And Nate, you'll make that pay in MI if you're only aiming for the bottom barrel doctor's offices.

Oakwood starts their MAs off at $12.00/h
University of Michigan Hospital start their MAs off at $16.00/h
Henry Ford Hosp. starts their MAs off at $15.00/h

And the vast majority of clinics I've seen that are hiring, pay anywhere from $10-14/h for starting.

Get certified, then get a job at a hospital or at one of their outpatient or urgent care clinics.

I really wish people on here would stop trying to discourage others.

It's not discouragement but warnings. The majority of those that come on here are ones who found work or are current or soon to be students. The ones who can't find work don't seem like they stay on long because they either give up on the whole field since it's too painful to keep trying, or they get told they are being too "negative" and they stop looking at this forum.

It's no secret anymore that the whole medical assisting trade school field is a big racket, and thousands of extremely bright people are being scammed. It's not negativity to tell them to investigate this "great sounding" school completely, or that there is a big possibility that they are going to have trouble finding a job in the region where they live, due NOT to the high demand for medical assistants, but the high amount of them in one county, all trying for the same jobs. These are facts that have to be faced.

If you can attend school on a full grant, fine. If you have a spouse who doesn't mind footing the loan bill when you can't find an MA job, that's fine too. But the majority that get into this are single mothers who are struggling because they HAVE the training, the skills, and the certification, and they are going nowhere with it.

I would suggest looking at the hundreds of posts on the Medical Assistant forums of Indeed.com. Skip over the ones that just say "i mediacl asistant an want job" and read all the rest.

Or, they could come here, find out that those trade schools are scams, and get into Community Colleges with good reputations. I almost went to Everest...thank god I didn't!

Just like what you said...Take a look at craigslist and indeed.com... "im a MA, im lookin 4 a fulltime job, plz call me or email me asap mssmokinweed420@email.com". I can only wonder what their resumes look like.

Yeah, i'm going to my local community college. and I have heard great things about them. I start in less than 2 months, yay!

What is so bad about Everest?

btw
Hamtramck Family Practice starts of at 8.hr part time 8.10 full time sounds great huh?

i understand aim high for a better job but also beggers cant be choosers

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? no

Everest charges $10,000 for 6-9 months of school.
They don't give you college credit, so if you wanted to go into Nursing or something else, you'd have to start at the bottom.
You don't have to pass an entrance test, all you have to do is sign your name for that student loan of $10,000. There are no prerequisite courses.

I've been in college since 2003. I have an Associate's Degree and I'll be finished with my Medical Assistant diploma this summer. I've paid $8,000 total, for five YEARS of school. All of my credits are guaranteed to transfer to any school in Michigan (within 4 years of taking the class), otherwise, my school with refund my money paid for said credits. In order to get into the MA program at my college (and various other CCs around here), you have to take English, Math, Psych, A&P, and a basic computer class, at the very least.

I was told this by an HR manager from a hospital: They will not hire MAs that come from Everest, as they are not trained well-enough.

Sadly, there are many students who just didn't know about all that, and ended up signing away their life to that school. I am very against anyone attending one of those. People need to be made aware of what Everest and schools similar to Everest are doing.


Here's some reading material: http://voptsslf.blogspot.com/
http://allnurses.com/forums/f8/information-everest-institute-good-bad-273949.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070725155624AAi3ihw

same with Ross, Dorsey, you do not need any pre req's to get in there same set up

10 g +9 months =no job

I found it very interesting that Michigan Works sends people to Ross to be trained for Medical Assisting. I know someone that went there, and she does have a job right now, but I'm assuming it's only because the doctor she is working for is her son's peds doctor.

The pre-reqs for my course is A&P, Psych, and a public speach class.

is Ross as bad as Everest?

Are You Still In School? no

Are You Working? no

I know they don't charge as much as Everest (I think it's $3000 for 9 months--which is still a lot).

I'm not sure what the school is like itself, though. A few girls that are in my program went to Ross, and said that they were placed in a veternarian clinic for their externship...So =/

wow i see everst is getting some bad press
well i dunno

Hey Nate,

I do a little of research for you on Everest.

http://ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=everest

Please don't go there =(

thanks WOW all i can say is WOW
how come they (everest) is still in business?

i mean this is my 2nd go around for M-A school i finished ross and nothing so now i need a new M-A school

Have you checked out OCC or Macomb?

Henry Ford might be a bit of a drive for you, but have you considered going there (it's where I go)?