I finished school and started my externship in October'05. I was probably the oldest student in my school. Because of an inpending divorce I was forced to look at my future and found that I had no marketable skills and had to find something that I thought would interest me.
I am in an office where again-I'm the oldest. I work with two other MAs and even the Dr. PA and DO are all older than I am. It's very disheartening. I also find that when drug reps come into the office-we don't seem to count for much. We get ignored or at least I do-being the "low man on the totem pole" which I am reminded of in one way or another almost every day.
The pay is awful and now since the office is not doing well-I got laid off for fridays and work 4 days a week. Today I was told to leave before my hours were up. I don't want to start searching for another job because at this point-what's 3 months of experience? Plus-when I was in school I only wanted to do back office and now I was hired to work the desk. I wanted to be more "hands-on" but I was not in the position to refuse the position. I feel let down in many ways. The salary is not what I thought it would be and I'm not even sure if I'll be able to support myself when the time comes. I'm scared-disenchanged and very hurt. I invested over $10,000 in school-was placed originally in a podiatrist's office my first week of externship and found my current position WITHOUT the help of my school. I was promised certain things and got lied to. I don't even want to go back there to get help fwith looking for another position. When the classes were almost over-it was on to the next person because after all-they weren't getting money from us anymore and we didn't matter.
I am well aware of the problems that we can encounter when searching for a job and when we finally land one-we have to deal with people who have been there longer than we have and personality issues where there is back stabbing and gossipping. It's not easy being in your 50s and having to start a new life.
Maybe someone can help me. Maybe someone can tell me that I've made the right decision because I certainly don't feel that I have at this point. I want to find out if there is possibly some other health-related field I can get into where I can make a decent salary instead of feeling helpless and worthless in the one I've chosen. So any advice would certainly be appreciated. Feel free to email me at:fromnytovegas@aol.com
Debi

Your Professional Title/Credentials: fromnytovegas@aol.com,2

Are You Still In School? Certified Medical Assistant

Hi Debi. I'm here in Vegas too. Sorry to hear about your experiences. I have been going to some of the schools (NCI & PIMA) to see about becoming a medical assistant. I am not sure which one I will go to yet. What school did you attend? It doesn't seem like you were too happy with them. There are so many help wanteds in he paper, I would think it wouldn't be too diffucult to get a job, but maybe I am wrong. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Rose