In my state it's an average of 14-17 an hour for new MA's. I saw this and LMFAOOOO!

hi!! i’m looking to use smarterMA for 1-2 months to study for the NHA CCMA exam — is anyone selling an account that they don’t need anymore? feel free to dm me!

Hey everyone,

I’m 24 and currently working as a CNA in Richmond, VA. I’ve been a CNA since I was 19, and lately I’ve been seriously thinking about becoming a Medical Assistant. It’s something I’ve been interested in for a long time—even as a kid, I was always curious about what MAs do. Now, as an adult, every time I go to a doctor’s appointment, I catch myself thinking, “I could totally see myself doing this.” I’ve also watched a bunch of “day in the life” videos on TikTok, and it just feels right.

Now, before anyone says “Why not go for LPN or RN?”—I have to be honest. I don’t want the level of responsibility that comes with being a nurse. I don’t want to be the person held accountable when things go wrong, I don’t want to pass meds, and I definitely don’t want that kind of pressure on my shoulders. That’s just not for me.

Here’s where I’m stuck though: MA pay in my area (VA) seems to range from $19–$24/hr, while I currently make $22–$26/hr as a CNA, more with OT. I live comfortably but still paycheck to paycheck. I know I need more, and I don’t want to be a CNA forever—my body is already starting to feel the wear and tear.

But part of me wonders… what if becoming a Medical Assistant opens more doors? What if I can eventually find an MA job paying $26–$28/hr or more? Is that realistic? Or am I just being delusional? Could I actually build a career out of this path?

Would love to hear from other MAs…what’s your experience been like? Do you feel like it was a step up from CNA work? And is it possible to make a decent living doing it long term?

Or should I just suck it up and go for LPN even though I really don’t want to?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Where should I apply as a ccma and what specialty’s do you all enjoy the most ? I tried pediatrics it’s okay :/

I am about to start an apprentice program and its a year of paid training with two years commitment after that. My question to anyone who has gone through this program or similar and did not finish your two year commitment after being certified how much do you pay back? And I image they make you as not rehire-able after paying them back?

I'm going to school in the fall for an MA certificate. However, it's not accredited in my state (only two of our satellite campuses are, and they are on the opposite sides of me). This means that I'll be able to sit for the NHA exam to be a CCMA, rather than a CMA.

My question is this. I want to work on the NICU or pediatrics and/or Hospice. I've seen some jobs asking for MA certificates but calling the title "Patient Care Assistant". Can I find work along these lines as a CCMA? I'm in New England, if that helps. Thanks!

I have a question for seasoned nurses,MAs and various medical professionals. I currently work an urgent care and started here in December. There is a special needs teen girl that comes in often for various reasons one of them being frequently needing an EKG to send to her cardiologist, (we are simply closer to her home and easier to access) of course me being a male I always check with the patient and or family of the patient to make sure everything is known and consent is given, especially with female patients. Here is where my issue arises. Not long ago I was asked to perform a EKG for this patient, went over everything and got consent from the faimly. I have been told that I have a calming demeanor so I try to use that when in situations that may be uncomfortable for the patient. The EKG went well and we found what we needed. Patients mother sat in with us as I thought she would and I thought everything was fine. Patient comes in a couple more times with the young patient becoming more comfortable with me until one point the mother started leaving the room for short periods leaving me with this undress nonverbal teen… I was uncomfortable but its my job so I pushed through it and got it done. That’s is until the mother began making suggestive joke calling me son in law and patient’s name’s boyfriend. This has progressed to point that now the patient will only be brought in on my shift to see “her boyfriend”. My supervisors don’t seem to take it seriously and my clinic runs on pretty much the bare minimum number of staff so it’s not like I can ask another MA to do it for me. The apex of this situation is that today I saw the family in the store (uncomfortably close to my home), with more of the same “boyfriend” jokes as well as a far to close embrace. Usually I don’t let my self get to close with my patients as I really don’t like the idea of career ending accusations but I’m worried that saying or doing something could potentially lead to just that because while the girl is mentally handicapped she doesn’t have the look and has the appearance of a young healthy 18 year old. I also don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill if I’m being dumb and overthinking things, or just being paranoid. Any advice would be appreciated. I’ve talked to coworkers but they all think it’s funny and laugh it off.

Hi guys, So I was new job on February 3 at a pediatric clinic and right away, t was a lot of red flags but I continue to do my work and I enjoyed doing the work I was doing. I was really good at my job and I learned things quickly I was doing so good that 30 days in they gave me a dollar raise! On march 31, I was receive a team chat from the back office manager as I was walking in to switch desk with a MA that’s been there for a good amount of time. Mind you I was training and clinical and administrative, and this one was not trained in that . So move my desk and later on I did go to the manager and ask if there’s anything that I did wrong or anything that I need to correct and he told me no everything was fine and why did I think that something was wrong . I responded back that I was taken off of the phones and placed on straight clinical duties and just wanted to ask if I did anything wrong … on April 3? I clocked in started working and as I was going on my break later that day I got called into the office ,and the back office manager literally said to me “so we have a 90 day probation period and it seems like you’re not a good fit.” I’ll clock you out at the end of your shift honestly with so much stuff that was going on there. I really felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulder, but I also had this sense of not knowing like he gave me no explanation as to why I was fired. Another thing I want to add into this is there have been MAs and receptionist who literally cussed out parents on the phone and in person there , NPs having affairs with married men who’s children come to the office …even went so far as to having a baby by a married pts parent , the back office manager writing excuse notes for pts that haven’t been seen in years , hippa violations sooo much and the crazy thing is main doctor who owns the building literally has no idea of anything going on there . Now I’m just trying to decide if I want to even continue being an MA

Hello friends- This one is primarily for my US friends. You probably know where I’m going with this.

Say we go into another recession (nearly confirmed at this point). There will be cuts everywhere, obviously.

But suppose it gets even worse than that. And we are at the level of the old timey “Great Depression” or something close-

How good is medical assistant job security?

Say I work in dialysis, urgent care, or oncology (I work none of these places yet as I am in school atm)- Non elective medical care- Would my job be safe. Would I be able to get a job?

I mean this as a sort of an open discussion. And if any of you were around during the ‘08 recession please chime in!

Hello! I just started the Advanced eClinical training course and I was wondering how much of the stuff they teach is actually necessary. I’m killing myself over pathology but I feel like the ccma exam isn’t heavy in that content based on other Reddit posts. I’ve also already taken the MCAT, so I feel my physiology base is sufficient enough?

What are your thoughts? What should I use?

Thanks!

This is my very first Reddit post. I am a 25 yo F who lives in the middle of SETX and works as a Medical Assistant. I am utterly and completely fucking burnt out. The pay is great, don’t get me wrong, and I love my coworkers, but I just cannot keep going anymore. I work two 12-16 hour shifts a week where I have to travel an hour away from my home for one shift and work a 12 hr shift every other weekend. We get half days on Mon, Wed and Fri where we work 4 hours out of the day. But here’s the catch, my job gives me crippling anxiety. I’ve now been put on medication to help, but I still am always on edge bc the doctor is very difficult to work for. I am just trying to see if I should just stfu and work and get my money and go home or if I should just bite the bullet and start looking for something else. The job market sucks so I’m very lucky to have what I have now, I just don’t know how much longer I can sacrifice my mental health. Not to mention I have 2 babies and don’t get to see them 2 days out of the week and sometimes it’s more than that depending on if I work that weekend or not. I am just at a loss and need some second opinions. Go easy on me lmao.

Hi! I have an interview for externship in a couple days at a chiropractor clinic. If anyone has any advice or tips please share!! Thank you!

I’ve seen people talking about how it doesn’t seem RIGHT that people can take a 4 month online course to be an MA, when previously some people spent much much longer becoming one.

Just wanted to share my perspective and hear opinions.

I am currently in a 4 month online MA program. I also have a 4 year computer science degree from an engineering school.

In 2018, the market started flooding with people who did 8 week “coding bootcamp.” It promised to pump everyone out as a software engineer. Meanwhile, I had just busted my a*s getting a 4 year degree, completing all levels of calculus, programming logic classes, and writing my own compiler… 4 years of hard work to be upstaged.

I realized two things over time: 1)I didn’t truly NEED all of those classes to be a software engineer or in IT. 2)I still got jobs more easily than those 8 week bootcamp people. But it wasn’t because I actually knew more about the job- It was because I had flexed my competency (so to speak) in earning something HARD. Which does say something.

In sum- As long as someone does externship hours along with the 4 month MA program, they may be fully capable to be a great MA. However, until they get a lot of experience (or there are just MA shortages) finding a job will be a bit harder. I think we should be open to the idea that condensed learning doesn’t always = a worse trained worker. It’s not always the case.

Just wanting to hear opinions!

Hello everyone i’m preparing to the exam any tips or studying ? i really wanna pass as well when you sign do they give you a date to take the test after you pay the fee ?

Has anyone in California done this course to get certification and landed a job? I don’t see many reviews online but this seems like my best option time and resource wise.

Been offered a job at my externship site but my goal from the beginning is still to work a diff specialty. Feel kind of obligated because they trained me and took me on but it’s not really where my heart is. Should I just take the job for a while and change in a year or so?

Hello all- I'm in CCMA class right now. Have not done any clinical hours yet, that comes at the end for me. I'm working on getting my BLS cert soon. I have prior experience working in clinical research on the corporate side (Making a career switch or possibly having a dual career here). So I have somewhat some experience on the admin side(though I don't know medical billing).

Is it totally wishful thinking that I would be hired PAID at a medical office given these factors? Or is that unheard of. Would it be foolish for me to try applying? I did see a listing in my area for an externship for Medical Assistant PRN, paying pretty low BUT still paying. I was thinking of trying that. It's the only one I've seen that directly calls it an externship though.

Anyone have experience with this?

hi guys!! i made this short blog about how i got certified and how you can get started. ik it’s not much but it’s my first post and i really appreciate some support. please check it out and promote!

I have been a medical assistant for 12 years and counting, and recently got certified in 2024. After getting my certification, I started looking for Instructor jobs. I found and accepted a position about 1.5 months ago, and now the class is finally starting Monday, and I am FREAKING OUT! What am I doing?! I have never done anything like this before, and I don't have a single clue how to even get started. I've trained new medical assistants one on one at a job, but never a bunch of students learning for the first time!

My questions for everyone that's willing are:

What were your favorite qualities about your instructor, or the school you attended?

What was your favorite thing to learn about while you were there, and any tricks/tips on how to help others learn that topic?

This is kind of a rant but ...This is literally so hard. I just got my cert on the 18th and it's like every single job listing wants you to have 5+ years of experience and be bilingual for 13 dollars. I'm not even sure what to do, what was all that learning and training for it I can't even get a job. I've applied to so many jobs in the last 3 weeks (even before my cert). Reformated my resume 8+ times, and started using linkedin. Still nothing but rejections. What do I do? I'm looking into being a pharmacy tech and even got that cert, but I'm only allowed to be a trainee in Texas before I can be certified and even then nothing is hiring in that regard.

I know this is probably a common post on this subreddit but I need to feel heard. I'm gonna keep applying and hope for the best.

so i’m still currently in my class still, not yet working.

i get acrylic nails from time to time because i have dermatillomania (chronic skin picking due to my ocd) and it’s been the most helpful thing since i can’t really pick with them and it’s helped me from severely damaging my skin. i know that it’s not allowed to wear acrylic nails as an ma. i am extremely diligent at keeping them clean and hygienic due to said ocd, i wash my hands often and will use a nail stick to clean underneath them thoroughly and lots of soap and water multiple times a day. i also never get long nails. my question is, do you guys think i would be allowed to have them or would that still not be okay? it’s not the biggest deal if i am not allowed, i just would like to if i can but i will stop getting them once i start working if need be. i will probably also ask my place of work as well to see what they think and what their policies are.

Hey guys, I did my CMA training online and they were supposed to send an injection kit to practice at home but I never received one. I'm currently doing my externship and they do injections and they're encouraging me to learn injections so I can get experience. I bought an injection kit online to practice SubQ and IM injections and I wanted to know if injecting sterile normal saline is good to inject into these areas without any adverse effects. My family is happy to have me practice on them so I need to confirm I'm not accidentally going to hurt them. If so, does anyone where I can buy pre-sealed vials of saline online?

Although I passed, I feel like there was a huge possibility that I wasn’t gonna pass because all of the technical problems I had. I only opted to take it online (the Live Proctor option) to avoid the commute but it was awful, I cried about four times. It was super embarrassing. I regret not just taking it in person.

I don’t recommend taking online if you don’t have a super strong Wi-Fi. I have the STARLINK Wi-Fi satellite dish and it’s really strong and even that wasn’t enough to take this exam at home. I honestly wish I would’ve just made the commute to the nearest testing site even though it was an over an hour drive to avoid all the problems I had.

Every time the Wi-Fi kicked me off, the proctor paused the exam because they couldn’t see me bc every time the Wi-Fi got disrupted the camera shut off and it took about 15 to 30 minutes to get back into the exam. But they do offer a chat box so you could text with the Live proctor but they couldn’t help me with the Wi-Fi issues so I had to call technical support and it was so annoying because I had to redo all of the security measures (it took up a lot of my testing time, I wanna say like about an hour, but then again I got kicked off my Wi-Fi four times) like they had to scan the room, see what was under my desk, see if my phone was turned off, See if anyone else was in the room, it was a lot.

It was really annoying and really stressful. I thought after like the third time that my WiFi kicked me off that the proctor wasn’t going to let me finish the exam because I feel like it seemed kind of shady that my Wi-Fi kept kicking off bc my camera kept turning off and they couldn’t see me.

Anyways my point is, find a way to get to a testing site and if you don’t have your own car just ask around for a ride. Find a way to take it at a testing center cause it’s really hard especially if you live with people for everyone to be quiet and to ensure that there’ll be zero distractions. Don’t recommend taking it online just make the commute and take it in person.

What to expect if you do ending up taking it online:

If you absolutely have no other choice, but to take it online, just be mindful that you can’t have anyone else in the room. And do the security protocol to make sure that your device and Wi-Fi is compatible. It will tell you if your Wi-Fi isn’t good enough but when I did that, It said my Wi-Fi was fine and then when I took the exam…IT WASN’T FINE😭so that’s why I’m skeptical & don’t recommend.

Also, you have to have your own quiet area. You are allowed to have two pieces of paper & a pen for math notes like to convert kilograms to lbs but you’re not allowed to have water, pets in the room, or even cough drops. Also, (I found this to be really hard because I move my lips a lot when reading but you can’t do that) you can’t whisper to yourself or move your lips. If they suspect that you’re doing anything suspicious, the live proctor will pause the exam and it will pause and save your exam time, but it can be really annoying and it puts you out of focus and it’s really hard to get back in the zone.

Final thoughts:

All the rules were ridiculous & honestly made it really uncomfortable so I highly recommend just taking it in person but if you have no other choice, just be prepared for all the security measures that they require.

Got my results this morning, (mind you, I barely took it yesterday so it took less than 48 hours for me to get my results) & I honestly thought I was gonna barely pass with a 390 score but I got a 429.

My point of this post is, I want to help others because this community really helped me and I wanna return the favor. Also just a reminder…. I know it can be really stressful and easy to be hard on yourself but I promise you if you study and put the time in, you’ll pass. The NHA suggests that you take 4 to 8 weeks of study time. I only took a month of study time but then again I don’t work. I just have been going to school being a full-time student trying to get a good career established and get certified, but I highly suggest that you give yourself a little bit more time than a month of studying because I think that’s partly why I thought I was gonna fail because I kind of crammed towards the last week of my scheduled exam date.

Anyways I’m rambling…I highly suggest buying the NHA study guide and practice tests and I’ll make another post with all the Quizlet links I used since you apparently could only add one attachment, which I think is hella lame but I’m gonna hook you guys up, so be on the lookout for my other post. Sending positive vibes💞

Good luck to anyone and everyone that is going to take the exam, you got this!

I didn’t pass my NHA ccma im so heart broken but I’m thinking about buying smarterMA is the basic or plus better I won’t give up