Is Medical Assistant career worth of your time and money? I would say it is if you have invested no money at all to learn how to become a Medical Assistant. Even though Medical Assistant has an outstanding job outlook, it pays not enough to pay your bills including your student loan. It’s not a good idea to go to private school and enroll into Medical Assisting program which usually last from 10 months to two years in some schools, ridiculous isn’t it? There are so many ways to screw people up, but this is the worst way obviously.
Some of these schools will probably telling you that Medical Assisting is the first step or stepping stone towards other great careers in healthcare, nursing, rad tech, ultrasound tech etc. Wrong information to misguide you for pocketing profit; don’t believe a single word what the schools are saying for their enrollments. Medical Assisting is an entry level career in healthcare setting, typically work in doctors offices, responsible for wide range of front office and back office functions. Front office duties include appointment setting, telephone medical assessment, minor medical billing and coding. Whereas, back office tasks include assisting in taking vital signs, administering ECGs and Phlebotomy. There are many medical assistants working for years with no progression at their jobs. The only way to advance them is going back to school again with zero credit transfer. Because most of the Medical Assisting classes are not transferable towards nursing or any other healthcare related associate degree programs.
What is your situation? Are you a high school student enrolled into allied health program. Take advantage of learning medical assisting. This will help you to get a job right after you finish the program with at least $9 per hour. You are young, this will help you to taste the water of healthcare industry and get your feet wet. And also you will be able to to pay some of your bills while you are in college studying high demand and high income potential career, nursing or pre-medicine. Read my blog for top 8 health care career (listed at the end) with an associate’s degree. For more information.
If you are a career changer or in a situation where you need a job with at least $20 per hour salary in order to be a provider for your family, then obviously medical assisting is not the way to go. You probably need to go to your community college or a private college with reasonable tuition to enroll into RN, LPN, Rad tech, MRI tech, Ultrasound tech, Physical therapy assistant, Respiratory Therapist, Occupational Therapy Assistant or Dental Hygiene programs. They are in high demand and high income potential. It might be harder to enroll into these programs without completing prerequisite classes. Don’t feel bad about it. Nothing can be achieved following short cut route. The longer route of starting with basic pre requisite classes may be harder, time consuming and challenging, but it can take you to your desired career goal, and thus helping you and your family financially with minimum debt.
How do I become a medical assistant with zero money? You do not need an associate’s degree to become a medical assistant. If you really like to be one, go to your community college and enroll into one of their medical programs. You can probably become a Medical Assistant with very little or no money if you can get financial aid. Do not enroll into a private college and invest $10,000 to become a medical assistant, unless you enjoy taking out student loan and get stuck with a fat bill for no reason.
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Top 8 Heathcare Careers with Associate’s Degrees (Videos and Information)
