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Medical assisting - good way to go?

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Posted 6 months ago

 

I presently work as a home health aide in Sacramento, CA and have also been getting through the community college system slowly and painfully over the years.



I'm thinking down the road that I want to become a Physician Assistant, some time in the next century that it takes to finish my bachelor's degree, but I also need some kind of decent work in the meantime... my work offers no benefits and is basically drudgery that I'm finding mentally and emotionally draining. I work one-on-one with the same private consumers day in and day out.



I'm just short of a phlebotomy certification (at this point I need to take a recert course, but other than that, all I need to do is send in my hours and externship paperwork to the state board) and I have an EMT license.



But it seems like my best bet for paying my rent may be to go through a medical assistant program or something similar, esp. since I'm no more enlightened about how to actually become a phlebotomist or ER Tech than I was when I started off. I'd keep slogging through working on my eventual bachelor's degree/PA degree after I'm employed as an MA.



Is medical assisting a good way to go? Is the field growing? Is it a "bubble" (ex-dotcommer here)? Is it a good job for someone who's analytical in addition to being caring/personable? I learn quickly but the downside is, I get bored easily. Is it suitable for someone with ADHD? Are there jobs that are heavier on clinical work and lighter on office/administrative work? Thanks to my ADHD, if office work was the only work there was, I'd be homeless.



What options are there besides working in a doctor's office (not that doctor's office is a bad thing)?  Do things like public health or Planned Parenthood hire MAs? What about prisons or the state/county? Can one make MA experience dovetail into a job such as Coroner Technician? Does this count for clinical experience for PA? Do medical assisting jobs offer benefits?

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Rate This | Posted about 1 month ago

 

Being a Medical Assistant you can be a Phlebotomist, a Labratory Assistant, an EKG Technician, you can work in hospitals, you can be a floater, you can work in clinics as well as doctor's offices, you can be a medical coder, biller, front office manager, back office manager, and you can go to school for Nurse, Xray Tech, Physician's Assistant with just a few more classes.


One of my classmates just got hire as a primary nurse for an orthopedic doctor at AP&S Clinics and she hasn't gotten her certification for Certified Clinical Medical Assistant yet ( we take the test this Saturday). For me this is a great opportunity to do many different things in the health field so you'll never get bored. And it is growing more every year!


Brenda