Any Medical Assistants Out There?

I got my MA certificate back in 2005. I then worked for the next 3 years in Family practice and Pediatrics. I LOVED MY JOB!!!!!!! It was SO much fun to work closely with the doctors and their patients, especially the little children. I loved it. Plus, you get lots of fun perks like free lunches from drug reps!! The pay was never THAT good, the most I made was $11/hour, but I know I would have made more if I'd stayed longer. I ended up quitting after I started having my children. But I would go back if I had to, and there are some days I miss it. Good luck!!

I'm in the Grand Rapids area and am currently going back to school getting my MA. My kids aren't in school full-time yet, but wanted something to do when they do go back to school. I'm at Davenport and they have a great program. From what I've heard from other students is that pay is between $10-13 depending on where you work. Being an MA gives you flexible hours so you can be there for your daughter. I was able to do most of my classes online and my last few classes are on campus. My classes have all been at night, except for the one that I have to take in the fall. But that one is 9-3, so hopefully something like that would work with your schedule. Give it a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Good luck!

Hey A.A.,
I was a medical assistant for about 8 years, then went on to actually teach at a technical school for two years. Please be very, very cautious what the for-profit school recruitment advisors tell you. I found that most of the things they were telling my students were lies. Remember- they are sales people- not medical professionals. They would tell students that an MA would make $20 an hour, could assist with surgeries, etc. Simply not true.

I did enjoy my job but be prepared to be incredibly busy (like not having time to pee for 8 hours) and be treated poorly by some doctors. I'm not sure what an MA beginning pay is in Michigan but I anticipate it being between 10-12 dollars an hour. The benefits are usually quite good. I have actually seen many MA's go on to be RN's because they wanted a bit more responsibility.

The bad thing about being an MA is that, most of the time, your schedule is not flexible. You have to stay until your doc is done with patients. I have had to stay as late at 7:00 before waiting for a doc to finish up with a patient.
I can't stress enough to stay away from the for-profit technical schools. They are money making machines and will literally enroll anyone they can get their hands on (they enrolled a mentally retarded girl in my class before I demanded she be removed from the program and given a full refund). They all have very strict attendance rules because they get federal funding every day you are sitting in class, but no funding if you are absent. They would put a ton of pressure on my students to attend. In fact, one young mother was so terrified of being kicked out of the program, she left her young son in her car during class and was carted away by the police instead:(

I am currently in school now to become a MA... I like it so far, there are lots of possibilities. Workin in an office, hospital, doing only phlebotomy, I want to work with dialysis patients. But at my school, they have an either cardio or diagnostic sonography. Program, which I want to get into when I'm done with this. There is good money there. I don't know where youre located, but that's an option for you, if you choose this path. Hope it all works out.

I went to Medical Assisting school at Everest Institute, and let me tell you, DO NOT GO TO EVEREST, ROSS, DORSEY, Or any of the other "tech schools." THEY ARE NOT accreditted. Go thru a university, or community college. In the state of Michigan, they require you to be a Certified Medical Assistant. The best you can do from the Tech schools is become a Registered Medical Assistant.