Seeking Feedback on Healthcare Careers

have you considered the field of Gerontology? america's aging population is growing by the minute..............

Sonography and nursing will get you the most in the way of salary. Medical assistant and you'll most likely be taking blood pressures and blood samples in a doctors office. I'm an RN, so I'm a bit partial to nursing, but sonography is an interesting field as well. In nursing you can have an associates up to a doctorate, with a wide range of job options (i'm currently teaching in a 2 year program, hours are fantastic, and I enjoy the next generation of nurses). Sonography you are a bit more limited. You can do OB in an office, or also work in hospitals or clinics. I see you are in CA, nursing there has some issues unique to that state due to the strong nursing union. I have had quite a few students from CA that move here to go through our program (they can move, complete 2 years of study, pass state boards and move back to CA to practice all while they would still be on a waiting list to start school there). Whatever you decide, healthcare is an interesting field, you will never be bored!

My mother is an RN and her career has served her well in all phases of life. She worked in a big, busy hospital before having kids, stayed home for 10 years, then worked FT at a nursing home and ultimately spent the last 20 years of her career as an agency nurse, picking up shifts in various nursing homes as suited her schedule.

Nursing school is a major commitment, of course, but can be such a rewarding career with job opportunities in all kinds of settings and schedules.

I am a non-practicing RN. I started in nursing in 1981 and worked a variety positions from floor nurse and charge nurse at a hospital. Clinician. Home health. Office nursing, clinical research and in the legal industry as well. I was asked to fill in at 2 different schools as a school nurse but didn't want to do that for a variety of reasons. I love nursing and miss nursing but decided to stay home about 10 years ago. I still do some wellness education to keep my brain busy.

I tell you all that to show the diversity of avenues in nursing. Unless things have changed since I've been out of the loop, as a medical assistant your opportunities will be limited, probably to clinics or office settings. I would imagine sonography would be the same. Phlebotomy to draw blood in a variety of settings.

While the healthcare field is so rewarding, it is hard work. I've worked all shifts, 7-3, 3-11, 11-7 and 12 hour shifts in the hospital. The doctor's office was just week days, but every day. And again, from my past experience there isn't a lot of flexibility. I had the most flexibility doing contract work. When I worked at the hospital our schedules were for a month. Once the schedules were out, if something came up at school, it was very hard to find someone to trade with you. In the office I was the ONLY nurse and it again was difficult to get days off.

The good news is that it is rarely a 9-5 job so if that's your goal, you'd be good.

I'd do nursing. There are many different types of nurses and many different specialties. Best money, most opportunities, and most rewarding work of the ones you listed!

I'm a non practicing medical assistant. The pros to MA are that you can get a 9-5 medical office job and the schooling is less than a year. I did find it enjoyable for the most part. However the pay is low and it's dead end job. There is no way to move up in position or pay in a medical office. I have to stay home now because it doesn't pay enough to have two kids in daycare and still have any money to contribute to the household. We are struggling on one income. I might add that I live in the central valley of California where there is a high population of spanish speakers - it is a job requirement for most positions to speak spanish (which I don't). I am looking to go back to school too. I would highly recommend nursing or sonography. Hospital/nursing home nurses pay is very good and there will always be a need for nurses especially with the aging population. The only drawback is the hours. You often work 3-4 day 12 hr shifts and then are off the rest of the week. There are also options to work for insurance companies doing authorizations when you no longer want to do hospital work. At least around here the nursing programs are all impacted and it's a lottery to get in. Personally I want to do sonography but there are no programs in my area. I'm a bit stuck. If you have nursing or sonography options - go for it! Good luck.

Just FYI, I've heard great things about SJSU's nursing program. If you have your BA/BS you can also consider a master's in public health. PA is another option. Good luck to you!

Im in school for Nursing and I did go to school for medical assisting (though I am not working as one right now). Medical Assisting school was so easy, I got a 4.0 GPA, while pregnant and sick. You don't get paid that great, but you will be finished with school pretty soon. The classes I am taking right now are prerequisites for nursing school, (anatomy and physiology) and they are super hard, and extremely time consuming. But you will get paid really good as a nurse. I don't know anything about the other one... I guess it all depends on what you need for your family, as well as how much you are willing to put in... nursing school is going to be really hard, im really worried about leaving my little girl for so long :(

With the exception of our age(dang--wish I was in my early 30s!),
I am in the same boat as you and have entered an exploratory route. My community college has many health care options and I've been attending info sessions and talking to people in these respective fields.

I say contact your community college and good luck. You won't be alone :-)

Hello, I am currently studying nursing, and don't know much about the other two. I do know that MA is limited however. I am about at the tail end of finishing my pre reqs. took a long time, but starting to see the light, lol.

Forgive me if I am all over the place. These last few weeks I have been doing a lot of research and finding out a lot about the programs out there and the things I should have done differently. Therefore, I am happy to give you some advice on which route to go for your benefit. First of all, get into your pre reqs as soon as you can and get GOOD grades in them. They are very tough, I took them as 1 class a semester and nothing else. Try not to have any repeats unless you get a C and able to retake that. Get close to ALL your teachers so they know you are serious and they will help out a lot. They really do want you to do well.

Nursing is very competitive. Mission College in Santa Clara has many health courses that can be completed in a very short time. Get into them to get some hands on experience because that will play a big factor when applying into the program. It will be difficult to get volunteer work because you are not licensed to handle patients. It's not required but recommended to have some experience because of how competitive it is.

After you are done with your pre reqs. start applying while you finish your GE courses because the wait list can be as long as 3+ years. I recently met someone who applied at SJSU and has been waiting 3 years for a call from them. Look at programs at different schools, not just one and really comb through the sites because you will find out so much information on different pages and counselors wont tell you everything and neither do the nursing information sessions that the programs have. The reason I say comb through the different schools web sites is because every school requires something different. Some don't require the two chem classes, some don't require any chem class. Some require additional classes.

The program wants a 3.0 GPA cumulative classes and a 3.0 GPA on pre reqs. minimum, some schools have a bit lower GPA on pre reqs, but best to exceed. Very tough!!, but do-able. Also look into private schools, Yes they are more expensive, but there is not a 3 year wait and they offer LOTS of financial aid. Make sure the private schools have been around for a long time. Do not get into the ones that just opened up yesterday. Some of the local accredited private schools are Samuel Merritt in Oakland. Their program is 2 YEARS!!! but do require additional classes to their pre reqs. and the drive will be worth it. USF in San Francisco is another and Dominican University in San Rafael. Most schools are a 3 year program being that your first year is already completed with the pre reqs. Now these are bachelor programs. When I first went back to school we were told that eventually they were going to make nursing education be a minimum of a BS. I was so ready just to finish with my AS last year, because I just wanted to be done with school ,my sister in law who is a MA, says that they are talking about sending nurses with their AS back to school. Having a BS will get you more money and more opportunities, especially if you want to work in peds or OBG, you need a BSN.

I can't think of anything else right now, I hope this helps. I wish I had someone tell me all this when I went back to school. Oh one more thing, Canada College in Redwood City, it's a JC, but they do have a BSN program there and recognized as SFSU. They are linked and funded by Sequoia Hospital. If you have to travel for any school during the program, then do it! It will pay off. good luck : )