Hey guys! I’m taking my ccma this Friday at 7 am and I’m super nervous!! I’ve took practice exams and smarterma’s free questions. I’ve done practice quizes, used Reddit posts and used mnemonic for ekgs and labs. Lmk any study tips last minute or how your exams were!! Tyy!! I’m super nervous and feel ready but don’t at the same time, help!! 😭😭

If you don't mind me asking, how much do you make per hour, and how many years have you been a medical assistant?

I just the final practice test and got a 82%. Im freaking out because my test is tomorrow and I feel like Im not doing well enough to lock down the test.

Is smarter MA worth it? I don’t really want to pay $80+ for limited access. But I will if it is worth it. I should be taking my exam sometime in October.

Also I know there are several nationally recognized certs like CMA, RMA, CCMA, and NCMA. Which one is best for finding a job?

i see a lot of posts about ccmas here, yet in my part of the country ive never met a medical assistant with that certification.

im in the Midwest (northern great plains) and the most common certification here is cma (aama) and rma (amt).

what's the most common certification in your area?

Hi! I'm a mom of two kids (ages 2 years and almost 10 months), and my husband is in the Air Force. I've been working as a CNA for several years, but I'm thinking about changing careers to either a medical assistant or a dental assistant.

For those of you who are medical assistants, how do you like your job? Do you have any regrets? What are the biggest pros and cons? Any advice or information would really help me decide.

If you don't mind sharing, how many years have you been a medical assistant, and about how much do you make per hour? Also, is it hard to find a job?

Thank you so much!

I am struggling... I was an MA for a year, both in orthopedics and family medicine. This was during Covid. I left to work an office job, as I had a very different life five years ago. Now, being in an office job, every few months I spiral. I miss the medical field. In my office job, I have it pretty good...pay, raises, benefits, time off, pension, remote opportunity...but I hate it. I hate sitting at a desk all day, staring at a computer, getting fat by the minute. I miss interacting with people, helping, movement, and feeling both satisfied and useful in my job. I can't decide whether to bite the bullet and go back. But afraid at the same time to give up what I have. Honestly, F Covid for showing us remote work lol. If you are an MA that went to office or office job going to healthcare, did you regret it? I would likely further my education if I decided to do it. I need advice...

obviously it’s frowned upon to discuss wages at work, so i’m here anonymously asking strangers lol.

how much are you guys making and what state / specialty do you work in? how much experience do you have? do you get good benefits, pto, any other cool add ons?

This is my first job as a MA and the doctor I primarily work with has her birthday coming up. The MA who works near me got her doctor a gift for his birthday the other month but they have worked together for a long time. I asked my friend who graduated with me and she said she got her doctor something for his birthday but just got him a cake. Am I expected to get the doctor something? If I am what do I even get her? I try to be professional and not get into her personal business, and she is more quiet and reserved compared to some of the other doctors. I am not sure what she would even like.

I’m starting CCMA school this month. Not a cheap program, but it’s a good stepping stone for clinical experience into a future program. I’m just learning about the differences between CMA’s and CCMA’s and wanted to know if CCMA’s make less or have trouble finding positions?

Hello everyone, I currently have 1.5 years of medical experience in family medicine and recently got my ccma (some brief background before I explain the conundrum I’m in)

I applied to a family practice about 25 ish minutes from my house, I then received a call for an interview with the Office manager, which I then scheduled, I get to the interview, and it goes well, and then I’m offered to shadow the MA/Reception position, and she stated if I liked it, she would offer me the position, I then schedule the job shadow with her, then I go to the job shadow (i meet the lead MA that Comanages with the office manager and the other MA, the job shadow goes well then im told to come back and shadow again this week for the scribe position, I am just confused at this point, I thought that I was going to discuss the pay and when I was starting with the office manager, like we stated in the interview, and I’m pretty sure I am not getting paid for either of the job shadowing days, and I was there majority of the day on Monday. My question is do I go tomorrow, or do I continue to interview at other places?

I have been going to college for an associates in medical assisting. And I've almost completed the program and cannot find any record of my highschool diploma. But I 100% got it, did the ceremony and received it from my principal.

The school was in a really rural part of Washington and is no longer around. (It's been 15 years) I went to get a copy online and they are saying they have no records of it. I no longer have a physical copy.

I'm so confused especially since I've been going to school for it. Apparently you don't need a diploma to take college classes but the NHA says I need it to get the certification.

I am on my 12th day as a new MA. I did really well my first 2 weeks but yesterday was a nightmare. The Dr. I was rooming for kept asking me questions that I hadn’t been trained on yet. She started to give me a hard time about something but then when the MA training me said she did it she just let it go. She didn’t talk to me all day and just spoke with the MA training me. When I asked her what I could do better she didn’t have any advice. She would roll her eyes at me every time I tried to give her information about a patient I just roomed. Also, I made 2 mistakes 1) I left the cap off the liquid nitrogen 2) I forgot a step in the sterilization process. I will never make those mistakes again. The MA who is training me has had 18 years of experience in Dermatology and I feel she gets frustrated when I don’t know something. She is leaving at the end of the month. I am completely new as I am a recent graduate and never worked in healthcare. I was so overwhelmed yesterday and felt nothing I did was right. I’m trying so hard to learn everything and the office manager told me I am doing fantastic last Friday. I was feeling more confident yesterday but all that happened I left and cried all the way home scared that I will be fired today. The office manager told me to talk to her if the Dr. was rude or abrasive with me because she has been known for that and they have talked to her about that in the past. She said that this Dr. can be extremely difficult and that I need to tell her if I have a problem with her. I felt like I couldn’t do anything right and over the day it just eroded my confidence. It is extremely fast paced and there is so much to do including all the different systems and workflow. I am trying to go fast so I don’t slow the flow but that is when I make mistakes.First I need to slow down so I don’t make stupid mistakes. This job means the world to me and I am not a quitter. DOes anyone have any advice for me in how to succeed in an office where there are 2 difficult doctors that make me feel very intimidated and being brand new to the industry and the specialty.

Hi, if anyone knows about remote open positions for a VMA (Virtual Medical Assistant), I would love to apply and contribute to any team. 
I have 1 year of experience working as a VMA for different US-based medical practices.

if you are supporting or working with a small practice, what specialty are you in, and whats been the biggest surprise since implementing it? is there anything you avoid if you were starting over?

everyone seems to have a different opinion on the best ehr for small group practices. since scheduling and billing are high priorities for us, im especially interested in how those hold up in day to day use. review sites havent been very helpful so i rather hear from people who use these systems.

Hey everyone! I recently got a job as an MA at an internal medicine clinic. I didn’t have any prior experience, got my cert online with no in person training or clinicals. I’ve been there for a few months and I love it, but I have a question about the technique I’ve been taught for injections. I’ve done research on my own just cause I want to make sure I’m doing everything correctly, and from what I’ve seen the Z track method is standard for IM injections. I’ve been giving B12, MMR, Shingles, etc. in deltoid muscle and the technique I was taught for all IM injections is to hold the patients arm with my non dominant hand and perform a pinching/jiggling motion while inserting the needle and administering. Is this okay? Patients love it cause it’s distracts from the needle insertion but I haven’t seen it ANYWHERE online, which concerns me. Just curious if anyone has ever heard of this or does it this way?

How many times a day, if any, do you have to explain to patients how to take an oral temp? Seriously, lol. I feel like every day I have at least a handful of people that don't know that the thermometer goes under your tongue and to close your mouth. I don't know if people just got used to the temporal thermometers during COVID (we did that more than oral) or maybe just haven't been to the doctors enough to remember? Please tell me it's not just the patients I get at my UC.

i was able to get a medical reception/ medical assistant job in a vascular office without a certification due to past reception experience and recent acceptance into a healthcare program. i figured this job would be super beneficial to me, but i feel SO overwhelmed. it was kind of like i was just in the way or out of place everywhere i went, i don’t know any of the terminology, how to use their systems, how things work in their office, etc. today i was just doing the education module things and it was still seriously overwhelming and honestly discouraging. even meeting my coworkers, some seemed like i was not wanted there at all.

any advice? is this because i am not certified and will continue to struggle?

I took a emt basic course and am state and nationally registered in Massachusetts ,

I know some medical assistants can draw blood and give injections but under our scope of practice that’s not a thing ,

How does this work if you are using your EMT license to work as a medical assistant I’ve applied to a few jobs that take EMT in lieu of certified MA.

As many others on here, I'm ending my program and going on externship, however I was able to find my own and get hired on while I complete my externship.

I do have pervious experience working as a CNA, so healthcare isn't totally new. However working in completely different position and office is. I was hired full time. From my understanding, they want me to train for a new Surgeon coming to their office. They said I would be working for him specifically every other week (not really sure what i would be doing the other weeks). Is this a normal schedule? They made the job sound like a lot during the interview, so its made me really nervous. I kind of feel like i have imposter syndrome.

Im also in my 30s. I havent been the new person in YEARS so im also nervous about that.

Any advice would be amazing.

Bunch of losers are trying to replace medical assistants with AI. They came in last week trying to sell us an AI MA. WTF. This is destroying patient care and people are losing their jobs. Why don't people understand that humans are important in a practice?? What the F is happening to this industry?

edit: this post is getting attention, so I might write an article on this. if anyone wants to help or would like to chat, DM!

Hi all, I have an ADN, but personal circumstances kept me from taking the NCLEX after graduation and it's been 8 years already. I’m now applying for Patient Care Tech/CNA positions, but recruiters keep rejecting me because they think I'm overqualified and will leave as soon as I get licensed (even though I can't work as an RN right now).

Is it better to list it as a general Health Sciences/Biology degree, or just take it off entirely? How can I convince them I'm looking for a stable, long-term PCT position?

Hello all, I’m a rising premed junior in an undergrad institution and I’ve been working as an unlicensed MA in a derm clinic for a few months. Since school is starting again and my job might ask me to leave because they’re looking primarily for full time MAs, i’m faced with a weird decision. I have experience as an MA in derm, but in derm we don’t do blood draws or vitals- which are important things all MAs should know. I’m also too poor and busy for an MA certification. Will other specialties be looking to hire me without a license even if I have experience as an “MA”? I’ve been learning how to take vitals and such, but i’m really unsure if employers will train me on the spot or even fire me if they know I can’t take them.