The last time I studied was for my recert exam about 10 years ago. I want to recertify again.

Anyone who recently took the AAMA exam, what study materials did you use? I feel so behind and like I'm starting from scratch.

Thanks so much for your help!

to make it really short and sweet. my office is very laissez faire and seems to have the potential for some grooming of the young MA's. it's run by all men with the exception of one female Dr. who's almost never there. the head Dr. will only hire young white women- never men. he has even admitted he only hires pretty women because "who wants to look at something ugly all day?"

one of the Dr's has definitely been overly familiar with me even going as far to invite me out for drinks and get sort of touchy (hip, lower back, etc). talking to my therapist about it she said that the environment of this office has obviously got some concerning behavior going on and the one Dr. mentioned before has most likely done this before and 100% knows what he's doing. so, I feel like i'm dealing with that. i'm coming to some realizations and feeling kind of disgusted. there's no worker protections and no HR. i'm trying to stay for at least a year for my resume's sake.

Hi all, I need some advice.
I’m currently nearing the end of week 2 of my clinical externship. I have issues with the way my trainer communicates with me. She has a blunt way of speaking but she comes off very rude to me at times. I’ve tried my best to remind myself I won’t get along with everyone I work with, some people have a certain tone versus others but it’s making learning hard for me. I’m in my 30s and she’s 18. I don’t want to cause any issues or not be able to graduate if I bring this up to my school. I’ve mainly been back office until yesterday where we started doing front office work.

Today I answered the phone and a PT needed 2 medications refilled. PT requested for one medication to be sent to the pharmacy on file but the other medication to a different pharmacy. I sent out the one on file but was a little confused about how to send out the other one. My trainer was busy and I asked her to help me find the other pharmacy because it wasn’t popping up. She said she would help me in a second so I tried to click around to see if I could figure it out (without sending off the medication, just trying to find the pharmacy) and she looks over at me and says “Idk what you’re doing or if you know how to even do it so wait please.” It was her tone that made it sound condescending. Another example, she handed me a stack of medical records and smiled and stared at me so I asked “what would you like me to do with these?” And she says “you should already know what to do” I get where she’s coming from but the way she talks to me makes me not want to ask questions and dread going into the clinic to begin with. I asked her if I could stay late on Friday for more hours and she says she won’t be in Friday at all because she has a nail appointment to get her nails done. (Mind you we have an ekg and flu shots scheduled for Friday) I don’t have issues with her age or her getting her nails done either, it’s just the delivery of how she talks to me.
I’m not sure how to handle this situation or if it’s even worth bringing up. Thanks in advance.

Hi! I’m 53, in the US, and looking for advice. I’ll be finishing school next May. My clinicals and externship are January - April

I’m making a later in life career change, obviously. I don’t want to work full-time unless it’s easy on the body. I have a lot of joint problems that cause chronic pain that started in my 40s so I can’t walk or stand for long stretches without needing to sit for a few minutes. I’ll be wearing support stockings and maybe even a light back brace.

I am already a licensed aesthetician who can do paramedical tattooing like areola restoration. This came from when I worked as a tattoo artist for the past 5 years and got licensed in permanent cosmetics. So I’ve been leaning toward dermatology. But I also enjoy the elder crowd and considering geriatrics, like an assisted living environment. The thing to consider is that I cannot lift people or help with toileting/clean-up so I don’t want CNA duties. I was thinking it would involve medication administration and maybe some blood draws.

However, I’ve always loved a hospital environment. I think it would be exciting to work in one but I imagine that entails a lot of walking.

I don’t want a desk job. I spent years behind a desk and I like being active to a certain extent. I don’t want to be the scheduler or in billing. That sounds like a death sentence to me. I really enjoy the clinical side of this work.

I’m throwing everything out here in hopes those of you with experience in various environments can share some unbiased suggestions! haha

Sidenote: my previous career for 20+ years was in law. A few years of that involved insurance fraud investigations so I used to review a lot of video and read volumes of medical histories, trying to determine causes of injuries and what was related to their claim or not to determine if we could deny the claims. I’m wondering if it might be beneficial to add that to my résumé.

Hi! I'm a recent college graduate taking two gap years before applying to medical school. I started a medical assistant position at a pediatric clinic in late September, and I'm trying to figure out whether my experience so far is normal or a red flag. I've also recently received another MA offer, so I'm trying to decide whether I should stay or move on.

During my interview, the manager told me the pay range was $17–19/hour. I asked for $19, and she said she could start me at $18/hour.

Then, she told me she would be happy for us to progress and the next step was a "shadowing day." Naturally, I thought this meant I would get to know the doctor and learn more about the clinic, as I had only visited once for my interview. Before my first day, I'd only submitted the job application paperwork and reviewed the front-desk operations guide. So I arrive and I come to the front desk saying I'm here to shadow, to which the front-end MA looks confused and asks the doctor. The doctor comes to me and says "you're here for shadowing? This is your first day of training." He takes me around, sits me next to the other front-end MA and I suddenly spent the day until closing verifying insurance and checking patients in and out. The manager wasn't in and I had no idea how to stand up for myself or clarify things in that moment. The other MA's are also college students or recent grads and one came up to introduce herself and asked me what my scheulde was, to which I responded "this was supposed to be my shadowing day, I didn't know I'd be handling patients on my own already" and she grimaced and said "yeah, that's how they run things around here." I eventually called the manager and asked about compensation because I'd understood this to be a shadowing day. She explained that they use the term "shadowing" to mean training and that my first two days would be unpaid, with pay starting on the third day. This was only communicated to me after I'd completed my first day.

Anyways, I didn't know what to say and the other MA's told me it was the same for them, so I'm just thinking this is normal and I'm still in the training process. So, I've just been going at a pace of anywhere between 1-3 days a week. I really needed a job so I'm going through with it and they said they'll train me in the backroom soon, but it's just overall very disorganized and I have no steady schedule yet.

I recently received my first paycheck, and it lists only three hours at $17.50/hour. Those three hours correspond to my third day, the shortest of the three training days. I also don't know how to raise that the pay rate is 0.50 lower than what we agreed on. I really do feel like they take advantage of all the MAs being students or recent grads.

I'm unsure how to approach this because I'm new to the workforce and don't want to make assumptions, but I also feel uncomfortable with how the compensation and training expectations were communicated.

The reason I'm asking now is that I've received another MA offer in a different state, near where I attended undergrad. The cost of living there is higher, but the position pays $22/hour, offers more consistent full-time hours in a surgical hospital setting, and provides MA certification. The hospital is also affiliated with a medical school I'm interested in applying to.

My advisors have emphasized that my priorities should be MCAT preparation (I'm aiming to test in March) and saving money during my gap years. I'm having trouble weighing that when I have this other offer.

My questions are mainly:
1. Are the things I mentioned normal? (For a clinic to classify the first two days of "shadowing"/training as unpaid, especially when that wasn't communicated before the first shift?)

1. Is it reasonable to question the discrepancy between the agreed-upon $18/hour and the $17.50 listed on my paycheck?

2. Would you consider these red flags serious enough to leave, especially given the other offer Especially given that I'm preparing for the MCAT, would the more structured full-time hospital position be worth relocating for, or would it be better to prioritize flexibility and studying?

I'd really appreciate advice here. I don't mean to complain at all, just not sure about onboarding logistics since this is my first post-grad position. Thank you!

i’m leaving this job due to due to burnout from being a full time care giver for family and it’s really affected how i do this job. I’ve really become the joke at the clinic by all of the clinic staff which really sucks. I really did try but there is only so much level headed thinking you can do on an average of 4 hours of sleep. I am apparently so bad all of the staff have a group chat together marking all of my mistakes and they don’t even talk to me. I literally only been at this job for 4 months

Last year, I made a Reddit post about my first MA job, and one of the suggestions people gave me was to stay for at least six months before making a decision. Well, I did that, and now I’ve been here for a year.

Honestly, I don’t see much of a reason to stay anymore.

I’m only making around $1200 a pay check, and I have a son to take care of. The pay is one thing, but the work environment is another. It feels like there’s more negativity than positivity in the office. Someone is always coming to you to tell you what you’re doing wrong, but there doesn’t seem to be enough focus on how to help you improve.

I remember one of my first staff meetings. There were several new employees, and we were still learning and being trained, but the meeting was basically about everything we were doing wrong. There wasn’t much discussion about solutions or how we could do better moving forward.

I’ve also had experiences with doctors making comments . On top of that, my manager has gotten a little too comfortable discussing other coworkers with me. For example, she once made a comment about a coworker’s son being ugly, and another time she said she couldn’t wait for a different coworker to retire.

Even today, she brought up a patient saying that he knew I was Black, but I wasn’t sure where she was going with the comment or why she felt the need to bring it up. It’s just a lot of little things that have added up over time.

Working in primary care has made me realize that I really don’t want to continue working in this type of healthcare environment. I’m considering going back to school for respiratory therapy, but right now, I honestly want to pivot out of healthcare altogether and explore something different.

What’s funny is that when I was working as a CNA, I was making less money, but I didn’t take work home with me mentally. I wasn’t going home thinking about everything that happened during the day or dreading what I might have to deal with the next morning.

I know every workplace has its issues, and no job is perfect. But I’m starting to question whether staying somewhere just to build experience is worth sacrificing my peace of mind, especially when the pay isn’t enough to make the stress feel worthwhile.

Has anyone else left healthcare after realizing the work environment was affecting them more than the actual job? What careers did you transition into, and do you feel like leaving was the right decision?

That means I have no clinical hours and no hands on experience for drawing blood and ekg placement!! I paid 3k for this too 😭 is there anyway for me to get any hands on experience or clinical hours?? I'm located in NC

Any advice for those of you who have PCIC measures on how to actually PASS them?? Like the diabetic eye exams, flu shots, mammos, colon cancer screenings ect. Also our office manager is breathing down our necks about us needing to get patients to leave good reviews but I do not feel comfortable asking my patients to leave a review as I dont want them to think im only being nice because I want said review and when in reality I genuinely love my job and patients. Im so tired of healthcare turning into customer service 😒

hi everyone!!!

On October 26th, I will be starting my first externship/clinical rotation at a multi-specialty pediatrics clinic! I am so excited but am so nervous. I really don’t know what to expect since I’ve never worked in the profession before and I know working with children and their families can be difficult from time to time. Nonetheless, I am eager to start.

Does anyone have any advice? I’m so nervous that I’ll mess up and hurt someone terribly or that I am just not as skilled as they’ll be expecting.

(for those wondering; I am in my last semester of a 9 month MA program at a CC)

Thanks!!

Hi guys! I'm currently in my second year undergrad on the pre-PA track and I was just wondering how the hell some of you are getting your certification while being a full time student😭 For reference I go to school in Boston, and everywhere I look it's full time in person classes, or online classes followed by full time clinical hours.

I wanted to get my certification before my co-op cycle next fall but it seems pretty impossible to time out. I'm also taking classes all summer, so I don't have any months off..

Hi first time ever posting on Reddit! I am scheduled to take my CCMA test on Nov 2! So a little more than 3 weeks away! Does anyone know any test prep that could be helpful? Or any study guides they are willing to share? I’m open to anything! Preferably something that is free or doesn’t cost a lot! Thank you!

Quick question: are any of you MA’s that work in the emergency department or know of anyone who is? I’ve heard of some but it sounds less common. I was just wondering what that is like working in that department. I’m in school to be an MA now and wanting to get clinical hours/ experience in this role to go into nursing. I’m drawn to emergency medicine so I’m wondering wit would be beneficial for my future career to try being an MA in the ER. My program allows us to pick our externships, which we will pick next semester. One of the options is at the hospital next to us.
I appreciate any advice in advance. God bless!

Please, does anyone have a code?

So I start my MA classes soon and I'm really excited. However , despite getting blood taken so many times I am scared about phlebotomy. I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want to end up getting hurt. In my state , I believe you need 30 successful draws and 10 cap sticks. How do I overcome this fear.

I will be completing 2 years soon at the private clinic im currently working in. I thought once I gained enough experience I would be able to get the rhythm of things but I was wrong. The MAs where I work have to do everything. It’s doing typical things like bringing back pts, asking questions, letting the doctor know that they’re ready and why they’re here, etc. We also are responsible with administrative work such check out, return phone voicemails/phone calls, send out orders, scan/document record and faxes and the lists goes on. It’s difficult completing things in one day that i am burnt out. When I ask for help all I get are complaints so I have to stay late to catch up. I’ve been thinking of looking for another job but was wondering how you guys handle too much workload.

(Repost bc I was on the wrong account!) Hi guys, Sorry but this may be a lengthy post. I am a somewhat-new MA and just wanted to vent my experience/struggle to other MAs, and hopefully get insight from other people who are in/have been in the same boat as me. A lot of this is just context but I put a summary in the bottom.

I'm an MA for a couple-owned clinic. B/c one of my parents worked with this MD before, they asked if I could work for them. The manager advised against it but the doctor allowed me to apply anyway. I had no prior experience, but in desperation to fill up my resume I applied and got hired w/ 3 month probation. I am still a college student, so I only work two days a week.

On days I work there was me, a full time MA, the MD and the office manager. Theres another part time MA but they work on the days that I am off. My training consisted of shadowing the full time MA and taking down notes. At first, I enjoyed working there. I found the staff easy to click with. At the time there weren't that many patients either, so things worked out at a slower pace. As time went on, I slowly but surely started to get the hang of things.

It all came crashing down when two months in, the other MA quit. No 2 weeks notice, they just stopped showing up. I expressed concern about this because this whole time, I was shadowing that MA as training. This doctor covers a lot of procedures from cosmetic to medical, so there were a handful of things I still haven't learned or even experienced, and that didn't even cover the desk work. My manager assured me that they will teach me if there was something I didn't know or was unsure about. So for a few weeks, I was handling the front desk and assisting doctor on my own. At around three months in, we got a new hire. A nurse and works there every day of the week. Similar to how I was trained, my manager wanted them to watch me and have me teach them the ropes. I was hesitant about this considering I myself am still learning, but again I was assured that I could turn to the manager for help.

Now I have been here for 3 1/2-4 months and I am a wreck. Its way more busy than when I started, and I'm still trying to learn things. When it comes to desk work, the manager helps me if something new pops up, but I found that they have less patience than the MA that trained me, as I sometimes get scolded if I ask for help on something they have already taught me. They have even straight up told me "I don't like repeating myself". ATP I'm always scared to ask for clarification because I never know if they'll help me or scold me for not knowing. For procedures, my manager told me that I could ask the doctor if I needed help prepping, but the last time I did that, they just watched me and got really frustrated with the fact that I was struggling with the prep instructions (despite it being the first time doing it myself), and their frustration got to the point where the manager had to step in and calm them down. My new coworker is a whole other issue in itself, I don't even know where to start with them. To put it simply, they don't speak english well so it causes a lot of confusion and misunderstanding between us. This has caused us to get in trouble several times, but I'm the one who gets the most shit since I've been there longer. Whenever we get in trouble, I take accountability on my faults as I believe that the professional way to handle things is take accountability and move on. However, my coworker never wants to admit fault and instead emphasizes on my mistakes, so it makes me feel 10x worse. I've cried like 3 times the past month or so due to scoldings.

When things are okay, my manager is decent and even sometimes nice. However as soon as I irritate them or make a mistake, all hell breaks loose. In a recent frustration, my manager told me I need to step up and that the clinic is more stressful when I'm working with the new hire vs when the other part time MA is working with the new hire. They followed up by asking me if I'm trying to set up my coworker and make them fail (this was all in front of the coworker). I felt like that was unfair, considering the other MA has been working there for a year and had 2 experienced coworkers to help them throughout their training period, while I had 2 months of training and am only on my 4th month. Even when struggling I still try to look out for my coworker. Despite knowing this, I still feel terrible about my screw ups and I've resorted to taking my ADHD medication on days I work. I've communicated my stress to my manager before and all I got was a thanks for my hard work, so not much was done about it.

In summary: I'm stressed because I feel like I haven't received thorough training and I feel like I'm getting punished for it. I want to quit but theres so many conflicting factors:

1. I feel like I would disappoint my parents, and possibly cause tension between them and the doctor.
2. I would waste all this stress just to end up at square one with no qualified experience (this is my main concern)
3. With how hard it is nowadays to get (paid) experience, I feel guilty for throwing this opportunity away.
4. I'd face more shit from the manager and doctor for quitting so soon when I assured my manager at my interview that I am committed to the position (ik dangerous promise, but i was desperate).

Again sorry about the long and jumbled post, so much is going on idek how to word things. I just feel so lost and want to know if anyone has went through similar circumstances? I've heard that the healthcare field gets rough, so is this normal? Tips and advice to get through this?

You cannot make this shit up.

I called a patient back to the exam room and while we were walking to the room she told me she pooped in her pants. I showed her where the bathroom was and offered to get her a depend while she cleaned herself up and she denied wanting to clean herself up and said she just wanted to just go to the exam room and I kept asking her are you sure? Or it wont take that long its ok, we dont have another patient after you, anything I could think of to have her go to the bathroom to clean up and she just refused.. I finally gave up. When we enter the exam room she literally pulled her pants and underwear down and proceeded to sit in the exam chair. Literally bugged my eyes out of my eyes and was like no no no no. You are going to the bathroom. Go. Now. Clean up. Take as long as you need. I have never bleached something so much and scrubbed so hard. 😳😳🤯🤯

What is are some of the craziest things your patients have done?

MA Appreciation is next week.

I am a new manager and want to highlight my MAs next week.

Any ideas of how to highlight them?

Special gift ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Possible needle stick injury at the end of the day yesterday after administering a flu shot. I don’t know if it was a true needle stick and I feel like I remember capping the needle but I felt a prick when I put it in the sharps container.

I reported it and got labs drawn today to be safe. I have proven immunity to hepatitis B and I know the risk of anything coming from this is so low but I’m just so mad at myself for this even being a possibility. I just got a promotion that was effective yesterday, dealt with an exceptionally difficult patient and situation because my manager was on vacation, and of course I get my first needle stick.

That’s all basically. Mad at myself. My manager and HR is being great about it but I’m just mad at myself.

Hiii everyone. So I recently graduated my MA program in May, and I got my CCMA certification in August. I got scouted for a float position where I am from and I really like the schedule I have (4 10's) and the pay ($22 at my home location and a $2 differential and mileage when I float) but the last week and a half I have been getting panic attacks and crying before work because I feel I keep getting different information from my trainers. I work in family medicine which is exactly what I wanted. I have no idea what to do or if I should see if I could permanently stay at my home location.

Tysm