Took my CCMA exam today and passed after studying for a little under 2 weeks (around 10 days). Used Smarter MA to pass the test. Scored a 429. Did not do any of the full practice exams or prediction exams. Have some days left on my account and I am willing to also pay for an extension for someone else to learn.
Hi, I take my CCMA test on Friday (8/21) and I have not studied or know a single bit of knowledge. Does anyone know any last minute guides or help that I can use in order to just pass this test?
I took some random diagnostic test and got an 85% but it was only 20 questions, so I was wondering if anyone has a link to some quizlets that are very helpful or a website that has free tests!
Please help...
I finished my Stepful program in June and have been looking for my externship. I wanted to see if anyone else is having the same issue as me where I reach out to clinics that Stepful says are “Stepful partners” and they reply with “We don’t take externs” or “I don’t believe we have a contract with your school”. It makes me feel so dumb since the Stepful portal shows these clinics and says that they are partners or even “Superhosts”. Anyone else relate? 😵💫
Does anyone else’s clinic make them do this? They say if the patient absolutely insists then we can just send it. But I don’t want to have to get to a point where a patient is frustrated and starts yelling at me so I can send it to them. If they ask for their results, why can’t I just send it?
Another reason they cite is that some patients are old and freak out over results. But I still think this rule makes no sense and the provider can just reassure them if they have any concerns during their appointment.
I’ve been an MA for 5 years with experience using other EMR systems but never Epic. I am applying to jobs and they all require epic experience. How am I suppose to get this experience if they only want to hire those with epic experience 😭
I just started a new job at an interventional psychiatry clinic. The providers are nice, my schedule is great, and i absolutely love the patients as well. Today is my second day and essentially, my first day one of the providers said I was hired to help with IVs…. I was confused immediately.
I’m rooming patients, taking vitals, even removing IVs, but I know in Texas MAs aren’t supposed to legally start IVs.
Well the director of this clinic is out of California, and he had said they only hired EMTs before since they can start IVs…..however he sent a message yesterday saying they want to dedicate 4 weeks to IV training me (and future MAs), and even the providers are confused if it’s legal.
I mentioned I can get my emt certification….im just confused and afraid I’m gonna lose my job since I’m not able to start IVs.
Has anyone experienced this? Am I able to legally start IVs under a providers delegation?
I appreciate any insight. I have done research but am still a bit lost and concerned about my position now.
So.. apparently my course didn’t come bundled with a BLS cert and I’m just now noticing after applying to jobs 🤦🏾♀️ I have my American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric CPR/First Aid/AED certification which I thought BLS was included in all that… how many of you guys got hired without a BLS or they let you obtain one within a timeframe?
This is my first MA job and I am overwhelmed. I was told i would be doing a lot of hands on tasks, how ever I do essentially none.
This position requires me to prechart, send labs, send in RX refill requests, scan all faxs into the EMR (ive barely learned how to do a few different ones, send out a lot of faxes, make a ton of pt calls, take a lot of pt calls, transfer and build pt accounts from an older EMR to the new one im still currently learning, voice mails, route voice mails, give out and keep track of samples and im sure there is much more im missing. We do not do any of our own scheduling or prior auths which helps.
Im just overwhelmed. I was told it was more hands on and the only hands on thing i do is room a pt and take vitals. The rest is solely admin work. Seems like the hardest part is learning the system itself.
Any advice or tips? I do have one day a week that they aren't taking pts to try to catch things up. Is there a better way you guys set your days up to maintain all this?
Guys I need help! I just got my first MA job in the middle of July. Been here for about a month and I feel like nothing is sticking to my brain. On top of that I suck at rooming and remembering tasks. Is this normal for first time. I work in primary care.
Hi! I recently graduated from a medical assistant training program and took the NHA exam. I am starting a new job tomorrow, and have absolutely no hands-on experience (program was all online, and they didn't offer any externships). When I shadowed the clinic I will be working at, they said that most of their providers prefer manual BPs. I of course learned how to take a manual BP, but I have obviously never actually done one before. I watched some videos, and I also bought my own stethoscope (littman classic iii). Are doing manual BPs hard? How difficult is it to hear the korotkoff sounds through the stethoscope?
I recently graduated from my MA program and am working towards getting certified. But I keep running into the same problem, which is finding a job. I’ve applied to so many positions in the past month but still haven’t been hired. I’m starting to think it might have something to do with either my resume or my lack of experience since I’m a new grad. How did you guys find your first MA job, and how long did it take?
Hi! I want to be an MA but have had no luck at all in finding jobs without any cert. I currently live in my small college town and the only in person courses I could find are at a local medical assistant school for about 4.4K.
Does this sound like a reasonable amount?
(It’s an accelerated 18 week course with 4.5 hours in person on weekends. And it also has a guaranteed 80 hours externship. )
My plan was to get my CCMA during the school year and work as an ma once I move back home for a little while.
ever since my boss quit, one of our front desk workers Nancy (not real name) thinks she's our boss. she's been here for like iunno 4 months? she barely knows what types of sti testing we do.
the thing is tho we have an interim manager. nancy is not the manager. at all. she applied for the gig, but she hasn't actually gotten it. they're actively interviewing people.
she applied for a manager position for another clinic in my company and they didn't want her for that. so idk where she got the idea that the manager position here will just be handed to her on a silver platter.
today nancy got into an argument with our rn, celia (not real name) and our ma, mandy (see above) about writing patients' preferred names on the charts. celia accidentally called one of our trans patients by their deadname bc their chosen name wasn't written on the chart. luckily this patient was understanding and chill, but god i can't imagine what would have happened if they weren't. so celia put in the team chat just reminding the front to write preferred names. nancy immediately copped an attitude and was like "well why should i when its written on the patient labels?" like 1. because its helpful 2. you been doing it up until last week so what's the issue? 3. our actual manager told you to. mandy replied back basically what i just laid out. it basically boiled down to us: hey please do this simple thing that will help us make sure we don't accidentally deadname patients. nancy: no. because i don't want to. then mandy was like "why does this have to be an argument? just say ok and move on" and nancy wrote back "im not the one dragging this out lol" that is a verbatim quote. churlish and insubordinate. and you wanna play big boss???
im so sick of this fucking childish bullshit. like nancy is my age (29) but shes acting like a 3 year old. actually my 3 year old cousin has better interpersonal skills than her! i came here to work not relive high school.
i want to bring my concerns to my manager but im worried about it getting back to nancy. ive tried talking to nancy but she just shuts down any criticism or general questions. idk what to do. im not quitting this job. im on our unions bargaining team and i worked my ass off to get there.
Hello everyone,
I’m 26 years old and have a high school diploma. I currently take care of my sick mother and recently lost my jobs in under a year. I genuinely want to embark on my career path that I should have pursued earlier, but I’m constantly doubting myself. I’m passionate about the medical field and aspire to become a future Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). I absolutely love helping people, and whenever I visit the clinic, I feel inspired. However, I’m wondering if this program would be a suitable starting point for me. I’ve heard that with an LPN, it’s recommended to begin with a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program. On the other hand, I spoke with a medical assistant today, and she suggested that I really shouldn’t start with the CNA course because it’s more hands-on and involves tasks like showering and bathing. She assured me that it’s not as challenging as I might think. I’m genuinely struggling to decide which program to pursue, and I would greatly appreciate your advice. Additionally, I’m curious to know if the course deposit of $1,200 was difficult for you all to manage.
So this is gonna come off like a crazy story and just to warn you I’m gonna come off like the stupidest person alive . Anyways, about three days ago I was at work and I was administering a vaccine specifically a T dap vaccine. now I’m relatively new at my job. I’m a medical assistant so this was my first time giving a vaccine all by myself. I have anxiety and for some reason I start freaking out. It’s not like I did anything wrong in the moment. I just start freaking out. I tell the patient that he’s all set and that he can walk out. I then what I think cap the needle , as I’m walking to the sharps container and still freaking out I feel this pinch and then I remember wait I’m still holding the needle. I throw the needle in the sharps container as fast as I could, and I took off my gloves to see if I was bleeding, I wasn’t bleeding, so I was confused in the moment. I nonetheless wash my hands and run to the bathroom to calm myself down. again, I’m looking at my hands and I’m not seeing any form of injury. at the moment and at that day, I convinced myself that I was just freaking out and I felt the sensation of a poke, but it wasn’t really a poke. these past few days I’ve been freaking out telling myself. I did feel the poke and going back-and-forth with myself. now it’s been three days again and I’m going insane. any regular person would’ve just go to the ER room and get themselves checked out but I’ve been so busy that going to the ER room would put a pause to my busy life.( i’m in school full-time along with working full-time.) I don’t know what to do if I was poked it was superficial and didn’t draw any blood, i’m just freaking out. I went through the patient’s chart and I couldn’t find anything telling me that he HIV AIDS HPV etc. but then again epic probably locks that and who knows he could probably have it and not be aware of it. i’m just going insane. I’m gonna go to the urgent care tomorrow to get myself tested but what are the chances of me actually getting sick? Again, it was a very small pinch, and there was no blood drawn at all.
There was one very arrogant CCMA I had when I was getting bloodwork. I could tell she was a little green and very young, so I let her pin-cushion me a little bit for practice. No harm, I'm 20 years old myself and premed. Also young. I'm also an EMT and probably don't understand how hard medical assisting can be. I let my students in the ER do it all the time. It's one of the only ways to get better - practice.
She ended up sticking me 12 times before I said "hey - I'm an EMT in the ER and start IVs all the time for emergent patients dealing with dehydration and stuff and I think I'd pick this vein. it's bouncy, big enough to take a 14 gauge no problem."
Then she said "y'all the ER and only see the patient for 2 mins and send them away, y'all just some glorified send-awayers. i was in the ICU in college. that's why we have beds and y'all have stretchers"
I'm sorry, what the fuck? Okay. Just pick the vein I suggested or one you can actually see because it's starting to get painful.
After attempt 20, she picked the vein I suggested and finally got blood.
I hate feet. I’ve always hated feet in every form. I can tolerate animal feet or baby feet (to an extent). They gross me out, even clean feet. Due to staffing issues, I’ve been pulled away from my regular clinic and had to work with an orthopedic surgeon who does ankles and feet. The clinic is insanely busy, always add ons and walk ins, lots of wound care and very complex patients. The only good thing is the doctor is chill. I’ve never hated working like this. And I feel bad but I dislike a lot of the patients because of how hard they make it. Constantly calling and messaging and showing up without an appointment. And since no one wants to work in this clinic they haven’t been able to find anyone permanent. I’m PRN too so I don’t get any benefits, but I’m still working 40+ hour work weeks now. Maybe I’m just venting but oh my god this shit sucks so bad
heyy everyone i used this thread a lot when i was studying/had questions about the exam so i decided to post. i just got my results and passed with a 423/500 (you need a 390 to pass) and i only studied for about a week all together (2 of these days being right before the exam). i did an online CCMA course (advanced e-clinical training) so it was a lot of self studying even during the program but it was never too difficult. also my exam was a proctored online exam through psi.
what i used to study:
- the nha practice exams - these were easier than the actual exam but i felt like they still provided a good background
- youtube practice questions - ms k. and ma with dani are the channels i mainly used and just skipped through the explanations of the answers unless i really needed them
- quizlet - i didn’t use this that much but some study sets that have questions in them were good, these are mainly good for content review and also lets you know what you might need a refresher on
- note blurting - whenever i was studying i would blurt out everything i know about a specific topic and then fill it in with everything i missed — this really helped when memorizing lab result ranges.
- smarterma - i didn’t use it except for the free 40? questions they give you, it’s a great tool but if you wanna save some money i don’t think it’s necessary to buy
other than that i think everyone should just be confident and not nervous while you take the exam, i felt like i failed and was so anxious waiting for my results but everything worked out!! let me know if you have any questions
Hello, I am an MA who had just completed their externship hours at a clinic. They way I got this position was due to a friend who is employed their. However, on my last week of externship, she confessed to speaking to a patient outside of tbe clinic. It started as friendly banter before it escalated to ranting between the 2. She later recently confessed to having sexual relations with this patient despite me and another friend who also works as an MA insisting she cut off contact and remain professional. That was before she finally told the both of us she had sexual relations. Now I just need some advice. All of this was told to me over phone call or i person. She never mentioned him in text. I no longer work under her clinic but I know I should report it to her office manager. Any advice on what I should include?