r/MedicalAssistant

I'm not the biggest fan of the messy and dishonest job culture of my current job that I just landed, and I'm thinking about eventually applying to an actual hospital. I've only worked in small specialty clinics, but did work in at a hospital as a teenager as a patient assistant (sitter) for a while. I'm actually looking to relocate to a different city this hospital is in because my husband makes the drive there for work and its getting to be too much for him (he's our main source of income and is now working 48hrs a week with overtime)

I know its a little hard to get hired there without connections but I figured I have time to try. I was just wondering what the days look like? There's a family practice position open but it is PRN so I'm weary about that. they are day shifts though and still 40 hours a week with benefits. I was in school 4 years ago and haven't really been in practices that do a whole lot on the clinical side aside from drawing up TPIs and giving toradol injections, mostly just charting and administrative work. Do you think that they would take the time to train me on things like EKG's and such? or would it be worth looking into online courses for refreshers on the skills I didn't use?

I think I would do a lot better with a larger company that has order and rules and electronic charting (i miss it!). would love to hear about people's experience working for a hospital, good and bad.

I'm a new medical assistant working in a primary care clinic. I'm still training under my preceptor and am having an unexpectedly hard time adjusting to the culture of my clinic, and can't tell whether it is normal or not.

My main concern is I've noticed that almost every time my preceptor and I finish rooming a patient and go to speak to the doctor before they go in, both of them gossip negatively and condescendingly about the patient (their mental health, hygiene, way of speaking, etc.). This almost always happens unless the patient happens to be a doctor, surgeon, or employee of the hospital our clinic is affiliated with. I generally like our patients and this has made me paranoid that my own health visits are being negatively scrutinized like this behind closed doors (especially since my PCP works in a different part of the same hospital).

Furthermore, even though I've been working full time in this clinic for 2 weeks, the doctor has never spoken to or made eye contact with me, and ignores me when I speak to him. He only talks to my preceptor, who seems to get along very well with him (they joke around a lot, buy each other gifts, etc.). I always feel invisible or in the way, and constantly sense that I'm annoying and/or slowing down my preceptor.

Am I being overly sensitive, or should I seek to transfer to a different clinic? I enjoy the work itself but worry that maybe this is a common dynamic in clinics and would hate to throw myself out of the frying pan and into the fire. I've never been this depressed by a job before and am worried I might not be cut out for this job if what I'm experiencing is commonplace.

I finished school last August and started my current job as a MA in September 2025. A lot of my coworkers keep telling me I should go back to school for nursing or something else. I know this field is a stepping stone but I’m really stuck. After graduating high school I had high hopes and dreams of being a veterinarian. In high school I was in NHS and did very well grade wise. I did not transition well to college to say the least. I went to a 4 year university to study animal science. I soon learned I was not doing well either how this type of learning is structured. I was struggling barely passing my classes. I told myself I had to just keep pushing and hopefully do better. I started failing more and more classes and eventually lost my financial aid. I started to take out loans which was not wise. I should have notice the issue and re evaluated. I was a naive and making bad choices. I was starting to do a little better when Covid hit. This sent my grades to an all time low. I was practically flunking out. My advisor told me I should change my major. I changed to health science and was getting better grades. I was making and and Cs finally. However I was miserable. I hated what I was doing and my mental health took a spiral. After lots of tears and reassuring I took the opportunity to switch to a community college and pursue a different route. I became interested in Being a surgical tech. I took a few pre recs and got into the program. Academically I was doing great but I was struggling with the hands on part. We had this but major mock surgery we had to pass before we could move on and do clinical and enter the OR. I have severe anxiety and it was not well controlled at this time. I froze up and failed this mock surgery. We had a second attempt where we had to pass or we would be withdrawn from the program. I failed the second attempt and was devastated. I was told that if I really wanted to do it I could come back in the fall and repeat the semester. I did this and got to the end of the semester and passed the first time on the mock clinical. I moved on and the next semester was very hard for me. I was doing fine with the hands on but was now struggling academically. The standards for this semester were very high. The policy was you had to make at least an 80% for a final grade to continue and finish the final semester. I was doing fine barely keeping up. I did had an ankle injury I was dealing with and even had surgery. I fought through it and it was really tough. However, nearing the end my grade for one reason or another dropped too low. If I did really well on the final I was hoping I could pass. I did not score high enough though. My final grade was around 76-78. They told me to come back next year but the policy says you may return once. They then told me I should look into medical assisting. I was hesitant at first but I thought I had no where else to go so I signed up. I actually fell in love with the field. My anxiety was also better under controlled and I was thriving. I graduated in August of last year. I love my job overall and actually enjoy going to work most of the time. However due to the loans I took out I’m struggling financially. I’m 27 and still live with my parents and really want to move out. But I had to take out private loans (once I switched schools I had no more loans so these are all from the start) with high monthly payments. I’m able to pay them as well as my bills I need to pay but can not afford rent. My coworkers keep telling me to go back to school to get a higher paying job. The issue lies in the fact that I was struggling so much I’m scared to go back. Since finishing school though I finally got diagnosed with ADHD which would probably contribute to how much I struggled in school. I’m now medicated for it because I noticed my inability to focus and stay on task was causing me issues at work and it has helped a lot. I just don’t know if staying in this field I can be financially stable. What would you do in my situation to make more money?

I work at the front desk of a small clinic, and patients without insurance often ask which screening they should prioritize. I never know how to answer because I'm not a clinician and don't want to overstep. For example, if it were your own aunt or uncle around 58, overweight, mostly sedentary, but no major symptoms what would you suggest they focus on first? A lipid panel? An EKG? Something else entirely? I'm curious how other MAs handle these conversations while staying within their role.

I just got put on for an externship at an urgent care ! I prefer fast paced environments but I’m definitely looking for some advice so I don’t get fired or removed from the site!!
My end goal is to somehow work in a hospital and I was thinking this would be a good on my resume for that :)

Sometimes when I talk to patients they’ll tell me about their personal lives and that’s fine I love talking to patients.

But there will be times where patients share their personal experiences that deal with sorrow or death and I somehow never know how to respond. It’s like I understand where they’re coming from and I empathize with them but I don’t know what I should say. I don’t know if some of the things I could say is out of line, inappropriate, or even in my scope of practice.

What do you guys do when this happens? I feel like I leave them with no solution or maybe I’m tweaking

Edit: I’m 21 and I’m a senior in college. I try my best to reassure them by repeating what they’ve said but I never feel fulfilled with what I have to say idk if that makes sense

Hi everyone,
I got let go from my medical assistant position this morning, and honestly I’m still trying to process it.
I’m pretty confused because I genuinely felt like I was catching on quickly. The office’s system wasn’t exactly the easiest, and the MA training me had only been there for 3–4 months herself, so we were both still learning in some ways. I had been there for about a month, and the patients genuinely seemed to love me. I’m really outgoing and bubbly, and I always tried to make people feel comfortable. I was doing everything that was asked of me, so this kind of came out of nowhere.
Then I got a call from the manager saying I wasn’t a good fit and that I was being terminated. The reason they gave was that I “wasn’t picking things up fast enough,” but that honestly doesn’t match the feedback I had been getting day to day, which is why I’m so confused.
I’m trying not to take it personally because I know sometimes places just aren’t the right fit, but it definitely sucks. I was finally starting to feel financially stable again, I was getting comfortable with the workflow, and the part-time schedule worked perfectly with my college classes.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? Is this common in smaller private practices? Also, if anyone knows of any part-time medical assistant positions in the NYC metro area, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks ❤️

i passed the CCMA test in my junior year of high school (done through the school) and had the choice in senior year to practice as an MA and eventually earn the PCT cert or practice as a pharmacy tech trainee and eventually earn the tech cert (again thru school). i chose tech before doing any research and realized halfway through that i needed PCE to become a physician's assistant. i'm going to college out of state and i'm wondering if it's realistic or possible to even get a job as an MA with no experience and a 1 year gap btwn getting a cert and applying for a job. also, would the tech experience help? should i wait til i graduate college to become an MA?

I'm still in training but they are so short a lot of times I get tossed on my own for periods of the day because my trainer is needed somewhere else. Then get screamed at if I make a mistake. I had a couple interviews lately and told them i can start immediately. I figured since I'm not even half way done with my "training" no point in giving a 2 weeks notice. Plus I'm so mentally beat down from my short time there, I can't sleep. I have never in any job ive had been talked down to the way I am here.

Come to find out they have me scheduled on my own soon because my trainer leaves for vacation, and when she gets back I continue training. If I quit between now and then, they are basically screwed.

In this case, would you feel bad about just resigning effective immediately if I get lucky enough to get a job offer soon?

Edit: I'm not too worried about burning a bridge. This hospital system is so toxic, I'd work literally anywhere but in one of their offices

So I 33f am a CMA in a cardiology office. I’ve been in the healthcare field for the better part of the last 13 years. I have received multiple, I don’t want to call it an award, but they would pass out like little certificates if we received positive patient feedback. I get compliments from my patients almost daily. I am very friendly, very down to earth while also staying professional. I have excellent relationships with a lot of the patients that we have to see more often. Well let’s fast forward to today. Today I had a 22 year old female come in who was accompanied by her brother and grandmother. Our triage room is not very big so it’s pretty difficult to have more than just myself and the patient in there. Well when I called the girl to come back with me, grandma and brother came too. So I put the grandma and the brother into the room she was going to see the dr in while I take her to triage and all of that. Well it didn’t seem like a big issue. I got her in there took her BP asked her some questions, did an ekg etc. I could tell she seemed a little bit nervous/ anxious, but I really didn’t think much of it. There were some things she told me that her grandmother would know more about, which is really not a shock seeing as a lot of 22 year olds I have come in here bring a parent and they do most of the talking. So once I got her triaged, I took her to the room with grandma and I sat down to ask her some questions as well. So grandma tells me that she is autistic and was probably uncomfortable due to the fact that things happened so fast and they got separated. Mind you at this point I am apologizing because it was not intentional to make her uncomfortable. When I left the room everything seemed fine. I let the Dr know what happened before she went in. Well about 20 ish minutes later the Dr walks out with the patient and they left. She tells me that she did not see the patient because once she got in there grandma basically had a fit because why would she want to be seen at a drs office that is going to traumatize the girl. Brittany, the dr, tried talking to her and explaining that it wasn’t intentional and she also was apologizing profusely. Well I sent a message to my office manager to let her know what happened in case this grandmother would call and make a complaint. What I didn’t know was Brittany and had also called to talk to her about the situation. Here’s where the issue lies, my manager basically said well let’s just hope she doesn’t file a complaint. To me that basically was her saying you’re on your own if she does complain.

Now here is where I start to get a little pissed off. I am the mother of an autistic 12 year old girl, if I had her at the dr and they tried to separate her from me, I would make it clear that she is autistic and won’t be able to go in alone. Had the grandma said anything or made any indication that she wanted or needed to go in with the patient it wouldn’t have been an issue. So basically there’s a chance I can be written up and get in trouble for this. If that were the case should I file a grievance with HR since this was a situation that wasn’t in my control? I mean it’s not like I could just look at her and assume she’s autistic. I guess basically I’m just asking if anyone has been through anything like this? Should I just go to HR before she even gets a chance to file a complaint? I’m really at a loss as to what to do because I love my job and I’m pretty damned good at it. We are a branch of a bigger office inside of a local hospital, so there is no manage here, and it’s typically just me the registration girl and one or both of the physicians I work are here. There was no one to get to kind of step in and solve the problem. Any advice would be appreciated.

I’m a new grad working as a medical assistant in an OBGYN office. We have an ultrasound tech in office that somewhat often discovers fetal demise. Happens about once a week. Even when not my patient, I hear the mother crying when she learns her baby is dead. Last month my patient had a second trimester loss. Today I learned a patients infant died. A month or so after birth.
How do you deal with this?
How do you process?

We all signed a sympathy card for the family. But I just can’t process.
How do I do this?

Just got offered a position for Ophthalmology and Ob/Gyn! My experience is in Family Medicine and Urgent Care. Please give me all the insight to know about working Opthalmology and Ob/Gyn so that I can make my decision!

Both positions are for the same organization and they're offering me the same pay and benefits.

I am about to finish my first week of externship, but so far I’m so underwhelmed. It’s definitely the site I got sent to. It’s just two MAs who are training ( if I can call it training ) me, one doctor and only one other MA performing venipuncture, ekg, vitals. Only one of the MAs training me has been doing great job showing me eclinicalworks, the other MA is just…mediocre at best. All she does is talk about patients, celebrity gossip and her personal life and gets in the way and distracts the one MA who has been really showing me around with pointless things. They’re always on their phone and I’ve asked if I can do or if they do anything around this time and they said no. I don’t have anything to do and the one doctor spends his time in his office not even seeing they spend so much time on their phones. . .i was told I can’t switch sites before I started or else I have to start all over again. 6 more weeks to go. I just needed to get this off my chest.

Anyone know what the interview process is like? How long it takes them to get back to you after application submission.

The apprenticeship opens in July but doesnt start until October, so does it really take like 2 months for them respond back?

I had unprotected sex with my girlfriend and I came a hour before we had sex I came outside her vagina and she’s 14 days before her period is there a serious risk of pregnancy???

I just finished my exam for my medical assistant certification, and I don’t know how to feel. This is my retake from my first one ( failed by 1 point ;-;) I studied for this exam this time around but I felt like there was so many questions I didn’t know specifically clinical aspects! I’m nervous and feel like I did worse but I was doing good with practice problems. Let’s hope I did better but has anyone felt like this before and actually passed?

Hello! Does anyone have any recommendations for a legit and affordable (1-4 k ) course for earning an MA certificate that actually lets u get hired?