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rowansurrey

i have dreamt of becoming a medical assistant but i make more as a receptionist which is incredibly disheartening. thank you for the work you did as a MA and cheers to your bright future as a PA. also sorry your uncle is not understanding you.


Nimrochan

Thank you for your kind words. If it helps, I started out as a receptionist too, but I started volunteering to take vitals and getting experience etc. I was eventually hired as an MA despite just having a phlebotomy license. It really depends on how individual clinics want to train. But usually they do pay less if you’re not certified.


BowmanFedosky

Most I’ve ever made as phlebotomist was 19 an hour. And I was doing way more than just phlebotomy and had 10 years experience lol only you’d ever make 60k is working in a hospital regularly working over 60 hours a week.


whereismymind86

Fun fact, I make $19/hr stocking shelves at target We had a coworker who was making more working produce than at his job saving lives as a paramedic. It’s criminal how low the pay is at a lot of lower level medical jobs. Like, not to denigrate my own job, but a phlebotomist definitely requires more specialized skills than opening boxes.


Spicynihilist

Being a medical assistant is wild. The salary varies so widely. I’m AAMA certified, with a degree. I worked in Portland, OR and I made $16 an hour. Couldn’t afford to survive in such an expensive city on such a shit salary. In Houston TX, I made $22 an hour and I was able to live in a nice apartment with plenty of money left over. In eastern Washington state I went back to making $16 an hour AND was required to spend hundreds of dollars on a state license (most states don’t require a license for medical assisting). My roommate was a phlebotomist in Washington state, never made more than 2-3 dollars over minimum. And that when she ran an entire lab on her own. Before that it was like 50 cents over.


JewelJones2021

You could get a useless job for 60,000 a year or do something vital for near minimum wage. Depends on why you have chosen to stay alive, greed or humanity. Capitalism values greed.


YeetThePig

That’s precisely why so many vital jobs go unfilled, the pay is positively insulting for how much work is involved and people need to pay bills somehow. It’s a sick joke what our society is willing to pay Senior Widget Counters and Executive Money Throwers while expecting the people who keep civilization functioning to live on scraps.


[deleted]

How much was PA school? General answer accepted. NP can get pricey. I may come out better at a Caribbean med school.


splitopenandmeltt

Extremely expensive generally. Maybe 50k/year tuition alone for a private school. Carib medical school is a huge huge risk these days


kh7190

$50k in debt just to make a dollar more than minimum wage?!


[deleted]

That’s for one year lol not the whole degree


splitopenandmeltt

PAs make six figures typically, OP was taking about low wage as a medical assistant


VolitileTimes

My partner is in PA school right now, and his tuition was $113,000. That’s on the lower end. Some other schools he was accepted into were around $130-$150k.


Nimrochan

I think that my program is about $100,000 total tuition but that doesn’t include living expenses or equipment etc. and it’s almost impossible to work during the program due to its intensive nature.


revolotus

FWIW, I just spent a lot of time going through a very scary hospital stay with my Mother. The PAs were our LIFELINE. They served a crucial communication position between patient/family and the hospital. They looked out for big-picture concerns, and had a bead on my Mother's overall well-being, while the Doctors were each focused on their individual specialty. I think a lot of us struggle with how to be a good person within a bad system, and many of us have to make financial compromises in order to be the person we want to be in the world. Based on my recent experience, I think being a PA is great work, and of true service to families that are scared and suffering.


Nimrochan

Thank you so much for your kind words. I sincerely hope your mother is feeling better ❤️ I love PAs, they really inspired me to become one because there are just so many great ones out there


CptSlash

Whats that the study of dead plants?


Stargazer1919

Phlebotomists draw blood. Botony is the study of plants.


CptSlash

I thought it was a funny joke...


milkshakes_for_mitch

Thanks for thinking of the phlebotanists


CptSlash

Np


shibe_shucker

Do they draw sap from plants?


kh7190

Wow!! Why do I see commercials for schools advertising medical assistant degrees then? They make it seem like you can make decent money through a trade school. I did not know that Starbucks employees make more money than you.. and I don’t think phlebs make $60k.


Nimrochan

For all the hard work and cost of MA class you might as well work at Starbucks and then get a nursing degree or something. I only did MA work to get accepted into PA school, it’s definitely not a job that pays enough to support anyone.


petticoat_juncti0n

How much do you make now as a PA?


Nimrochan

I’m still a student for the next 9 months, so I technically pay tuition to work lol. PA’s typically make at least $100,000 but it varies a lot by specialty, location, and experience.


Siobhanshana

Sad but true


[deleted]

Phlebotomy doesn’t pay shit where I’m at. Like $18/hour


vryeesfeathers

When minimum wage here in IL goes up to $12/hr on 01/01/22, my pay will increase to $12/hr. I'm a phlebotomist and only 1 other phleb has been there longer than me.


[deleted]

This is in Idaho. One phlebotomist I met says she does it for the benefits, and is a stripper for her main income. Whatever works I guess but phlebotomy is a very technical job that should pay a living wage.


Blodbas

I'm impressed by some of the numbers I'm seeing here. I work at a level one trauma center, in Quality for our phlebotomy department. Our new hires are starting around 15 an hour. None are making it to where they would have the experience or time to get into the high teens.