I’m not sure if this post is a cautionary tale, but I feel I should share my story.
I’m a medical assistant with a certification in the field. It’s not a glamorous job, and it’s severely underpaid (as most jobs currently are.) I started working at a private doctors office in September of 2020.
I started out as a part-time employee making $17/hr with no benefits. As someone with student loans, I impulsively accepted the offer. There were 2 providers at this practice who I will refer to as Dr. S and Dr. J, and an office manager who I will call Karen.
Going into this job, I wanted to make a good impression and essentially prove to myself that I am capable of accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time. I was also adamant about demonstrating my worth, which was a big mistake in hindsight.
When I first started working at this practice, there was a head Medical Assistant named Jamie who was kind and knowledgeable about the field, but in some way, you could tell she was being spread thin. Karen was constantly piling work on her desk, directing all phone calls to her line, and generally micromanaging her. I was hired with the assumption I would alleviate some of her work load, and I was insistent on doing so.
It didn’t take too long to realize the workplace was toxic as Karen frustratingly micromanaged the going-on, while contributing little of her own work. Dr. J was no better, as he had frequent fits and meltdowns resulting in throwing files, yelling and swearing at the staff. They liked me however– probably because I made it a goal to do as they asked before they could even ask.
This next part I will break down into segments as there is a lot for me to unpack:
Problem #1- The Work Load
Jamie clearly was struggling tremendously in her personal life, and I don’t think this job helped her at all. From my viewpoint, she went from being overworked to shirking in all her duties. I can’t blame her. But every time she called out or forgot to complete FMLA paperwork, or schedule a surgery, the task was thrown onto me. And Dr. J and Karen knew I’d get the work done.
Jamie stopped showing up to work most days, and eventually quit. While it was good for her, the work was given to me. Some of these tasks I was never trained to do. I had to, and did figure out how to complete them, but there was a lot of trial and error, and a lot of scolding from Karen and Dr. J.
When I eventually did learn the ropes, and when they finally hired an MA to assist me in completing these tasks, we were still too understaffed for me to train her. But I stayed. I stayed because “the doctors love you.” I stayed because my partner and I needed money. I stayed
because I thought it would be rude to leave. I stayed at the cost of my own physical and mental well-being.
Problem #2- Karen the Office Manager
The first sign that she was going to make my job difficult was when I asked to go home early due to a chronic autoimmune disease I have. I do try to work past it, but this day was particularly unbearable. At the time, I was working with Dr. S who told me I was free to go home. On my drive home, I received countless phone calls from Karen demanding I tell her where I was, and that I need to ask her if I can leave, not the doctors.
There was a lot I disliked about Karen. When patients who were HIV+ came in for their appointments, she would tell me to wear gloves at all times, and be careful not to touch them. When patients came in who were of different ethnicities, she would bark at them in English. She would ask the race of patients or potential race of patients I was speaking with over the phone. She would treat patients with Medicaid very poorly. She would make off-color jokes about the trans community and preferred pronouns. The only people who were hired at our practice since my time working there were white, and she was skeptical of any person of color.
She would come into work 30 minutes late, take 1 hr+ lunch breaks, and leave before I did. When Dr. J would ask her to help with the patients and cleaning rooms, she would not only NOT DO THAT but also wait for me to complete my various tasks before asking me to do the work she was told to do.
She would call me on my days off to help the office– days I requested off and days the doctors approved of. She would talk over me while I was on the phone, trying to butt into the conversation that she has no part or knowledge of.
She even, right before I quit, asked me to explain to one of the MA’s how to mail out DME over the phone while I was sick with COVID.
I expressed my concern about her to the doctors multiple times, and while things were fixed for a moment, they quickly returned to the same old ways.
Problem #3- Pay & Benefits
Over the course of my employment there I received 2 raises. The first raise was because two of the MA’s (one being Jamie) quit. I told the doctors I deserved more, which brought me to 18.25/hr. With this raise and the role of head Medical Assistant being open, I assumed all of Jamie's duties, and workload. However, the office was grossly understaffed.
They did finally hire a second Medical Assistant, who I will call Diane. After she worked there for 90 days she received a raise, and due to the fact that they gave her a raise, I was also bumped to 19.25/hr.
To put this dollar amount I was making into perspective, I trained Diane at this office (with what little time I had to train her.) Diane did not coordinate surgeries, did not call insurance companies, did not send out referrals, did not order supplies, did not meet with vendors, and did not perform a specialty treatment in our office unsupervised by the doctors. (This treatment was called an EPAT and I don’t even know if I was legally allowed to do it, but I was trained and told to.) Buuut I did all those things. And one day I decided to ask Diane what she made hourly, and she told me.
19.25/hr
So the same as me. Less was asked and required of her but she was making the same pay. Now I’m fully aware of how much they took advantage of me over the past two years. I had a sneaking suspicion, but this was it. I let my mental health suffer with no medical insurance. I let my relationships go on back burners. I let my interests erode. I let my life get put on hold for a job that didn’t give a single fuck about me.
Make of this what you will. I’m not the best with words, and I’m still currently struggling. But I quit last week, and I feel the weight of this job lifted off my shoulders. If you ever question whether or not you should stay at a job, remember they only look out for themselves. You need to look out for you.