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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Entry Points

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Provides the hands-on daily care that patients feel most directly.

Years after high school

0.2–0.5

Degree

Certificate

Entrance exam

State competency exam

Median pay

$42,260 national median for nursing assistants (BLS, May 2025).

What the job is actually like

Bathing, feeding, repositioning, taking vital signs, and being present with patients who are frightened or confused. Physically hard and often underappreciated, and it teaches you more about patient dignity than any lecture will.

The path

  1. 014–12 week state-approved training program
  2. 02State competency exam
  3. 03Work while completing your degree

Good fit if

  • You need direct patient care hours that every program will count
  • You want to test your tolerance for the unglamorous reality of care work

Think twice if

  • You are not prepared for physically and emotionally demanding work at modest pay

Similar paths worth comparing

Medical Scribe

Documents patient encounters in real time alongside a physician — the single best front-row seat in medicine.

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EMT / Paramedic

First on scene — assesses and stabilizes patients before they ever reach a hospital.

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Paramedic

The advanced level of prehospital emergency care — far more scope, training, and pay than an EMT.

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.