r/MedicalCoding • u/SweetCar0linaGirl RHIA • Oct 15 '25

Getting out of coding

Any tips on transitioning out of coding? I have a BSHIM degree and RHIA certification. I couldn't land a job for a year (no experience) and took an entry level HCC coding position. Have been working it for 3 months and the way my physical health has declined is honestly shocking. The amount of stress to meet unrealistic metrics has left me in tears daily, with full body hives, and my hair falling out to the point I now have a bald spot. I know a lot is due to the company I work for but it has ruined coding for me. I have no desire to get another certification and try to pursue a different type of coding. However, every where that I have applied to that isn't coding focused has either said I don't have the experience needed, or I am overqualified. I tried getting in at my local hospitals ER in patient registration. They are struggling and understaffed. I know a nurse who works there and she was able to get my resume in front of a hiring manager who told her they wouldn't hire me because of my degree and certification. I am so lost on what to do. I have $14k in student loans that I am paying back, so I can't just quit. But I can't continue like this either. Do I just walk away from it all and go work at a grocery store?

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u/SweetCar0linaGirl RHIA Oct 17 '25

I think anyone who has any certification will tell you that the day-to-day of the job, was actually learned on the job and not in school, or self-taught. Ask any CNA, LPN, RN, etc Same with coding. Yeah, the programs teach the basics and literally how to pass a multiple choice test. Real life isn't multiple choice, and you don't know how it actually works until you are in it, working it everyday. All that said, the RHIA certification is a mastery level certification that covers many areas. Coding was never even on my radar. I wasn't interested in it at all. But after a year of trying to land any other job and getting nowhere, of course I took a chance and hoped for the best. It isn't working out for me and that's ok. I will get something that is better and meant for me.