Virginia Board of Nursing-approved · 68 hours · $925 all-inclusive · November cohort full · Next cohort December
Caregivers in the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia have had two options for medication aide training: a long drive to a class in Roanoke or beyond, or waiting for a community to run its own. Our Radford location changes that. The 40 classroom hours are live online from wherever you are, and the in-person skills days are in Radford.
We serve students from Radford, Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Pulaski, Dublin, Fairlawn, Wytheville, Floyd, and Roanoke.
Prerequisite: an active Virginia CNA, PCA, or Direct Care credential. Full curriculum, instructor bios, and student reviews are on the Virginia program page.
Your in-person skills practice, the insulin module, and the final exam day take place at a Commonwealth Senior Living partner community in the Radford area. You pick Radford as your location when you enroll, and we confirm the site, dates, and what to bring before your first in-person day. In-person days run during daytime hours for both cohorts, and we group them so out-of-town students make as few trips as possible.
Rural communities feel med aide vacancies hardest because there’s no agency down the road to fill the gap. Reserve seats for your CNAs in the November cohort or run a private cohort for your community. Communities that host clinical hours get first access to graduates. Talk to us about an employer cohort.
$925 covers all 68 hours of tuition, training materials, clinical coordination at the Radford partner site, your certificate of completion, background check, and instructor access with exam-prep support. Pay in full or split with Klarna. The credential typically lifts hourly pay $3 to $6 over a CNA rate in assisted living, so most students recoup the fee within one to two months of starting the new role.
The 20 skills hours, the 8-hour insulin module, and the exam day are in person, scheduled in a handful of daytime blocks over the six weeks. We give you the exact dates at enrollment so you can plan the drives.
Radford is our Southwest Virginia location. Most Roanoke students find it a shorter and easier drive than the alternatives, and it’s only for the in-person days.
Classes run live on Zoom. A phone hotspot works for most students in a pinch, and sessions are structured so a dropped connection doesn’t cost you the day. Tell us at enrollment if connectivity is a concern.
Radford classes are capped at 10 students, and it’s the only site serving the region. Apply early.
