Can a graduated nurse be a medical assistant ?

[Ilovelife1234]

Hello everybody,

This may be a dumb question but I have graduated with my BSN and was wondering if I could apply for a medical assistant position? I know for a medical assistant position you have to have a medical assistant license but I basically have done all duties of a medical assistant in nursing school and have done duties of a registered nurse.

I am in the process of taking my NCLEX again and I do want to be a registered nurse but I figured this would be an amazing opportunity to practice my clinical skills again until I pass my NCLEX. The feedback would be much appreciated . Thank you!

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

16 hours ago, Gingeriffic said:

A BSN isn’t “unable” to perform MA duties. It’s a matter of not being an MA. Go ask a clinic and see what they say, instead of asking a bunch of nurses if you “can” take vitals and give shots. Of course you “can.” But you probably won’t get hired as a medical assistant just because you went to nursing school. Two different things. Go be a tele tech or nursing tech if you want to get a jump start while you prepare for boards. Unless you want to work in a clinic basically doing the same thing anyway

Some clinics require MA certification, but not all do. The last clinic I worked at trained their own MAs and all they required was a high school education.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

You can...but why would you?

[Gingeriffic]

19 hours ago, FullGlass said:

Some clinics require MA certification, but not all do. The last clinic I worked at trained their own MAs and all they required was a high school education.

I believe the term ‘clinic/al assistant’ for this position (probably pretty much the same role as MA) for those that have not done a medical assistant program. Semantics. The point of this whole post is that it’s almost silly for OP to consider somewhat of an entry level position despite completing a 4 year degree. No offense meant, but why pursue a job to make half of what an RN makes. The hiring clinic would probably not invest in onboarding a new medical assistant hire knowing OP is a new grad and in the process of taking boards. It’s also not very noble to get a position with the obvious intent to leave as soon as possible.

[Lurkndmurk, ADN, RN]

Why dont you apply for a new grad program?