LPN versus CMA

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I was thinking at first of going for my Medical Assistant degree, since I want to work in a clinic so badly. I heard so much about how LPN's are getting phased out and only CMA's are getting jobs at clinics, and CMA's are higher up than LPN's. This of course coming from recruters from CMA programs. It would seem that the only difference between CMA's and LPN's are the fact that Med Asst's. get training in lab and x-ray. Well, I already am a certified Phlebotomist, and so I have that going. Any of you guys and gals work alongside Med Assts? Anyone work in clinics? :balloons:

Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.
Tothepointe.... However, in looking up the pay rate, its only by about $1000 a year and that depends on where you are working.

Not in CA its not the pay difference is about $20,000 a year.

The LVN course I am at requires 1800 hours about 5/8 are clinical hours

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.
Looks like another person misinformed by a CMA school...

Please do not believe everything your school or instructors tell you. Of course they give you negative "information" about LPNs because they wanted you to choose the CMA program! Schools make lots of $$$ off of that.

At the school I'm at they get the students that don't score high enough in the placement test to take MA training so they can "get in" to the LVN course.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Once again, a CMA will NEVER be a nurse- that title is proudly held by LPN's and RN's who have went to an accreditied school of nursing and have passed state boards. Nurses have worked hard and earned the title of Nurse- the others have not....

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
At the school I'm at they get the students that don't score high enough in the placement test to take MA training so they can "get in" to the LVN course.

Wow, they are that determined to rip these people off that they'll tell them that they can eventually get into the LPN program? Wow...:down: how LOW down!

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That is HORRIBLE! Schools will tell you anything for you to go there. I just met a young girl here in NYC who graduated from CMA school in June and says her starting salary will be $10 an hour after a $13,000 tuition bill. My LPN school was $10,000 and I will be starting at $25 an hour in a LTC facility here in NY. So now you know why there were a few CMAs in my class, right?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
At the school I'm at they get the students that don't score high enough in the placement test to take MA training so they can "get in" to the LVN course.
I attended a trade school where many of the students in the LVN program were disillusioned CMAs (certified medical assistants) who were unhappy with their advancement opportunities and pay.
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Specializes in LTC.
"I attended a trade school where many of the students in the LVN program were disillusioned CMAs (certified medical assistants) who were unhappy with their advancement opportunities and pay.

Right on, TheCommuter. I'm one of the many disillusioned CMA's out there. The pay rate stinks, the recruiters are liars, and even the statistics on websites such as monster.com are grossly inaccurate. (They quote average starting salaries much higher for my area than what it is in actuality!)

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Specializes in Hospice / Ambulatory Clinic.
Wow, they are that determined to rip these people off that they'll tell them that they can eventually get into the LPN program? Wow...:down: how LOW down!

They will let them in the LVN course after MA training provided they pass the entrance HESI though which is different from the entrance exam

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

I got my MA training at a JC in California where the tuition is cheap (currently at a JC here its only $20 her unit; granted I graduated back in 2002 so it may have been even cheaper). We were not disillusioned at all, our instructor told us we would get cruddy pay (I was making $9.50 when I left my job when I started nursing school, and I had been hired at this job before I even graduated MA school; and no I was not a lousy MA, I was considered one of the higher paid ones at my job...). I was just taking the course so I could see if I wanted to even work in the medical field before spending 5-6 years getting my BSN (a 3 year program plus 2 years pre-requs) and so that I would have a job that was medical related while taking pre-reqs if I decided that I did want to pursue a higher education degree.

I loved it and quickly realized that I could never be an MA forever; not challenging enough. Being an MA helped me to be more comfortable around patients than my fellow classmates, and I did have a leg up having done vitals, minor office procedures, EKG, injections and blood draws, but after 2/3 of the first year of nursing I was at the same level as everyone else.

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Just wanted to throw my hat in the ring for a sec... CMA's are Certified Medical Assistants. We carry a NATIONAL certification. We can move to any state and be legal to work. LPN is a 1 year program who's focus is on care of the patient - workable ONLY IN THE STATE OF LICENSURE. CMA's have the same studies, however, we continue on for another year to obtain a 2 year degree (Associates of Science - Allied Health) which includes the administration aspect of the business. After our completion of our AA degree, we are qualified to not only care of patients, but we can also work in the front office - which without onsite training, LPN's are not able to do.

The CMA position is a relatively new position when compared to LPN's. Healthcare providers have figured out that there is no reason to hire two people, to do the job that one CMA can do. In some of the previous posts, people say that they know a CMA that doesn't appear to know even simple things which we deal with in an office everyday. Well, to be completely honest, I believe you have to take a step back and look at the individual in which you are talking about. I know PA's and nurses, that can barely walk and chew gum. So, to post a statement implying CMA's are ignorant of medical conditions and/or procedures, would be completely asinine. The American Association of Medical Assistants (http://www.aama-ntl.org/) website may help offer you a much more complete view of who and what we are.

Another fact which I think should be taken into account, is anyone can be hired into a Medical Assistant position. While I think this is a totally ignorant practice, I didn't make the rules on that. HOWEVER, when a Medical Assistant gets serious about what he/she is doing, and decides to get Certified, that's a different ballgame completely. Being certified means that you have completed a national exam. Very much like what RN's have to complete (although, I'm not comparing CMA's to Nurses). The certification is not handed out lightly, and I would challenge any LPN who thinks CMA's are beneath them, to sit for the exam. You'll find out very quickly there's alot of the test you've never heard of or seen. The

Where I live in the east US, LPN's are being phased out or forced to go back to school for more training. Now, based on the fact that they have to go "back to school" to get a degree, coupled with the fact that I am both qualified and certified to do anything that an LPN can do... please tell me what possible reasoning can you have to try to justify that LPN's are above CMA's on the rungs of the medical ladder.

Please understand... I don't dislike LPN's - most of you are wonderful people and are very good at what you do, but.. just because we have a different title and a degree, please don't try to put us down when you don't understand exactly who we are, and what we can do. I am a CMA and I can do exactly what you can, but when you go back to your nurses station, I can go transcribe it, code it, and bill it.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
LPN is a 1 year program who's focus is on care of the patient - workable ONLY IN THE STATE OF LICENSURE.
I am one of many LPNs who holds licensure in several states. I could be licensed in all 50 states if I really deemed it necessary to do so. In addition, many community colleges offer the 2-year associate of applied science degree in practical nursing. By the way, welcome to our forums! :)

CMA's have the same studies, however, we continue on for another year to obtain a 2 year degree (Associates of Science - Allied Health) which includes the administration aspect of the business.
I became a CMA in 2000. I became an LPN/LVN in 2005. Since I completed both programs, I can assuredly state that CMAs do not study the same things as LPNs. If the education were the same, the average CMA would be earning more money.

Healthcare providers have figured out that there is no reason to hire two people, to do the job that one CMA can do.
Healthcare providers have figured out that CMAs are more cost-effective because they, unfortunately, can be paid less for all of their hard work.

I know PA's and nurses, that can barely walk and chew gum.
I acknowledge the truthfulness of this statement. Some PAs and nurses lack common sense and knowledge. Then again, many nurses and PAs can run circles around any healthcare provider with good care.

Where I live in the east US, LPN's are being phased out or forced to go back to school for more training. Now, based on the fact that they have to go "back to school" to get a degree, coupled with the fact that I am both qualified and certified to do anything that an LPN can do... please tell me what possible reasoning can you have to try to justify that LPN's are above CMA's on the rungs of the medical ladder.
On many parts of the East Coast, it is true that LPNs are being phased out of acute care hospitals due to facilities that would like to attain magnet status by having RNs as primary caregivers. However, LPNs are a forceful presence in home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, rehab, psychiatric hospitals, group homes, and so forth.

While you have been trained to do "anything" most nurses can do, I can be certain you have not been taught the in-depth pathophysiology and interpretations behind the things you're doing. Do you know how to interpret the rhythms on the EKG strips you obtain to see if the patient is having a normal sinus rhythm, ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, etc.? Can you assess for the adverse reactions of the vaccines you administer? Would you know what to do if a patient's INR was 16? What is the difference between Lantus and Levemir? If the patient is diaphoretic and shaky, what is the first thing you'd do?

There's a difference between knowing how to perform a task and knowing the reasoning behind performing the task.

Again, welcome to these forums! :welcome:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
JVery much like what RN's have to complete (although, I'm not comparing CMA's to Nurses).
Uh, yes you are. My state's practice act states that LPNs are basic nurses, and that RNs are professional nurses.

The "N" in LPN stands for "nurse." Therefore, every LPN in the United States and Canada with active licensure is a nurse. So when you make comparisons between CMAs and LPNs, you are comparing CMAs to nurses.

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