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Discussion

MA before LVN?

Hi, my name is Autumn, and I'm about to start taking prereqs for MA at the community college I go to. I know that there have been similar questions posed, but I still feel like I'm not getting the answers I need based on others responses.

So a little background about my plan: After I get my MA, I'd like to work in the field for a few years, sometime in those few years I wouldn't mind obtaining a phlebotomy license. I'm really interested in those two paths, and want to explore this area of practice, though the end goal is LVN.

That being said, I'm not very good with math and sciences (the concepts of sciences I can do, not so much the math). I want to spend the few years that I'm a MA working on developing those skills that I need before I begin school for LVN.

While I do want to become an LVN, I'm not sure now is a great time to be investing in it, and there is a little background on that:

I am almost finished with community college, and when I end will have an AA and an AS, and have finished the program for MA. I'm a few classes short of the AA and AS. So I don't want to drop community college for a school like Concorde, though that is where I will probably go for schooling as an LVN.

As far as costs go for MA, the majority of it is covered by financial aid, so it'd not a lot out of pocket for me to do. That's why I'm thinking it may be convenient for me to just go through the MA program, do that for a couple of years, and then when I feel comfortable, have the time, and the money, then apply for nursing.

So, here in lies the questions: Is that plan a waste of time? In the grand scheme of things, is delaying LVN after all those factors, beneficial or harmful?

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    • Featured Replies

    IMO, for what it's worth, if you want to be an LVN, just go to school to be an LVN. I wouldn't waste the time, energy and money doing an MA program first.

    I would also STRONGLY discourage Concorde.

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    Yes it is a waste of time. If you want to be a nurse skip ma. I went and became a ma first. Now I'm in a rn program. With lpn you can bridge to RN. With ma you cant. With ma you will never be paid well and there is really no room for advancement. I'm still a ma part time while in nursing school. I like my job but I'm not satisfied with just being a ma. You will be called nurse and a lot of the time do things outside of your scope of practice. Go to school and just become a nurse

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    Take remedial courses or get a tutor and pursue a degree of science in nursing, you can work at a hospital as a care technician or at a doctor's office in the mean time

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    • Experts

    I completed a medical assisting program many years ago and it was the biggest waste of time, effort and money to date. I was never able to find a job as an MA in southern California's ultra crowded employment market.

    The MA role is part of the medical model of care provision, whereas the LVN and RN roles belong to the nursing model. Since the medical model is so very different than the nursing model, you should bypass the MA training and become a nurse if your end goal is a career in nursing.

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    If you are already going to have both a AS and a AD, have conversation with your academic advisor on what classes you would then need to become a ADN or ASN. Seems as if you have most all of the general ed courses met. It may be a matter of a waiting list. But you can find that out from your advisor. Then it would be a matter of bridging to a BSN at some point.

    It depends on what the jobs are like in your area. However, if you are on a waiting list for your nursing classes, you could take an MA course and start working, a phlebotomist certification and start working, a CNA course, an EMT course. LPN courses take at least a year, but if they are hiring in your area, not a bad thing. See what jobs they have around for all those things. Most will be taught at community colleges. Some workplaces have tuition reimbursement, so to start work is not a bad thing.

    You must have taken a great deal of math and science courses to obtain your associates. Math and science are not easy, however, you can get tutored in both of them. And you could talk about study groups, a study buddy. There are even some high schools who have AP students who would like to tutor--as part of community service for college applications.

    Sometimes A&P is easier when there's a lab, you can see what they are teaching. Sometimes pharmacology is easier, as it is a specific math.

    Bottom line--if I already am obtaining a AS as well as an AD, I would expand on that.

    Best of luck in your future endevours.

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