Medical Assistant to LPN

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I have gone to medical assistant training and I work as a phlebotomy/EKG Tech. My question is if I want to become a LPN do I have to go through all the courses or can my work experience help me in not taking some of the courses.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, OB/GYN, ER, Geriatrics.

I do not know what state you are in, but here in Ca, your MA certification is not able to cancel out any of the courses for LPN. I can tell you though that being a MA has helped me so much in nursing school, but now know that there is a BIG difference in the scope of practice of an MA and the scope of practice for an LPN.

In other words, when we were learning injections, I already knew the sites for IM, SUBQ, and ID. Also knowing medical terminology has also helped me, but transitioning from MA to LPN has really been a rewarding experience and a lot to learn. I am so glad that I was not able to transfer any of my MA credits over because I feel that I would of missed out on a lot of stuff you need to know to become a nurse!

HTH!

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You are going to have to go to "Nursing school", all of it. MA education is very different than Nursing school, even though some of the manual skills are similar.

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Specializes in Medical Assisting.

I agree w/ the 2 above posters... I myself am in LVN school post being an MA. The theories, skills go beyond that of an MA so it is definitely worth it to go through the entire program. Where I go, the only class you could get exempt from is Anatomy/Physiology for Allied Health. However, I am glad that I went from Nurse Aide to Medical Asst. because it is helping me a great deal now. I know many meds, the injection sites/how to give an injection, draw blood, take histories, etc. I say go for the LPN program anyhow and I'm sure that you'll be glad that you did! :D

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Not sure what state laws are for you but I am currently a cma in mass and i am going through school now to be a lpn. I took a & p & micro ahead of time even though they were not required for me as a ma so i didn't have to take those but because i took human growth and development as part of my ma schooling i was able to get out of taking that class too. where im at i lpns do not draw blood so my phlebotomy cert isn't any good as a nurse :( but it does give you an advantage when you do iv therapy!! like the above post being a ma helped with meds and common diags. i work for a family practice doc and i've learned more on the job which helped me with lpn school. good luck to you!!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

In my personal experience, the admissions people for nursing programs do not care that an applicant has experience as a medical assistant. You still need to complete the same prerequisite classes, pass the same entrance exams, and be willing to enroll in the same nursing courses as everyone else who hopes to get admitted. Medical assisting is part of the medical model, and nursing is part of the nursing model. While a few medical assisting skills might overlap with a few nursing skills, the two career fields are not alike.

In other words, your medical assistant training and work experience is very unlikely to cut any time off your end goal of becoming a nurse.

I earned a certificate in medical assisting back in 2000. I did not receive any special consideration when getting admitted into an LPN/LVN program in 2004, or when getting accepted into an RN program in 2009.

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