Do you like your job as a Medical Assistant?

Is a medical assistant job better than a nursing job?

• Im in a medical assistant program and i would just like to hear peoples experience if they have any in both medical assistant or nursing

• Answer:

  Medical assistant jobs in my state are not better than nursing jobs because there is not a big market for MA positions. I had a pretty upset MA on the phone who had spent a lot of money and time (about 16 months) in a school to become a MA. She was upset because her job options in the state I reside were very limited. Even though she received certain training, from a licensure stand point and regulations.... as a MA she could not pass medications, assess or do anything with residents in a nursing home, for example. She was having a hard time finding a job and said if she knew the trouble she was going to have in finding a job...she would have went to LPN/LVN school. Medical assistants in my state are not "professionalized". What I mean by that is there is no test/boards or anything you have to take. The state does not license or provide a certificate for Medical assistants in my state. I know the job market is definitely different in every state....but I would really encourage you to check out the job market where you know you will be looking for jobs now to see what the market is like for medical assistants. Not to sound too negative, but based on what I have seen in my state from having knowledge from a regulatory healthcare standpoint.........medical assistants are very limited with what they can do in my state. Nurses have more opportunities because they can work in any healthcare setting in my state. Whereas a medical assistant cannot. This of course is my state and I know other states are different!