I have read so many forums on Medical Assistants verses LPN's and RN's, and it is really beginning to be a little ridiculous. One forum that I read is where a LPN and a MA argued and cursed back and forth over who should be allowed to perform certain duties based on their title!!! If I was a patient, I wouldn't want either one of them giving me patient care. I am in school and would like to pursue a career in the medical field, but unsure as to what direction I should take after reading so many negative forums. I personally feel after what I have read on these forums that medical assistants should be given the same respect as a LPN or RN. If a LPN duties are somewhat the same as a medical assisant,the pay should be the equal and medical assistants should too be licensed. Why even come up with the title of a medical assistant. Either you are studying to become a LPN or a RN. Regardless of what a person may choose, it is not about your title but PATIENT CARE!!!!!

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I was with you until you got to the part about becoming an LPN or RN vs. MA. That has to be the most ignorant thing I have heard this week. Thanks, for bringing that old discussion back up here!

Nurses are not trained in office procedures such as billing, coding and the whole first year of a CMA(AAMA)s program, unless they were trained as MAs. An RN who I used to work with was an MA and she really did have a clue and a little more respect for the MAs. I really have no desire to go to nursing school, if I wanted more I'd do something else.

Would you say a DO is less than equal to or better than an MD? How about the old gym teacher with a masters who now owns and runs a coffee shop? Or, is it more important what they are saying and doing?

Do what you love. Yes, it is about patient care.

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Good points from "confused" and good answer from Jefff. I was away from my office for a few days, and no computer, and when I just got back, I enjoyed reading this post and reply. I agree. It is true. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and the RN vs. LPN and MA had been going on for YEARS now. Also, the debate whether medical assistants should be licensed had been brewing for long over a decade on various web forums and blogs. One of the biggest with most of the bickering and tempers flaring is probably All Nurses .com. I have long stopped reading them. I completely agree with Jefff on this hotly debated issue. In the end it all boils down what YOU DO, and you do best. I am 100 percent convinced that medical assistants play a very, very, very important role in the medical office and the community. I have written whole articles on this, explaining that the MA is the first point of service in a medical office, the unsung hero, the friendly smile, and touch that can make or brake a medical office. And I mean it... and I know that doctors agree that they couldn't practice without their medical assistants in the front and back. Period.

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Just to clarify. When I said, why even come up with the title of a medical assistant, I meant the same for LPN's, and RN's as well. No disrespect to any of the three professions, but when a patient sees you in scrubs, they see a NURSE!!! Unless you tell them otherwise. Therefore, it really is not about the title at all or who should perform certain duties. Stop the bickering and let's work together to take care of patients.

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You see, this is where I see things a bit different, and strongly beg to differ. A medical assistant carries the perfect title, because that is exactly what medical assisistants are. They are in an assistive position to the doctor in an ambulatory medical setting. A medical assistant does not carry out nursing procedures, and is not to be mistaken with a nurse, physician assistant, or nurse's aide. The medical assistant discipline, while fully integrated into today's modern healthcare delivering and medical team as a whole, should never ever even GIVE the impression, he or she is a nurse, let alone tolerate being referred to a as one. I have driven this point home for nearly a decade now. A medical assistant is not a nurse and should always introduce and refer to her/himself as a medical assistant, verbally and by means of a clearly visible ID badge/name tag.

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Dannie,

You are absolutely right!! A Medical Assistant should NEVER portray herself/himself as a nurse. In the eyes of most patients though, when they are given medical care they tend to think they are seeing a nurse. Especially if a patient doesn't pay close attention to the name tags. I use to be a Medical Records Clerk at a hospital, and one day I was mistaken for an RN by a patient, and I wasn't even wearing my Id badge. I politely had to let the patient know that I am a medical records clerk and not an nurse. My point is that to the patient, it really does not matter whether you are a MA,LPN, or RN, the patient just wants to be taken care of. Most patients do not understand the difference of the three professions at all. It is not about the title. I do understand the duties of a medical assistant, which is why I am considering this field. And yes,I still do feel that medical assistants should be given equal pay as a LPN, and be licensed.

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And with that we are back on the same page and seeing eye to eye. I understand what you are saying and from that perspective, it is true.

Your Professional Title/Credentials: Website Owner/Forum Admin