If you're a certified Medical assistant with a B.A. do you get paid more?

Question

I got my Bachelor's Degree a few years back (NOT a science backgroud) and now decided I want to get certified as a Medical Assistant. Do they pay more if you have a Bachelor's Degree?? Also, does all this training help with getting into med school or a Physicians Assistant program? (I'd go straight into a P.A. program, but I don't have a science background, or the prereq classes)

Answer 1

Unfortunately the BA with the MA isnt going to help you very much in terms of pay-- I know this from personal experience as I worked as a nurse's assistant while I as studying for my MCAT and applying to medical school. Still-- I don't think that it would be a bad idea, esp for PA school. My understanding is that PA schools typically require a certain number of hours of clinical experience-- med school definitely recommends (but not requires) cliinical hours. The MA (or even just a CNA) is a good idea bc it takes a matter of a few months to get a certification that can help with your living expenses as well as contribute to your PA/Med Schoo application. People view nursing as an easy thing to do but you are looking at a minimum of 1y of education to become a nurse (LVN), this is not even acounting for the waitlist that exists at many nursing schools throughout the country. Long answer but I would do this:
1. Don't bother getting certified in anything, apply at your local hospital to be something that here in tx is call a personal care assistant. Its more or less a MA/CNA with no certification required. They make ~$8, which is equivalent to what most MAs make without the costs/time of a few months of MA school
2. Get a 2nd job doing research using your BA-- I know you said its not a science degree but you should be able to get a jobb doing clinical research (not bench work with a regular BA) These jobs are typically very low paying as well-- ~20k per year
3. Make sure that these two jobs aren't too demanding, shoot for a max 60h work week-- sign up for Kaplan courses for GMAT or MCAT. The end result is that you are making enough money (barely) to live on and you two jobs fuel the quality of your application.

Answer 2

medical assistants dont make squat and I doubt that your bachelors will help much. It will also be no help at all if you think you are going to be a PA or an MD, you will be wasting your time. you should go back to school and build on your BA by taking the science you need to either go on to PA or med school. Or, go for an RN, that would be an excellent idea with less education required and good earning potential. medical assisting is not going to get you very far in life at all

Answer 3

Now
You might make 0.50$ more then someone with a 9 month certificate but a BS as an MAdoes not make you anymore qualified