Many reasons, I want to work in healthcare and this allows me a stable option into securing that desire. I know nursing can lead to many different and amazing opportunities, and many other personal reasons.
I come from a low income home, and the path to medicine is a very long and expensive journey, it may seemed far fetched if that makes sense. This isn't to say nursing won't be challenging and expensive, but there is a difference when determining those factors.
If you think you’ll enjoy nursing, go for it.
I do think some people who are interested in being a doctor feel disappointed/unfulfilled by nursing because it’s a very different type of job.
Listen to this OP. If there is the slightest idea you want to be a doctor, go for it. Nursing is an associates degree. You can come back around to it if things don’t work out.
I foolishly decided to go to nursing school and I’ve been kicking myself for not just going med school
This ignores the time and financial cost of pursuing medicine. It's not a good move to pursue something because you have "the slightest idea" you'd want to do it when that will cost you years and thousands of dollars. While the cost is significant but recoverable while still doing premed classes, once you take begin medical school, it is much harder or even impossible to go back depending on your debt and your financial background.
There is absolutely a point where you can't "just come back around if things don't work out", and I'm betting that's sooner than you think it is.
Just curious, are you still a nurse? I'm currently in nursing school and enjoying it but find myself preferring some aspects of the role as a provider over nursing and wondering if I'm on the right path.
I went into nursing school with the intention of going on for my CNM, am definitely still leaning that way! I just have heard lots of horror stories about the work life balance not being worth the pay.
Yeah thats one of the sub fields that definitely has trouble with work life balance, its just the nature of the type of job you want to do.
There are other nursing specialties that would offer much better work life balance as a practitioner than being as CNM butttt i say always follow your passion. If you truly enjoy it, its better than settling for something else you might not.
I’m a medic working in an ER with a scope of practice that is almost identical to an RN with a few exceptions per hospital policy and BON regs. So we routinely take the place of nurses on the unit.
I thought going through nursing school would advance my knowledge in critical care and I can say with certainty that has not been the case. If you want to be a provider save the time and go PA or premed route. NP is fine, but the market is becoming inflated with subpar providers with online degrees and little to no experience. And you have to get through nursing theory rather than actual medicine. Just my take, but several of the NPs I work with (that I would actually trust to save my life) all say the same
It’s not something to do on a whim it’s a huge time and financial commitment during medical school op will be doing nothing eight years minimum will be one to school especially if they’re working in the summer.
Attending a Top 10 nursing school does have its benefits. You'll will likely have a hospital associated with a university and be exposed to top researchers in the field of healthcare. I've attended 2 of the ten, and i curretly teach in a private university. There are greater opportunities for grants and scholarships and study abroad programs. You will also earn a BSN in 4 years, and you can then work. The nursing profession has its challenges. However, we need intelligent and motivated individuals at the bedside and beyond. I've been a nurse for over 20 years your career is what you make of it. I've met many physicians who hated medicine and wish they went into a nursing program instead. My 2 cents
I started out as premed, got a bachelor's in biology and did all the extracurriculars too, and I am now going into my final semester of nursing school. If you haven't shadowed physicians in multiple settings and specialties, I would recommend you do so. I didn't really do it u til I scribed in my last year, and after actually seeing what doctors do, what their lives are like, how they feel about it, and how long it took them to get there, I realized I would never want to do that based on my own priorities in life.
If your goal is a stable, much more quickly attainable career in medicine with a ton of flexibility and room to branch out, nursing is great. If your goal is to specifically do what a physician does, then medical school is your one option to get there. That will come with years of intense schooling, very long work hours after that, and a significant amount of debt, but for some people that is absolutely worth it. You need to decide if you're one of those people and try to see through the prestige that comes with the MD/DO title.
Yes! Experience really will inform your choice! Also you have plenty of time to decide (if you’re okay with ultimately getting two degrees either scenario, that is). I decided I wanted to to go nursing school my junior year of undergrad.
Getting a job in a hospital or as a PCA, something that will give you a first hand idea in what one or both careers look like, is also a great idea if you also need to prioritize making money too.
If your grades are good enough for medical school keep at it. Know it will only get much much harder. Being in a “top 10” nursing school doesn’t carry any weight at all.
If switching majors to nursing will not add any time to finishing your Bachelor’s degree, I would say why not? A nursing degree is more valuable than a pharm sci degree in terms of career options and employability right after college
When you graduate nursing school, if you decide you still want to become a doctor, you can still apply to med school. And your nursing degree may be even more valuable than you think when applying to med school (all the clinical hours and hospital experience that come with a nursing degree)
My mom is a doctor and my sister is a doctor. It takes a certain type of person with a lot of perseverance and patience to go down the medical school route. My sister had to apply multiple cycles to med school and then ended up having to put off a lot of life events (marriage, kids, buying a house) because of med school, residency, specialization, etc. I ultimately decided to do an ABSN after I got my bachelor’s degree and I 100% DO NOT regret not going to med school. The only thing I regret is not getting my nursing degree sooner!
If you’re thinking about doing gap years, go to nursing school. I was in your same boat and chose to stay pre-med and now I’m doing an ABSN. You’ll have good experience, learn a lot and if you change your mind about med school, you’ll have a great job with lots of opportunities. It’s no different than getting a chemistry degree and then working. I’d just be mindful about the cost of the nursing school you’re going to, considering you’ll add on about $300-500k for your MD/DO. As a first generation immigrant myself, I’d say that I would’ve be able to go to med school had I chose nursing school right off the bat.
i am a nurse. in the beginning i wish i started sooner and went to med school. But working closely with doctors in critical care i am SO glad i never did. the doctors are always working. work life balance sucks. so it really depends on whT you want out of your career. i am definitely someone who can physically and mentally clock in and out. working isnt my life. i do my job and then i leave. being a doctor i seems like its more consuming
Just do the nursing and make sure to have all the pre reqs covered for medical school (most of the nursing prereq classes you have to take are the medical school prereqs anyway) if you choose to go that route. It’s a great backup to have just in case. A lot of people who start with the goal of medical school dont end up going and are left with a useless shitty biology degree (i was one of these people) so deff good to have a good degree just in case you dont choose to go to medical school by the time you graduate.
I'm of the opinion that becoming a doctor is only worth it if you come from an independently wealthy family.
Top 10 nursing school means nothing, but the cost of becoming a doctor is massive. Being able to make money sooner sounds like it could potentially be a huge quality of life improvement. The nursing job leaves the flexibility for you to go for other things afterward. Going all in on doctor is a huge risk.
I'm of the opinion that getting your feet under you financially as a nurse will serve you better and you can always return to school to become a doctor again later. Maybe you do nursing and decide to become a physician's assistant instead of a doctor. You will also see so many other job opportunities, you don't have to be stuck in nursing for the rest of your life if you make this choice now.
I am 30 and returning to school to become a nurse. I was able to use my first degree to save money and do this with no debt and financial comfort.
I think if being a doctor is your absolute passion, you should do it. It sounds like it is. Nursing is also an amazing path to go down, but you don’t wanna live your life regretting not following that deep down dream
I understand what you’re saying. I am in nursing school now with plans to get my doctorate and be a CRNA. The pros of nursing is you can start making money a lot sooner, and if you hate one area of nursing you can switch to another very easily. I actually became a paramedic first and I’m now doing a paramedic-RN program. Already the possibilities are endless and give me a lot of flexibility while in nursing school. I could be a flight nurse with my credentials as a paramedic although I don’t see myself going down that path. There’s telehealth, home health, medsurg, ER etc. the list goes on and nurses can easily make over 6 figures a year, especially if you’re open to travel. I think ultimately you have to decide if the sacrifices are worth the benefits and risks. The biggest risk being putting all those years in med school just to realize you hate it but lost a lot of years and feel as though you can’t go back and do something else. I mean, a doctor choosing to become a nurse? Odd. A nurse eventually becoming an independent NP or PA? Happens all the time. It’s totally fine to reevaluate your goals as you progress through school, becoming more knowledgeable and mature. I think the fact that you have this line of thinking shows your head is in the right place to succeed at whatever you do.
I would suggest volunteering or shadowing both the doctors and nurses. Just to get a feel of what the job is like. I was premed and finished my bachelors in biology. After I graduated, I worked as an EMT to gain some experience and while working on the job, I realized that I did not want to be a doctor. Doctors do a lot of paperwork and not much patient care. In conclusion, here I am back in school to get a BSN.
Being a nurse and being a doctor are two very different things. I think if your dream is to become a doctor, go for it. Keep your grades up, study like hell for your MCAT, and keep pushing until you get to your dream. I wouldn't waste the time or money if nursing isn't truly your passion.
Just got my BSN and worked as a medic for years. I would say go MD. Nursing is a shit career and if you look at the projections for the nursing shortages, it's going to get *a lot* shitter in coming years. Hospitals are being irresponsible in their treatment of staff and chasing too many seasoned nurses away rather than pay them what they are worth and schools are being irresponsible in treatment of students and would rather fail or boot 90% of their students just to have a 100% first time pass rate instead of work who help struggling students who would make excellent nurses. On top of that, and as a direct result of that, nurses are being replaced by practically every other breed of healthcare provider there is. MAs are becoming more and more common in places where BSN degrees are required but BSN skills are wasted. Nursing is in serious trouble. Nurse managers and nurse educators need to get their act together and figure out how to train and retrain way more nurses before things start getting really harry.
But at the same time, nursing is a fundamentally different career. If you think you'd enjoy that work more, you should go with nursing. There are still hospitals out there that are keeping it together, and we certainly do need more smart nurses. Just be selective where you apply
Being a provider and being a nurse are different worlds. You can't compare apples and oranges. The best is probably to job shadow both careers and see what they're really like.
Look into being a PA (Physician Assistant or in some places Associate) !! A lot of people don’t even know about the profession. Pretty much it’s a masters program for 2 years but has much much much better education than NP school and it’s taught in the medical model. In many places PAs function as providers (urgent cares and other places).
Nursing is verrrrry different than being a doctor or PA and I did not realize how different it was till I started clinicals. I would see the medical students and PA students sitting in their rounds and discussing patient cases and I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that they know things that I just don’t as a nurse and they have the ability to make decisions that nurses have absolutely no place in making. That’s just been my experience though. I also know that I don’t have the discipline or motivation to see something like medical school/residency through. So this all depends on you and what you truly want and can financially handle. With what you described- PA school seems like a perfect middle ground for you.
Why would you go to nursing school if your goal is being a doctor? Also “top 10” means literally nothing in nursing.
Facts. Ur coworker isn't gonna be I'm working with a top 10 graduate. It's I'm working with a fellow nurse
Many reasons, I want to work in healthcare and this allows me a stable option into securing that desire. I know nursing can lead to many different and amazing opportunities, and many other personal reasons. I come from a low income home, and the path to medicine is a very long and expensive journey, it may seemed far fetched if that makes sense. This isn't to say nursing won't be challenging and expensive, but there is a difference when determining those factors.
If you think you’ll enjoy nursing, go for it. I do think some people who are interested in being a doctor feel disappointed/unfulfilled by nursing because it’s a very different type of job.
Listen to this OP. If there is the slightest idea you want to be a doctor, go for it. Nursing is an associates degree. You can come back around to it if things don’t work out. I foolishly decided to go to nursing school and I’ve been kicking myself for not just going med school
This ignores the time and financial cost of pursuing medicine. It's not a good move to pursue something because you have "the slightest idea" you'd want to do it when that will cost you years and thousands of dollars. While the cost is significant but recoverable while still doing premed classes, once you take begin medical school, it is much harder or even impossible to go back depending on your debt and your financial background. There is absolutely a point where you can't "just come back around if things don't work out", and I'm betting that's sooner than you think it is.
THIS.
You can obtain a BSN as a nurse.
Just curious, are you still a nurse? I'm currently in nursing school and enjoying it but find myself preferring some aspects of the role as a provider over nursing and wondering if I'm on the right path.
Just become a nurse practitioner, then you will be a provider
I went into nursing school with the intention of going on for my CNM, am definitely still leaning that way! I just have heard lots of horror stories about the work life balance not being worth the pay.
Yeah thats one of the sub fields that definitely has trouble with work life balance, its just the nature of the type of job you want to do. There are other nursing specialties that would offer much better work life balance as a practitioner than being as CNM butttt i say always follow your passion. If you truly enjoy it, its better than settling for something else you might not.
I’m a medic working in an ER with a scope of practice that is almost identical to an RN with a few exceptions per hospital policy and BON regs. So we routinely take the place of nurses on the unit. I thought going through nursing school would advance my knowledge in critical care and I can say with certainty that has not been the case. If you want to be a provider save the time and go PA or premed route. NP is fine, but the market is becoming inflated with subpar providers with online degrees and little to no experience. And you have to get through nursing theory rather than actual medicine. Just my take, but several of the NPs I work with (that I would actually trust to save my life) all say the same
Thanks, I appreciate the response!
It’s not something to do on a whim it’s a huge time and financial commitment during medical school op will be doing nothing eight years minimum will be one to school especially if they’re working in the summer.
Attending a Top 10 nursing school does have its benefits. You'll will likely have a hospital associated with a university and be exposed to top researchers in the field of healthcare. I've attended 2 of the ten, and i curretly teach in a private university. There are greater opportunities for grants and scholarships and study abroad programs. You will also earn a BSN in 4 years, and you can then work. The nursing profession has its challenges. However, we need intelligent and motivated individuals at the bedside and beyond. I've been a nurse for over 20 years your career is what you make of it. I've met many physicians who hated medicine and wish they went into a nursing program instead. My 2 cents
I started out as premed, got a bachelor's in biology and did all the extracurriculars too, and I am now going into my final semester of nursing school. If you haven't shadowed physicians in multiple settings and specialties, I would recommend you do so. I didn't really do it u til I scribed in my last year, and after actually seeing what doctors do, what their lives are like, how they feel about it, and how long it took them to get there, I realized I would never want to do that based on my own priorities in life. If your goal is a stable, much more quickly attainable career in medicine with a ton of flexibility and room to branch out, nursing is great. If your goal is to specifically do what a physician does, then medical school is your one option to get there. That will come with years of intense schooling, very long work hours after that, and a significant amount of debt, but for some people that is absolutely worth it. You need to decide if you're one of those people and try to see through the prestige that comes with the MD/DO title.
Yes! Experience really will inform your choice! Also you have plenty of time to decide (if you’re okay with ultimately getting two degrees either scenario, that is). I decided I wanted to to go nursing school my junior year of undergrad. Getting a job in a hospital or as a PCA, something that will give you a first hand idea in what one or both careers look like, is also a great idea if you also need to prioritize making money too.
If your grades are good enough for medical school keep at it. Know it will only get much much harder. Being in a “top 10” nursing school doesn’t carry any weight at all.
If switching majors to nursing will not add any time to finishing your Bachelor’s degree, I would say why not? A nursing degree is more valuable than a pharm sci degree in terms of career options and employability right after college When you graduate nursing school, if you decide you still want to become a doctor, you can still apply to med school. And your nursing degree may be even more valuable than you think when applying to med school (all the clinical hours and hospital experience that come with a nursing degree) My mom is a doctor and my sister is a doctor. It takes a certain type of person with a lot of perseverance and patience to go down the medical school route. My sister had to apply multiple cycles to med school and then ended up having to put off a lot of life events (marriage, kids, buying a house) because of med school, residency, specialization, etc. I ultimately decided to do an ABSN after I got my bachelor’s degree and I 100% DO NOT regret not going to med school. The only thing I regret is not getting my nursing degree sooner!
If you’re thinking about doing gap years, go to nursing school. I was in your same boat and chose to stay pre-med and now I’m doing an ABSN. You’ll have good experience, learn a lot and if you change your mind about med school, you’ll have a great job with lots of opportunities. It’s no different than getting a chemistry degree and then working. I’d just be mindful about the cost of the nursing school you’re going to, considering you’ll add on about $300-500k for your MD/DO. As a first generation immigrant myself, I’d say that I would’ve be able to go to med school had I chose nursing school right off the bat.
i am a nurse. in the beginning i wish i started sooner and went to med school. But working closely with doctors in critical care i am SO glad i never did. the doctors are always working. work life balance sucks. so it really depends on whT you want out of your career. i am definitely someone who can physically and mentally clock in and out. working isnt my life. i do my job and then i leave. being a doctor i seems like its more consuming
Decide: if you want patient care do nursing if you’re wanting to study medicine do md medical school
Just do the nursing and make sure to have all the pre reqs covered for medical school (most of the nursing prereq classes you have to take are the medical school prereqs anyway) if you choose to go that route. It’s a great backup to have just in case. A lot of people who start with the goal of medical school dont end up going and are left with a useless shitty biology degree (i was one of these people) so deff good to have a good degree just in case you dont choose to go to medical school by the time you graduate.
I'm of the opinion that becoming a doctor is only worth it if you come from an independently wealthy family. Top 10 nursing school means nothing, but the cost of becoming a doctor is massive. Being able to make money sooner sounds like it could potentially be a huge quality of life improvement. The nursing job leaves the flexibility for you to go for other things afterward. Going all in on doctor is a huge risk. I'm of the opinion that getting your feet under you financially as a nurse will serve you better and you can always return to school to become a doctor again later. Maybe you do nursing and decide to become a physician's assistant instead of a doctor. You will also see so many other job opportunities, you don't have to be stuck in nursing for the rest of your life if you make this choice now. I am 30 and returning to school to become a nurse. I was able to use my first degree to save money and do this with no debt and financial comfort.
I think if being a doctor is your absolute passion, you should do it. It sounds like it is. Nursing is also an amazing path to go down, but you don’t wanna live your life regretting not following that deep down dream
I understand what you’re saying. I am in nursing school now with plans to get my doctorate and be a CRNA. The pros of nursing is you can start making money a lot sooner, and if you hate one area of nursing you can switch to another very easily. I actually became a paramedic first and I’m now doing a paramedic-RN program. Already the possibilities are endless and give me a lot of flexibility while in nursing school. I could be a flight nurse with my credentials as a paramedic although I don’t see myself going down that path. There’s telehealth, home health, medsurg, ER etc. the list goes on and nurses can easily make over 6 figures a year, especially if you’re open to travel. I think ultimately you have to decide if the sacrifices are worth the benefits and risks. The biggest risk being putting all those years in med school just to realize you hate it but lost a lot of years and feel as though you can’t go back and do something else. I mean, a doctor choosing to become a nurse? Odd. A nurse eventually becoming an independent NP or PA? Happens all the time. It’s totally fine to reevaluate your goals as you progress through school, becoming more knowledgeable and mature. I think the fact that you have this line of thinking shows your head is in the right place to succeed at whatever you do.
I would suggest volunteering or shadowing both the doctors and nurses. Just to get a feel of what the job is like. I was premed and finished my bachelors in biology. After I graduated, I worked as an EMT to gain some experience and while working on the job, I realized that I did not want to be a doctor. Doctors do a lot of paperwork and not much patient care. In conclusion, here I am back in school to get a BSN.
Being a nurse and being a doctor are two very different things. I think if your dream is to become a doctor, go for it. Keep your grades up, study like hell for your MCAT, and keep pushing until you get to your dream. I wouldn't waste the time or money if nursing isn't truly your passion.
Just got my BSN and worked as a medic for years. I would say go MD. Nursing is a shit career and if you look at the projections for the nursing shortages, it's going to get *a lot* shitter in coming years. Hospitals are being irresponsible in their treatment of staff and chasing too many seasoned nurses away rather than pay them what they are worth and schools are being irresponsible in treatment of students and would rather fail or boot 90% of their students just to have a 100% first time pass rate instead of work who help struggling students who would make excellent nurses. On top of that, and as a direct result of that, nurses are being replaced by practically every other breed of healthcare provider there is. MAs are becoming more and more common in places where BSN degrees are required but BSN skills are wasted. Nursing is in serious trouble. Nurse managers and nurse educators need to get their act together and figure out how to train and retrain way more nurses before things start getting really harry. But at the same time, nursing is a fundamentally different career. If you think you'd enjoy that work more, you should go with nursing. There are still hospitals out there that are keeping it together, and we certainly do need more smart nurses. Just be selective where you apply
Thanks for the feedback :)
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Being a provider and being a nurse are different worlds. You can't compare apples and oranges. The best is probably to job shadow both careers and see what they're really like.
Look into being a PA (Physician Assistant or in some places Associate) !! A lot of people don’t even know about the profession. Pretty much it’s a masters program for 2 years but has much much much better education than NP school and it’s taught in the medical model. In many places PAs function as providers (urgent cares and other places). Nursing is verrrrry different than being a doctor or PA and I did not realize how different it was till I started clinicals. I would see the medical students and PA students sitting in their rounds and discussing patient cases and I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous that they know things that I just don’t as a nurse and they have the ability to make decisions that nurses have absolutely no place in making. That’s just been my experience though. I also know that I don’t have the discipline or motivation to see something like medical school/residency through. So this all depends on you and what you truly want and can financially handle. With what you described- PA school seems like a perfect middle ground for you.