[Perseus Mandate]

Hello everyone, I had a question. When going for your 4-year undergraduate nursing degree, what courses is one typically required to take? How to they compare to the courses premed students have to take? Are there a lot of similarities?

[jessi1106]

I think it would be best to call the school you are interested in and ask for that information....In fact most schools post degree requirements online.
Some of the courses you would most likely need:
any general undergrad requirements
general chem
organic chem
biology
microbiology
anatomy and physiology
pathophysiology
pharmacology
all nursing courses/clinicals

I dont know what a premed degree consits of...except I know they do patho. Good luck, and again, I would contact the school.

[Perseus Mandate]

Originally Posted by jessi1106

I think it would be best to call the school you are interested in and ask for that information....In fact most schools post degree requirements online.
Some of the courses you would most likely need:
any general undergrad requirements
general chem
organic chem
biology
microbiology
anatomy and physiology
pathophysiology
pharmacology
all nursing courses/clinicals

I dont know what a premed degree consits of...except I know they do patho. Good luck, and again, I would contact the school.

Oh, nursing degrees require organic chemistry? The last I heard, they didn't. I know premed requisites are typically biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics and college level algebra (some schools requiring calculus).

I'm asking because I'm starting down my undergrad path now, and I'm torn between aiming for medical school or nursing. If I aim for medical school, and I don't get in, I'd still want to do something in the medical field, and nursing would still allow me to be close with patients (in fact, closer, I'd say), so I wanted to have a general idea how much extra schooling I'd be looking at to switch to nursing after I get a 4-year undergrad degree.

EDIT: So I checked my university (Stony Brook) and found out.

REQUIRED COURSES

CREDITS

English Composition

3

Sociology

3

Psychology

3

Developmental Psychology

3

Microbiology

3

Anatomy and Physiology

6-8

Chemistry I

3-4

Chemistry II or another science, (e.g. Biology/Physics/Genetics)

3-4

Group Theory/Group Process/Social Psychology

2-3

Statistics

3

Arts and Humanities

9

Electives or course prerequisite credits

16

TOTAL

57(minimum)

I was right, no organic chemistry. Looks good though, because I'd like take a majority of those courses (if not all) for a premedical pursuit, so if that doesn't work out, I can turn to nursing. I just want to make sure I leave myself an out.

[jjjoy]

You can also compare that to premed coursework. Here's one example:

http://www.princetonreview.com/medic...ia/prereqs.asp

A dilemma with preparing to apply to nursing school can be that various schools often have varied pre-req coursework to apply so it's difficult to be prepared to apply to more than one program. Schools structure their programs differently sometimes incorporating certain subjects (microbio, physiology) into their nursing coursework while while others have students take them as pre-reqs with the rest of general student population. Another problem can be that one college may not offer an equivalent course to another college such that a student has to take extra classes to cover the required content.

Med schools generally are more consistent in their pre-req coursework. The math and science requirements are usually more extensive than for nursing school. Many students choose to major in biology since the required coursework includes most pre-med courses. Courses like anatomy, physiology and pharmacology are taken in med school, not before. Thus, the anatomy course required for nursing school won't count towards medical school... though it certainly wouldn't hurt!

You can also look into PA (physician assistant) school, which generally doesn't have quite as many pre-reqs as med school. Both med students and PA students generally already earned bachelor's degrees before applying.

There are also now a good number of nursing programs that are also geared towards candidates who have already earned a bachelor's degree in another field.

[MrsGPR]

There may be a bridge-to-RN program available for you if you'll have a bachelor's in another field. You mentioned Stony Brook. Is that Long Island? If so, I can point you in the direction of my college, which I know has a bridge to RN program, as well as pre-med courses. (They even offer a practice pre-med exam occasionally)

[Perseus Mandate]

Originally Posted by MrsGPR

There may be a bridge-to-RN program available for you if you'll have a bachelor's in another field. You mentioned Stony Brook. Is that Long Island? If so, I can point you in the direction of my college, which I know has a bridge to RN program, as well as pre-med courses. (They even offer a practice pre-med exam occasionally)

Yep, sure is Long Island. Wouldn't anything be a "bridge to RN" program, more or less, if I would have already taken the vast majority of the courses required for a nursing degree?

I figure I'd have to maybe do one or two extra semesters if I wanted to go get a nursing degree on top of a 4-year degree I'd already have by then. I'm probably going to major in biology, but I'm not yet sure.

[jjjoy]

Originally Posted by Perseus Mandate

I figure I'd have to maybe do one or two extra semesters if I wanted to go get a nursing degree on top of a 4-year degree I'd already have by then. I'm probably going to major in biology, but I'm not yet sure.

Most full-time nursing programs are at least 2 years from admission to graduation - no matter how much other coursework you've had. Nursing courses are generally in sequence (and have associated clinical rotations), thus, you can't just take a heavier load to finish faster. You might, however, have a lighter load by having taking certain courses prior to nursing school. There are some 1 year intensive programs out there for applicants with a prior bachelor's degree. They're usually called "accelerated" programs. There are also some "direct-entry" master's programs that offer a combo BSN/MSN program to those who have already earned a bachelor's in another field. You might want to check some of these out.

[Perseus Mandate]

Originally Posted by jjjoy

Most full-time nursing programs are at least 2 years from admission to graduation - no matter how much other coursework you've had. Nursing courses are generally in sequence (and have associated clinical rotations), thus, you can't just take a heavier load to finish faster. You might, however, have a lighter load by having taking certain courses prior to nursing school. There are some 1 year intensive programs out there for applicants with a prior bachelor's degree. They're usually called "accelerated" programs. There are also some "direct-entry" master's programs that offer a combo BSN/MSN program to those who have already earned a bachelor's in another field. You might want to check some of these out.

Will do, thanks for the advice so far everyone.

I want to make sure I keep my options open, you know? Last thing I want to do is aim for something, fail, and then have no idea where to go.

[MrsGPR]

Good Luck to you! Hope this link helps.

http://www.molloy.edu/catalog/1174.asp#o1186