"Becoming a Doctor is like, 100 times harder than becoming a nurse".

franciscangypsy · Sep 15, 2009

I'll agree that medical school is 100x harder than nursing school.
I went to nursing school for one year, received my BSN and had a lot of fun while doing it (AKA - going out on weekends, having time to myself). I studied for my NCLEX for 4 days and passed it in 75 questions.
My sister on the other hand, spent the first 2 years of her medical school career locked up in her apartment or at the library studying. She could probably count the number of times she went out with her friends using just her fingers. Granted, medical school does get easier after the first two years, constant studying is required. They actually give their students months off to study for boards, and there isn't just one board exam either. It is definitely intense.
Anyways, while nursing is by no means an easy profession, I think you are vastly underestimating the depth of knowledge that is required in medical school. Easily 100x harder than nursing school!
On the other hand, just because someone is a doctor, doesn't mean they have the ability to analyze your entire life!

Wow. I wish I could have done that. Good for you. :smokin: Me, I studied my butt off during nursing school -- not much time to myself -- failed the NCLEX the first time and am retaking it next week. Science is not my strong suit and I have to work harder than most.

That said, I would agree that becoming a doctor must be harder, even if not a HUNDRED TIMES harder. A lot of doctors are biology majors first. Most of my biology major friends were even more stressed than I was -- and with good reason, in my mind. In doctors' defense as well -- on my floor, at least -- most of them are nice. While orienting, I even had a doctor who went in to explain something to a patient and then actually took the time to explain it to me in more detail when I asked for clarification. I have actually had really good experiences with doctors, I am happy to say. :)

nursemike, ASN, RN · Sep 15, 2009

In my short career as a nurse, there have already been several times when I was able to start breathing again when the doctors arrived. In brief discussions about a patient's condition, prognosis, or plan of care, I've been impressed by the breadth and depth of their knowledge. I'm not stupid, and I have no doubt that I could have been a doctor--still could, if I really wanted to. Really, really wanted to, because I'd be about 62 when I started my residency!

As a brand new nurse, I worked with some brand new doctors, and in the real world of caring for patients, we were both a little overwhelmed. One doc, in particular, was a bit notorious for asking, "What do we usually do for that?" when you paged about a problem. So I did what I usually did: I asked someone who knew--my mentor, most of the time. By his second year as a resident, and mine as a nurse, we both usually knew what we usually did for most of the things I paged about.

It isn't hard to think of a few examples of doctors and nurses who make you wonder how they graduated from anything. It isn't hard to think of a few examples of doctors--and, yes, nurses too--who are obviously very smart, but not nearly as smart as they think they are. But I hope, and I'm really going to try, not to lose sight of the fact that one of the great things about my job is the caliber of people I'm working with.

Had a night, once, when I was walking down the hall with my PDA, hastily looking up a handful of cardiac and HTN meds I was about to give and feeling nervous. Passed one of my patients' rooms and saw a neurosurgeon sitting by the bed, holding the patient's hand. I had to chuckle when I remembered some of my instructors' views about the nursing model vs the medical model. Not that they weren't generally more or less right, and I don't think they meant what they said to be absolute. All healthcare is a human endeavor, and we who do it are humans. I do treat the whole person: body, mind, and spirit, but I also have my areas of greater comfort. Doctors do have a specific area of focus, but the good ones do see the whole patient. That patient with all the cardio meds was a neurogurgery admission, too. Fixing their brain doesn't help much if their heart stops.

My manager once told me that she roomed with a pre-med while in nursing school. From what she saw of their lifestyles, nursing was much harder than pre-med. But med school is also much harder than pre-med, and the whole process of becoming a doc is obviously much harder than becoming a nurse. 100x? Doubtful. 10x? Maybe. But also spread out over a longer time. My experience with NS was that no single thing was all that hard to grasp, but there were so many things to learn in such a short time. Drinking a glass of water is easy. Drinking a river is more challenging. I swallowed enough to do my job, and I am occassionally surprised at what I can regurgitate when I need to.

Are some doctors--and nurses--morons? No. Just not possible. Do some act like morons? Well, sure. Smart people do dumb things every day, and some seem to excel at it. But, lately, I've been noticing that if you are looking for common sense in a hospital setting, look for a doctor or a nurse. Or a respiratory therapist. The people who actually do patient care seem to me to be a lot more grounded in reality. I don't mean there aren't good people in every department, but the farther you get from the bedside, the easier it appears to go wandering off in fantasy land.

carcahil · Sep 15, 2009

My physician told me, "The only difference between a doctor and a nurse is the amount of reading they make you do in medical school!"

Blackheartednurse · Sep 15, 2009

My physician told me, "The only difference between a doctor and a nurse is the amount of reading they make you do in medical school!"

He was just a nice guy...however trust me it takes more than that....

kanzi monkey · Sep 15, 2009

Yep,becoming a doctor is 100 times harder than becoming a nurse.Sometimes I felt my program was a joke,often I was thinking to myself are they serious here I am learning how to save a life but I dont have a solid patho background..So I often had to educate myself-you know take out an atlas of pathophysiology and study different diseases (still do)Doctors go to school for 8 years nurses 2 or more...so you do the math.

MD to RN difficulty = 100/1 = 100

MD to RN years training = 8/2 = 4

comparison of MD hardness to RN hardness attempted. equation missing logical components. does not compute does not compute. EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE

kanzi monkey · Sep 15, 2009

In my short career as a nurse, there have already been several times when I was able to start breathing again when the doctors arrived. In brief discussions about a patient's condition, prognosis, or plan of care, I've been impressed by the breadth and depth of their knowledge. I'm not stupid, and I have no doubt that I could have been a doctor--still could, if I really wanted to. Really, really wanted to, because I'd be about 62 when I started my residency!
As a brand new nurse, I worked with some brand new doctors, and in the real world of caring for patients, we were both a little overwhelmed. One doc, in particular, was a bit notorious for asking, "What do we usually do for that?" when you paged about a problem. So I did what I usually did: I asked someone who knew--my mentor, most of the time. By his second year as a resident, and mine as a nurse, we both usually knew what we usually did for most of the things I paged about.
It isn't hard to think of a few examples of doctors and nurses who make you wonder how they graduated from anything. It isn't hard to think of a few examples of doctors--and, yes, nurses too--who are obviously very smart, but not nearly as smart as they think they are. But I hope, and I'm really going to try, not to lose sight of the fact that one of the great things about my job is the caliber of people I'm working with.
Had a night, once, when I was walking down the hall with my PDA, hastily looking up a handful of cardiac and HTN meds I was about to give and feeling nervous. Passed one of my patients' rooms and saw a neurosurgeon sitting by the bed, holding the patient's hand. I had to chuckle when I remembered some of my instructors' views about the nursing model vs the medical model. Not that they weren't generally more or less right, and I don't think they meant what they said to be absolute. All healthcare is a human endeavor, and we who do it are humans. I do treat the whole person: body, mind, and spirit, but I also have my areas of greater comfort. Doctors do have a specific area of focus, but the good ones do see the whole patient. That patient with all the cardio meds was a neurogurgery admission, too. Fixing their brain doesn't help much if their heart stops.
My manager once told me that she roomed with a pre-med while in nursing school. From what she saw of their lifestyles, nursing was much harder than pre-med. But med school is also much harder than pre-med, and the whole process of becoming a doc is obviously much harder than becoming a nurse. 100x? Doubtful. 10x? Maybe. But also spread out over a longer time. My experience with NS was that no single thing was all that hard to grasp, but there were so many things to learn in such a short time. Drinking a glass of water is easy. Drinking a river is more challenging. I swallowed enough to do my job, and I am occassionally surprised at what I can regurgitate when I need to.
Are some doctors--and nurses--morons? No. Just not possible. Do some act like morons? Well, sure. Smart people do dumb things every day, and some seem to excel at it. But, lately, I've been noticing that if you are looking for common sense in a hospital setting, look for a doctor or a nurse. Or a respiratory therapist. The people who actually do patient care seem to me to be a lot more grounded in reality. I don't mean there aren't good people in every department, but the farther you get from the bedside, the easier it appears to go wandering off in fantasy land.

Thanks Nursemike! Awesome post.

flrnca2 · Sep 16, 2009

My ex husband is a MD and I was with him through medical school. I have just recently finished nursing school. I can tell you medical school is absolutely at least 100% harder then nursing school, not to mention the 9 years of residency(surgical specialty) and fellowships that followed and I do not like to say anything at all good about him. If you need proof for yourself take any medical school book, go to a random page and try to read anything, even as a person who has taken biology chemistry and physics on the bachelors level, it is not easy to understand. To read and understanding a nursing book, any proficient high school student would not have much trouble. Nursing school is not easy, nurses are very dedicated, but the level of education and resulting knowledge of a MD, it is of no comparison at all.

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2009

I love nurses and I love being a nurse, but it really does get to me when so little respect is given to the education that MD's undertake. I know I know that people talk about how hard nursing school is, but really... come on. It wasn't THAT hard people. I am currently watching my husband, who does not struggle for good grades, bust his hump for pharmacy school. By any measure obtaining a PharmD is easier than enduring an MD education. Comparing the level of work my husband is doing to what I put into nursing education (and graduated with honors) is .. well.. without resorting to asinine similies.. it's just ridiculous. Add to that medical school. Absolutely no comparison.

I would rather set myself on fire than go through medical school. Even if I could earn a million a year, I still wouldn't torture myself like that.

kadell · Sep 16, 2009

I have a family friend who is a doctor. She told me that most intelligent people could become an MD. But most people could not or would not do it the time constraints of medical school. The staggering amount of information they must learn in the first 2 years --requires a dedication most of us are not willing to do.

Since I work in a teaching hospital I watch the residents and medical students get grilled by attendings. I have so much more respect for MDs now that I watch them grow as residents.

100x harder? Not sure

but at least 50x? yes. and it would require a commitment that I am not willing to undertake.

pinksugar · Sep 16, 2009

Meh. I would take a comment like that with a grain of salt. FTR, I have met plenty of moronic doctors - I will never forget the time that one of the patients coded and we asked one of the residents to get a BP cuff out of the crash cart. He handed us a roll of tape. Tell me that you want that doctor taking care of your coding family member. :chuckle

I am sure that med school is much more difficult than nursing school. Back in my pre-nursing life I was a pre-med student. I decided I didn't want to go through with all of that. When I started my career in the ICU and saw how miserable the residents were when they were doing their rounds with the attending in the morning after having had absolutely no sleep all night - well, it made me really glad that I didn't take the medicine route. It just seems like a totally senseless comparison. The jobs are quite different. Just let that comment roll off your back.

allnurses Guide · Sep 16, 2009

Meh. I would take a comment like that with a grain of salt. FTR, I have met plenty of moronic doctors - I will never forget the time that one of the patients coded and we asked one of the residents to get a BP cuff out of the crash cart. He handed us a roll of tape. Tell me that you want that doctor taking care of your coding family member. :chuckle
I am sure that med school is much more difficult than nursing school. Back in my pre-nursing life I was a pre-med student. I decided I didn't want to go through with all of that. When I started my career in the ICU and saw how miserable the residents were when they were doing their rounds with the attending in the morning after having had absolutely no sleep all night - well, it made me really glad that I didn't take the medicine route. It just seems like a totally senseless comparison. The jobs are quite different. Just let that comment roll off your back.

Now that I've thought about this, after working at 2 teaching hospitals, I'm thinking that it's not the enormous volume of info you have to know as a doctor, but the gauntlet of hell the residents are put through, especially in the first year, that makes being a doctor 100x harder. I know there have been efforts to reform this due to increased errors in new, overwhelmed, insecure, sleep deprived docs, but from what I read on their blogs, not a whole lot better.

caffeineRx · Sep 17, 2009

MEOW! :typing
Nah, I think many docs are grateful for their nurses and are glad for their knowledge that is attained through hard work on the job, whereas a doctor has a lot of intense schooling and experience in the form of residency to back up that MD or DO degree. To her, she probably couldn't imagine a 2-year degree being only half as hard as her program. Isn't 100 kind of the "go-to" number for exaggeration when you're older than about 7, when the best exaggeration one can come up with is "a bajillion zillion" (case in point - she'd sound silly saying her MD program was a bajillion zillion times harder than a nursing program)?

LOL @ meow

Well yes-agreed-but I thought 100 sounded like a seven year old thing to say. I didn't realize it was LITERALLY 100x harder. I totally get what you're saying though. I mean..I just do not literally find it possible to be 100x harder. I feel like it's a hard thing to measure as well.

I see a an LPN program being 4x harder than a CNA program...an RN program being 2x harder than an LPN...(well maybe)..and an NP being 10x harder than a CNA program. I don't think those are small numbers..but when she said 100...I was just like...lol...SERIOUSLY? I guess so though!