BScN vs. other Science Degree for Medical school Pre-req?

suanna · Nov 4, 2007

You should talk to the university counselor first but at the school I attended most of the science classes in Nursing did not cross over to pre-med. Most med schools require a Bio or Chem BS with a pre-med focus and nursing is a bit light in the hard sciences for that. If you truly want a medical degree don't waste your time in a nursing program and worse yet take the place of a student who wants to make nursing thier career!

Nursing isn't a stepping stone its a career in itself. I know doctors who have left nursing for a medical degree but I don't know anyone who planned it that way. I also know a nurse who have left nursing to drive a truck.

elizabells, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2007

Whoo boy. This post is gonna open up a can of worms.

Please consider one thing: nursing school spots are in short supply, and many people who really want to be nurses don't get into school. If what you want is to be a doctor, get your degree in bio and go to med school. Don't take a nursing school spot from someone who actually wants to be a nurse if you only want it as a fallback.

One way to decide would be to take your basic sciences, as you have to do bio/chem/physio, etc, for both programs. While you're doing that, before you've locked yourself into anything, get a job or volunteer in the hospital. Then you can really see the difference in what nurses and doctors do, and that can help you make a decision. They really are very different jobs, with different approaches to healthcare.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Nov 4, 2007

Since your still in high school I wouldn't worry so much about your major right now---you still have a lot of time to research, do some volunteer work or get a job in the hospital so you can see how things really are. I think that is really important to get your feet in the hospital because there are many misconceptions about doctors and nurses, what they do and don't do, and all that and you might find something else you find totally interesting and cool....radiology, resp therapist, etc. It would also give you a chance to talk to both RNs and MDs.

When I first started college I wasn't sure if I wanted to be an RN or an MD so I just started taking classes that fit both degrees (at my university the pre RN, pre med, pre pharm, etc are all the same) all took the same level Chem, Bio, Anatomy, Physics, Cell Bio, etc classes. You will also have all those gen ed classes to take with any bachelors degree program.

Good luck!

MB37 · Nov 4, 2007

I wouldn't even consider a BSN, unless you go to a school where nursing prereqs are premed courses. You need to talk to an advisor at the school/s that you've been accepted to. Once you're 18, the decisions are yours and not your parents' (except that you're not considered financially independent for aid purposes until you're 25, married, a parent, or in the military). Also, while many premed people do major in bio or chem because it fits their coursework, you don't have to - one of my friends in college was a premed psych major. Go to the websites for a few med schools in your area, and look at their requirements. Then compare them to the nursing prereqs and courses at the same school. They usually don't have a lot in common, and it would be very difficult to complete all the premed courses AND earn a BSN in 4 years.

elkpark · Nov 4, 2007

Unless you're interested in being a nurse, there's no reason or advantage to doing it.

pickledpepperRN · Nov 4, 2007

Several years ago UCLA gave preference to applicants who had worked as a nurse. On of my co-workers went to medical school after three years as an RN. He is now a physician on the East coast.

I know a wonderful physician who was an art major.

I don't know all the extra classes she had to take.