Going from a career in nursing to med school

Nurses General Nursing

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Im currently a hih school student trying to plan out my life. I have always just wanted to be a mother. When my children are young I want to stay home with them, and i dont want to put them in daycare. However i know this is unrealistic financially. I thought I could do nursing, because I could take off when they were young and work in a school when they were school aged. As they grew older I could go back to working in a hospitol or idealy a pediatrican's office. This sounded great but my aunt and many other nurses I know told me that if hey could do it over again they would go straight for med school. Being a doctor seems cool, and minus the children thats what I want to do. And the money would be awesome. I was just thinking about how I could do it and be home more with the children.

Would it be possible for me to go to nursing school, but take the pre med track so id have all the right qualifications for med schools and be somewhat prepared for the MCATs, but then stay in nursing and get employed as a nurse, but then to maybe 5 or so years later take the MCATs and try to go back to medical school and become a doctor from there??

You need to do some shadowing and then decide which area you would prefer. It is much much much easier to finish school before you have children.

One of my nurses went to MedSchool 4 yrs ago, now graduated and going into a 3 year residency. She tells me that she will have $ 250,000 study debt. The first year of Med School she still worked part time as an RN, after that impossible because of the work load. Keep the finances in mind and the hours!

Specializes in medical surgical.

I would love to have gone to med school. All that debt would have mentally done me in. I do not like debt. The people I knew that went to med school had parents with deep pockets. My family was an average working class family so they could not have helped me. I am happy with where I am--having 3 teens and in NP school. Only you can decide what is right for you.

Im currently a hih school student trying to plan out my life. I have always just wanted to be a mother. When my children are young I want to stay home with them, and i dont want to put them in daycare. However i know this is unrealistic financially. I thought I could do nursing, because I could take off when they were young and work in a school when they were school aged. As they grew older I could go back to working in a hospitol or idealy a pediatrican's office. This sounded great but my aunt and many other nurses I know told me that if hey could do it over again they would go straight for med school. Being a doctor seems cool, and minus the children thats what I want to do. And the money would be awesome. I was just thinking about how I could do it and be home more with the children.

Would it be possible for me to go to nursing school, but take the pre med track so id have all the right qualifications for med schools and be somewhat prepared for the MCATs, but then stay in nursing and get employed as a nurse, but then to maybe 5 or so years later take the MCATs and try to go back to medical school and become a doctor from there??

I guess the grass is always greener - many physicians I know have told me if they could do it over they would be NPs instead of going to med school.

Not for nothing, unless you go for a high-dollar specialty, the money may not be quite as awesome as you think. You mention pediatrics - it is one of the lowest-paying specialties out there... a lot of hard work, long hours, and debt for a mediocre payoff.

I'm an NP and there is no amount of money in the world that could convince me to become an MD.

Just food for thought - I hope you find the path that makes you happy :)

Specializes in FNP.

Yes, I wonder if the OP knows what the realistic salary expectation for her specialty choice might be; if she understands she doesn't get 100% control over that specialty choice (OP, search "residency match"); if she knows the time commitment in school, residency and practice and has calculated the average hourly rate when the enormous time commitment is taken into account; and if she has calculated her earnings after loan repayment including applied accrued interest (approx $250,000 at 8% over 30 years)? In short, is this desire to be a physician a fully informed thought process? But, to answer the original question, no being a RN is not really a good stepping stone to being a physician, the educational paths are quite dissimilar. Be one or be the other. Shadow both and make informed decisions. Good luck.

Specializes in med/surg 1 year, ER 5 years.

To the OP, keep focused and while it is important to listen to advise from those with more experience, it is also important that you not allow anyone to dissuade you from pursuing your goals!

While being a nurse is not a true stepping stone...I can say from experience that it does provide a small advantage when going through medical school. Also, I know many medical students who do not have loans even close to 200K! I will only be 75K in debt after I'm done. Being a nurse has allowed me to make money during my school breaks so that I could take out less loans...plus, depending on how long you work as a nurse before entering medical school, you can save up a good amount to help offset the cost.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide to do!!

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