It really annoys me when nurses say they are going to go to med school...

[megank5183]

I see a lot of posts by nurses who think they are going to go to med school. A pre-med BS and BSN are totally different school tracks.....if you are an RN, it is almost impossible to move on to med school without getting a totally new bachelor's degree. In fact, as an RN it is almost impossible to become a PA without taking at **** load of new classes. Does this pipe dream annoy anyone else??

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I don't understand your pet peeve about nurses going to med school. It sounds like you want to go to med school and it is unrealistic for you.

[vintage_RN, BSN, RN]

I am in the 3rd semester of a 2 year PN program...and there is a girl in my program who says that she doesn't plan to work as an RPN, she's going right for her BscN and then medical school. She makes sure to tell everyone, including our teachers and clinical instructors this. I think it's great if you have high dreams and expectations...but I find it annoying that she passes off our program and RPNs as lowly...even though she isn't one yet. Why don't we try to pass this program first and then see what happens....as for RNs wanting to be MDs..that doesn't bother me at all. I think it's great for people to persue their dreams and goals if that's what they want. I think it's silly that it would bother you that much.

[Jaykalkyn, BSN, RN]

Interesting topic...i'm a soon to be nursing student with a business background (BS and an MBA). To prepare for applying to nursing school I had to take practically all the sciences since for business I only need Biology and one other science. So I've spent the last few years working full time and taking Chem, Biology for science majors, Physiology, Anatomy, Micobiology, etc. so that when I applied I would have the best chance of getting into a program.

I know its not the same exact situation but it is similar in that I just had to bite the bullet and do the work. A colleague of mine quit his job in business to go to medical school a couple of years ago. I assume he spent years working on prereq's as well. If its in a person to do it, then there's nothing that says they can't. Very interesting topic.

[megank5183]

sorry to offend people so much....it has nothing to do with an inferiority complex, and it's not that i'm thinking about it all the time or 'fretting' about it. it just annoys me to read posts from people annoyed with nursing who flippantly say, i'll go to med school. to say that i have an inferiority complex is to surmise that i think nursing is an inferior profession...which i do not. if you want to go the med school, go for it. it is a non-traditional route to enter med school and will require a lot of make-up courses....people can obvi do whatever they want and I wasn't suggesting otherwise....to cuteandcrazyrn.....i would straight up rather die than go to med school. i like being a nurse. if i could switch to a dream career, i would want to be astronaut or super model:)

[LynnLRN]

I know a few docs who were nurses first. So it is not near impossible, plenty of people have done it. I'm sure it is very hard work. Hard work and impossible are 2 different things. It is a hard path to becoming a Dr. regardless of where you start from.

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

Actually, med schools are starting to want something different degree wise than your run of the mill Biology, Chemistry, etc. degree. Those two are higher than a dime a dozen in applying to med school. And everyone gives the same cookie cutter answer of they want to be a doctor to help people.

I think a BSN would set you apart--it's a degree and all you need after that are the pre-reqs for med school.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

A pre-med BS and BSN are totally different school tracks.....if you are an RN, it is almost impossible to move on to med school without getting a totally new bachelor's degree. In fact, as an RN it is almost impossible to become a PA without taking at **** load of new classes. Does this pipe dream annoy anyone else??

Pre-med is a set of requirements that can be completed with any degree program. I work with doctors that have music degrees and history degrees as well as those who have the more traditional BS hard science degrees. They simply complete the required classes along with the major requirements for the degree. While it would be much harder for a nurse to do that during school, it's not an entire degree's worth of classes that would need to be completed post graduation.

I imagine folks who plan to go to med school either know this or learn it at some point before applying to med school. Nurses complete Master's programs while working so completing pre-med science classes while working doesn't seem that much crazier to me.

I'm not sure why you're annoyed. Maybe it is a "pipe dream" for most folks who say they want to go to med school, but even if it is.....so?

[Bringonthenight]

Ok your right "hate" is a strong word. I'm all about furthering education, but I don't like it when nursing students say they are going straight on to medicine- in doing so making it sound like nursing is a second class MD or something. They don't treat the jobs as separate professions.

Does that make sense? I guess I just want them to realize the difference and show some respect while they are at it for both nursing and medicine.

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

Not everyone that is a nurse would have to do that much to get into med school. I was pre-vet once upon a time, so I have the chemistry classes, the physics classes, etc. I think I only lack calculus and some organic chemistry, so I'd be looking at one year to get in, if I so desired (which I don't).

[blueorchid981]

Not impossible. My school actually has a BSN/PreMed track. I thought about doing it before. It doesn't matter what degree you have, as long as you have the med school pre reqs. If anything, I think it gives you an advantage when applying for med school! Doctors who were once nurses are great! Because they know what it's like to be a nurse and more likely to respect us.

I see nothing wrong with it.

[amygarside]

i think it's fine for a nurse to go to med school if he/she chooses to change a career.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

I get why a nurse might become tired of their career and decide to go to med school. If they have the time, money and ability, more power to them.

But I don't get why someone whose goal is being a MD would begin their education by getting a BSN. That seems like more of an expensive detour than a stepping-stone.