RN to MD

[kalevra]

Do any of the readers or posters here actually know of anyone that went from RN to MD. I wanted to see how many people actually did this. Most people I know that went medical followed the PA route.

[IndiCRNA]

If I were 10 years younger I would go to med school. My dad's best friend was an ER nurse first and went back and he is now a trauma surgeon. Super nice guy.

Not me! I practice completly autonomously, my program was only 27 months long and about $40K, no residency required, and I make more than two thirds of the physicians in the hospital's group practice. Plus I get 2 weeks out of every 6 off. None of the physicians have it as good as we (the 3 CRNAs in our group) do and they know it.

[ian_onymous]

To be an MD is one of my dreams and my two uncles, who one is an orthopedic surgeon and one does family practice, serve as my inspiration. But they just want me to be in the nursing field for "less stress" work compared to doctors.

[kalevra, BSN, RN]

To be an MD is one of my dreams and my two uncles, who one is an orthopedic surgeon and one does family practice, serve as my inspiration. But they just want me to be in the nursing field for "less stress" work compared to doctors.

I have been hearing that rhetoric for a while. There's more stress with MD compared to RN. But i guess that goes with the territory. Higher up in the food chain you go the more things you have to worry about. I guess its a trade off.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Two of my friends are nurses, currently in med school. I think the transition from nurse to MD happens often.

[pronurse45]

A lot of my classmates in nursing school already took entrance test for med schools...and I know a lot of our seniors who are also pursuing med after getting license as a nurse!I think they would make great doctors as their foundation is nursing=)

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Over the last 10 years I have worked with about 6-7 MDs/DOs that were RNs first. Everyone of them was the coolest ever. One was insane (but a good doc and good person). The ones I had contact with would dig right in and help you put foleys in, take the time and teach you. And I always felt really respected when I worked with them.

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Should add that I know a few CNAs and a few paramedics who are docs and awesome too.

[Music in My Heart]

One of our ICU residents was an RN. I found out during rounds on a hot-mess patient when she pulled me aside and gave me two pager numbers for any new issues (getting hold of the right doc can be a challenge for us) - of which there were many. As I was expressing my gratitude, she smiled and said, "I get it... I used to be a nurse."

[brown eyed girl]

Years ago when my son was ALOT YOUNGER, I flirted with the idea of being either a cardiologist or a neurosurgeon. IM GLAD I DIDN'T! I hate the telephone and would be ****** if someone interrupted my beauty sleep! Its worth the money and prestige but, not your piece of mind. I take my hat off to all the Physicians who make this choice.

[somenurse]

Years ago when my son was ALOT YOUNGER, I flirted with the idea of being either a cardiologist or a neurosurgeon. IM GLAD I DIDN'T! I hate the telephone and would be p***ed if someone interrupted my beauty sleep! Its worth the money and prestige but, not your piece of mind. I take my hat off to all the Physicians who make this choice.

some specialties are way way less tied to the phone than others. Opthamology (ka-ching!), plastic surgery, hospitalist, dermatology, podiatry, etc, are just a few of the specialties which one might have to take way way less call than other areas have to do.

Many of the ER docs i've worked with, punched in/out like an employee, no call at all, no offices/overhead, no employees, no list of patients to keep up with or round on, and very set and (mostly) predictable hours, too.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

About ophthalmology: You want to get somebody's attention in a big hurry at 1400 on the Friday of a long holiday weekend, tell them you have a new central field visual defect. I had this happen to me-- it was a little scary, I mean, am I having a CVA? or what? First stop, PCP-- she sees nothing, sends me to my optometrist for a better look. He sees nothing, but calls the ophthalmology practice. Now it's quarter of four. I get over there (DH driving). I get seen by two physicians, one to look around in there and one to do something about it if possible.

Fortunately (everything's comparative) it was only a spontaneous retinal tear, tucked up high on the back wall where you need special toys to see it well; the central defect was because the fluid behind the tear was putting tension on the retina, which affected the fovea. They said it's a good thing I didn't wait until Tuesday after the holiday to get seen, because I would have had a total separation of the retina and been blind in that eye for good by Saturday morning. And they fixed it on the spot c a cryogenic probe. Definitely not the most fun I ever had in my life, but they stayed late to monitor me, too.

End of ophthalmology commercial. Worth every dime, IMHO. But I hear that there are only two true dermatological emergencies. :)

[somenurse]

OH, yes, eye doctors sure can end up taking call,

so can plastic surgeons or podiatrists,

but, it can be less often than some specialities which pretty much have nightly calls being divied up among their group.

edit: re the ka-ching,

it's just that so so many of the opthamologists and plastic surgeons seem to be so financially lucrative, too. I once had a GI doc tell me, he had counted up how many hours he worked,

and divided that into his pay,

afataer subtracting his overhead,

and determined he is making about $14 per hour. I have no idea if he was lying, mistaken, bad at math, exaggerating, who knows...

but, i've never forgotten that. There were some other docs around and none of them cried out, "oh come onnnn" either, which sorta made me think this doc wasn't that far off...(this was long time ago, too, is old number)