So at the end of my "pre-med" career I'm thinking of switching to nursing...

[xpinchx]

[sorry, this got a little wordy. If you just want to cut to the case skip to paragraph 3.]

Or technically I guess I should say switching "back" to nursing since that was my original goal but somewhere along the line I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I've actually always wanted to be a doctor but I never thought I could be that smart until I got to a 4 year university and immersed myself. I'm a 22 year old male and I'll be finishing up my Human Biology degree this summer. I have a competitive GPA but I haven't taken my MCAT and I don't have anything for research/volunteer/letters of recommendation (but clinical experience is my saving grace). I'm not sure where but somewhere I fell off that pre-med boat and stopped caring...

A lot of the doctors I've shadowed are very negative about their careers and at least a few of them I know have a mess of a personal life. After 5 years of science classes I don't know if I can take any more of that. As cliche as it is, the only reason I wanted to be a Dr. is "to help people" and I figured I don't need the letters MD after my name to do it.

There's a 4 year university near me that offers a 16 month accelerated path designed for people going for a second career and/or already have a bachelor's degree to get their RN. I'll have all the pre-reqs done by this summer (and then some!... pre-req calls for one class called "Organic and Biochemistry" and I have a full year of organic chemistry and a full year's worth of biochem lol.) Anyway, I just want to move on with my life and start working. 100% of my clinical experience is related to nurse-y stuff and I enjoy that a lot more than shadowing doctors while they fill out tons of paper work and spend half their day on the phone with the insurance companies trying to work out a treatment plan that insurance will pay for. So that's who I am and where I'm from. Main reason I made this post was to see if anyone has been in my shoes and to see where they ended up and how they like it.

Also, will have a BS in Human Biology help me out further along the line if I decide to specialize?

[RNperdiem, RN]

There are many, many nurses who started out as premeds.

I have been very satisfied as a nurse.

I have a brother who is finishing up medical school now. When I hear about the hours, the intense focus required, and lack of time for much else outside medicine, I am thankful for unanswered prayers. I realize now that MD was not for me.

There are trade offs to be made in whatever field you choose.

[DNPBrookie]

Hi there,

I am also a 2nd degree student, hoping to begin a 16 month BSN program in January. However my situation is a little different in that I am already working and a breadwinner, just decided that I need to do something more meaningful. If money weren't an issue I would probably go to med school and then practice in underserved communities or overseas. But, I have dependents so that is just not realistic for me. Getting my family through a BSN program without my income will be difficult as is, and I'm actually taking a paycut to be a nurse. So I plan to get my BSN, and "try out" as many areas as possible. I then plan to go on to do the NP, PA or CRNA thing depending on what I find I am most interested in. So my point is, there are so many options in health care, you sound like you are very bright, and you are so young. Why not get your BSN and start working, and then decide? Or if you feel like anything else will feel like "settling", have you considered the DO route? I have no personal experience with it myself but I've "heard" that the school and residencies are a bit more user friendly. Just something to look into maybe. The bottom line is that nothing is more important than enjoying and being fulfilled by what you do each day, and for most people I think finding that takes some trial and error. So don't feel like you have to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your like at 22.

[interleukin]

I am sorry you feel as though you were hoodwinked - having to deal with 24X7 care "garbage" involved in nursing. There is a reason that MD/PA jobs are 'precise' - it's called reimbursement. They don't do anything that they cant get paid for. That leaves a lot of gaps - which are filled in by nursing.

Nursing hasn't 'devolved' - it's always been this way. We don't "treat diseases", we care for people who are experiencing disease.

The "garbage" I referred to is the persistent micro-management of a practice that is inherently imprecise. I refer to the impression that nursing can be forever tweaked to meet some bottom line, that nurses can reach into some fourth-dimensional nurse kit and pull out an extra 20 minutes it now takes to do the same amount of work in order to maintain the same standard of excellence.

We have become a dumping ground for whatever else needs to be done...and it will only get worse as JAHCO hands down yet further mandates which invariably create shell games of safety.

The reimbursement issue is tiresome but at least they can expect to be able to do the job they were trained to do without beinbg pulled in a thousand directions.

[coder]

I was premed as well, had a career outside of healthcare, then went to nursing school. I think there are a lot of previous "pre-med's" that take the NP, PA, or CRNA route. I'm focused on heading the CRNA route. You might want to look into these further, shadow someone in each of these positions, etc. before you make a big change. Somtimes I do look back and think 'what if?' (who doesn't); but I am coming to believe the CRNA route was the way I was supposed to go. Good luck!

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

interleaukin, I appreciate your observations... it's always helpful to have an open dialogue - good post ;0

[xpinchx]

For all those recommending the PA route, why choose that over something like NP or CRNA? My original plan when I first got to college was to do CRNA..

Also I'm at a stage in my life where I'm simply tired of being in debt... I can't work enough with my course load to stay ahead with bills, rent, car payments, CC debt, gas, etc. The only way I get by is with my student loan refunds and a little help from my folks. I just want to get done with school, pay off all of these credit cards, pay off the car, and start chipping away at student loans.

[GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN]

My advice was based on the info you provided regarding your strong undergraduate science background,and disdain at insur co's and paperwork. You could probably go thru a PA course quicker than getting your CRNA as after you get your accelerated degree, you need ICU experience for 1-2 yrs before you can get into a CRNA program, and then complete that as well. I think you may have more job opportunities w/ a PA as well, CRNA's make good money, but many are part time positions (at least from what I've seen) You should field out the CRNA forum to see what the experts there would recommend

[DoeRN]

There are many, many nurses who started out as premeds.

I have been very satisfied as a nurse.

I have a brother who is finishing up medical school now. When I hear about the hours, the intense focus required, and lack of time for much else outside medicine, I am thankful for unanswered prayers. I realize now that MD was not for me.

There are trade offs to be made in whatever field you choose.

Once upon a time I was premed. I just could not see myself spending another 4 years in med school, residency with the crazy hours, fellowships and all of that. I am not a spring chicken and I thought nursing was the way to go. I wish I would have thought of nursing when I was 18 and first went to college. I would have saved myself a lot of time and money. Plus there are so many areas you can go into with nursing. But if you are still torn go to PA school like someone else mentioned.

[sicushells, RN]

I think it's great that you want to go into nursing! However, I do want to warn you that the nursing program I went through was very finicking about the prereqs. I did AP chem and did well, and still had to fight to skip general chemistry. Hopefully they'll let you skip the basic sciences, but you might need to argue your case with the school.

Just a heads up, but good luck, go for it!

[j450n, BSN, MSN, RN]

In my opinion, I'd rather go for a M.D. than head to PA school. Where I'm at, most PA schools require at least some sort of background in healthcare. Sometimes that required experience plus PA school can equal up to just as much time as getting a MD/DO...so why not go all the way? At 22 years of age, time shouldn't really be an issue. Even if I was 45, and I was thinking about a more autonomous position in healthcare; my rationale would be something like, "Well I'm 45...I can be a MD/DO, or I can be 45 and be something else." Of course there are intangibles and it's contingent upon every individual. Inevitably, I'm a person that hates living with regrets. In the future, I wouldn't want to find myself wondering if I could have stuck it out for a couple more years to get that MD/DO. These days, it's a crime with what you can do with those "letters" behind your name (not saying that you can't do that being a PA).

Ultimately, you gotta ask yourself if nursing isn't your thing, will being a mid-level provider (PA/NP) satiate you? Is it going to the offer the professional/personal lifestyle that's conducive for you? Would you rather be Tom Sizemore in Saving Private Ryan, or Tom Hanks?

I looked at everyone around me as of late. I talked to MDs, NPs, PAs, APNs, nurse educators, you name it... if a person had some "letters," I was sitting down for a conversation. Remember though, no matter how many opinions you field, you are the only person that will be able to fully understand how sacrificing one thing for another will affect your inner being. Take the time to sit down with your inner circle and debate the pro's and con's.

[MB37]

I think you're asking the right questions, and before you go to med school is a better time to ask them than after. I know you watch nurses work while you're sitting for patients - have you actually shadowed a nurse for a shift or two as well? It might be a valuable experience. We also spend a good portion of our time on paperwork, and the volume keeps growing.

I'm a new RN, and I took a nontraditional route. I was pre-law, not pre-med, when I got my first degree. I double majored and graduated w/honors from a top 50 private university, scored really well on the LSATs - and after talking with an endless amount of unhappy lawyers, I decided I just didn't want to go into debt to be miserable for the rest of my life. I bartended for a few years and got to know some really happy nurses, so I started checking out the career. I started taking prereqs - I hadn't taken many hard sciences with my first degree - and I aced them all. I just graduated from a 15 month accelerated BSN program, and while incredibly time consuming, it's not that difficult if you already have experience with challenging college coursework. I'm starting in critical care, so I know I still have a ton to learn. From what I've heard and seen, RNs get a lot more respect and have more autonomy in the units than on the floor. I have firm plans to go to CRNA school in a few years as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed being a student nurse, and I'm hoping my first year as an RN won't be as hellish as I've heard some people's are. If you weren't planning on med school just for the prestige, you may be very happy as a nurse or eventual mid-level provider. I tend to wish that I had considered med school when I was 22, because it really isn't an option at 29, married, and planning kids. I don't wish I'd gone, but I wish I'd researched it and had the chance to rule it out. If you've done a lot of shadowing and don't like the lifestyle, then you're right to be considering other fields. Check out PAs as well, I don't know as much about what their programs as I do NPs/CRNAs. There are AA (anesthesia assistant) programs in some states as well. Do a bit more shadowing before you decide NOT to become an MD - you don't want to look back as a 42 y/o nurse and wish you'd gone for it. Be sure, but if you think nursing is for you, embrace it!

(speaking of long posts...sorry!)