Nurses who went to med school

[Lulu Belle, RN, EMT-B]

This is not another one of those NP versus MD posts, I promise. I specifically chose nursing for many reasons, though I considered going pre-med for a while.

It's just that I noticed the pre-med requirements and my nursing school requirements only vary by about 2 classes. I've done some research on here about going to med school after nursing school, and no one has mentioned the research requirement. I know it exists, but how did those who got into med school after nursing school meet this requirement?

Thanks!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Depends on what you the "research requirement" means. BSN education includes preparation needed to read and understand research, but not actual conduct it - so BSN programs have a course on nursing research which provides an overview of the process. In some of those courses (like the one I had), you have to actually write a 'mini proposal'. In addition, an intro statistics course will include an overview of statistical measurement techniques for various types of research. You would have to talk with a med school admissions person to determine whether this would be sufficient.

In the nursing profession, research is an expectation of doctorally prepared nurses, because that is the level at which nurses are expected to "create new knowledge". MSN education includes a more thorough grounding in research & statistical measurement, but unless the program requires a thesis, there is usually no application-level work required.