Pre-nursing student seeks advice on career

[Manhattanite]

Hey, I could really use some advice from a professional nurse or someone with knowledge who can help me in my situation/thoughts.

Ok, it starts off as this: First off im 19 and its my second year in college. In my first year I was determined to claim my major as pre-med. It was always my dream to be a pediatrician, so my first pre-req was chemistry. Along with math and some other classes. Now, I was new to chemistry and the teacher advised people to take an easier one before taking the more advanced one for pre-med. I didnt listen of course because I am a stubborn teenager and regretted it, the teacher was horrible! He didnt know how to teach, had a thick accent and about 75% of the class of 90 dropped out. I decided to drop out as well and contemplated on my major. I picked nursing but after finishing, I just think it was too easy.

I pulled mostly A-'s and A's in all of my classes and 2 B-'s. People have commented to me that I should be doing pre med and why waste my time in nursing because im so young and smart. Well, ive thought about it and 1. Im not sure if they are saying that to get competition out of the way

2. I dont think I would take advice from a student because they dont know how hard it really is. I would really like to hear it from an actual nurse or a teacher.

Well, im still contemplating on whether I should try again or perhaps it was a sign that I shouldent be a pre med major. I dont want to rush into nursing right away because its too fast and I would rather learn more before I go into the program.

Basically, the experience with the bad chem professor scarred me, but now that I have a strong background in chem (I got both A's in lab and lect in gen chem for nursing) so I wouldent be suffering so much when I took general.

I would just really like some advice anyone might have if you think I should go for it, even though its very hard and some people dont realize that, or should I go for nursing first and then see how the medical field is, but I dont want to waste time. Has anyone had experiences on trying to be a pre med major but decided on nursing?

[d4t4ch17d]

Some schools have pre-med nursing paths. Mine has a five year BSN program that is also pre-med. It's impossible, I think, for many people to choose their career at 19 years old. I know it was for me, anyway. Try to keep as many doors open as possible. Learning more about many different career fields will help you figure out where you want to end up.

I know this post is a little old, but I thought I would make a comment. I am actually doing this myself, majoring in nursing as a pre-med direction. I am in my third year in nursing at Baylor University. If I do not get into a medical school because of a nursing major or whatever other reason there is, then at least I'm already an RN. Plus, I am really liking it as a nurse, and may just move on to my MSN. Although, I want to be an OB/GYN if I make it to medical school, what are others' thoughts about me just going into a WHNP program instead? I do not know how well male-WHNPs are accepted as opposed to male-OB/GYNs. Any thoughts?

[Skippitb]

I am going to be graduating with my pre-med degree at the end of this semester and will be going on to nursing school rather than medical school. I will try to be helpful by offer my experiences and opinions.

I would generally not try to dissuade anyone from continuing a program based on one class, but if you are not very good at chemistry bio-med is going to be tremendously difficult for you. Most programs require at least 5 semesters of chemistry: gen chem 1&2, orgo 1&2, and at least one semester of biochem. I don't want to offend any one here, but a large majority of the math and science courses you will have to take for pre-med are considerably more rigorous than anything you will take in nursing school. Also keep in mind that the first grade that med schools look at on your transcript is your organic chem grade.

When I was personally deciding between medical and nursing school these are a few things that I considered.

-Affordability of program tuition

-Willingness to relocate for medical school programs and residencies.

-Willingness to put my personal life on hold for 4 to 8 more years

-Preference in patient care role

-Salary and shift flexibility vs. responsibility and work load

-Intensity of schooling/burnout factor

I am not willing and able to make the personal and financial sacrifices required for med school. I do not want to relocate. I do not want to have to wait another 4 years to get married and start a family. I want a more direct role in patient care. I would like to enter the work force sooner rather than later with the option to further my education in the future if I so choose. I feel that nurses make good money for the minimal amount of schooling required and I like 12 hour shifts.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a pre-med degree is not a very versatile degree. If you decide that you don't want to go to med-school after you get our bachelors you are basically limited to low level research. If I could go back I wouldn't have even bothered to finish my pre-med because I have been informed that it is basically worthless to me in the health care field outside of getting me in to med school. I would have thought it to be an asset but it doesn't seem to be. A BSN on the other hand is an easier degree to get curricula wise and offers you many more options when you are finished, even if you decide you do not want to go in to bedside nursing.

It is likely that your priorities are different than mine and your experiences may differ as well. In the end you will make the choice that is most right for you. I wish you the best of luck.