They want me to be an RN

[AspiringMD585]

Greetings,

I AM CONFUSED AND STARTING TO GET DEPRESSED...

I am a secretary at a hospital in Atlanta. I've been working here for 2.5yrs now. My goal is to become an OBGYN I am very passionate about women's health. I don't see myself doing anything else for the rest of my life. I was able to shadow an M.D for a day and I witnessed a c-section with tubal ligation. That was the day that REALLY solidified my dream.

Here is my dilemma, I'm 21 and I'm not getting any younger. I don't have a huge family support - if at all any. I take care of myself by myself. But being a secretary doesn't pay much and I've outgrown the responsibilities. All of the nurses that I work with for the past two years have been telling me that I need to go get my BSN and then take the required classes for Med school while working as a nurse since I want to become a doctor. The past two years co workers that I've started with I've seen them move up. I'm surrounded by great people doing great things. My hospital encourages education I was enrolled in school last year but since my job doesn't pay much and have to work 60+hrs a week to support my needs. I also had a family member that I was helping financially so when I would go to class I would be so drained and wasn't able to dedicate myself to my work they way I would like. So I did terrible basically wasted a whole year of school because I was failing the classes.

Then I come to work, and I try not to be envious of other people but the coworkers that I started with are all in a nursing program. Some are half way done and some just started but the fact is I'm just mad at myself because for the past two years I could've been done with school and made something of my self by now.

I'm scared deep down though because at first I didn't want to listen to the nurses that were saying I should be a nurse first. I wanted to take the traditional pre med route because at that time it just didn't make sense to me to become a nurse first. However, the reality is in my life I'm going to have to do something because I can't continue to be a secretary any longer.

Would it really be beneficial for me to become an RN even though I truly want to become an M.D?

[guest517]

First of all, I just want to say that you are not alone. There are millions of people in their early twenties who sort of lost track of their long term goals so don't be so hard on yourself. I'm 22 and I just got my degree in Business but I'm going back for nursing next year. I felt just like you, like I've been wasting time while everyone else is advancing(prior to my degree). I failed two semesters in a row and I was academically dismissed but I turned my life around shortly after and finally got a degree. The advice your coworkers are giving isn't necessarily bad because nursing is a great career and its very broad in terms of career paths. And it might just be more realistic to go that route vs going the Med school route. You're right, majoring in Pre-medicine would make more logical sense vs going the nursing route because you don't really take the same courses in Nursing so essentially it would be wasting more time. There is absolutely no comparison to Nursing and Medical school, you should ask doctors and do online research and you'll see the obvious in the educational requirements. However, I feel that if you've been struggling academically and you work s lot of hours, you should just consider a career in nursing. There are numerous careers in nursing relating to likely being under the supervision of an OBGYN. Nursing programs are very flexible which could allow you to balance work and attend school. Nothing worth having comes easy so you're determination has to e through the roof but I'd suggest going the nursing route. Whatever you decide, good luck!!!

[thegameisthick]

I think the point everyone here is missing is that you're currently not even in school, you're working a full time job and have an entire year of failing grades. In regards to your MD dreams, everyone wants to get to the top of the ladder, but no one wants to climb the ladder. Doctors and nurses had to work extremely hard to get to where they're at. There were a lot of sleepless nights, blood sweat and tears, sacrifices, and not so fun stuff they had to do to get to be able to do the "cool stuff". The reward is so great because of the amount of work and dedication it takes. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. While not impossible, your chances of acceptance to med school are very slim. At this point you'd be lucky to even get into an RN school with a year of failing grades. Also, by working full time, if this was really is your dream, it sounds like your priorities are out of order. You'd also have to work extra hard to even climb out of the hole you've created with your grades. For every F it takes twice as long to even turn that into a B. Also keep in mind, the ADCOMS at med schools do not accept grade replacements, they average all your grades, so an F and an A would leave you with a C average on failed courses. If I were you I'd get my LVN while working on improving your grades. When your grades have sufficiently improved, bridge to RN and get your BSN. You can always go the NP route if you desire to be some sort of provider.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

Even if you become a nurse, you will have to defer med school if you are going to spend any serious time working as a nurse. You might be able to do some med school pre-reqs while working as a nurse, but not much else. If in your heart you really want to be an MD, focus on that, not nursing. Med school is extremely competitive and you will need to do some serious academic overhaul if you're going to apply. However, if you want to be a nurse, by all means do that. Best of luck to you!

[imhorsemackerel, LPN]

My parents were both doctors in the Philippines. When they came to America, my father tried, but he decided not to pursue medicine. My mother found her way into nursing and absolutely fell in love with it. She loves the patient interaction she gets and prefers it over medicine. First she went to become an LPN, and she graduated the top of her class. Then she went and got her RN in her mid 40s. I know a few people have mentioned going for your LPN/LVN instead. One of my classmates felt that her dream of being a pediatrics nurse was solidified during our pediatrics rotation. Another friend wanted to do OB but changed her mind once we had clinicals. The nice thing about nursing is that once your foot is in the door, you can get many opportunities.

[Cool Nurse, BSN, RN]

Have you thought about becoming a PA? PA's are trained in the medical model and there are schools that offer a PA to MD degree. Pursing nursing when you are interested in the medical field seems like a waste of time and money. You could work as a physician assistant, make more money than nursing and gain MD and DO proffesional contacts to help you when you're ready to apply to medical school.

[Skippingtowork]

If you want to be a doctor, plan on being a doctor. You can go to nursing school and take the prerequisites for medical school during or after your program. Get good grades from now on. If you choose not to be a doctor after nursing school, you have many other choices. The doctor-to-nursing route is perfectly fine. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TRADITIONAL PRE-MED ROUTE. You only need the prerequisites and the grades and do well on the MCAT. Some of the best physicians I know, were nurses first and some did not practice longer that 3 months. Nursing is a legitimate bachelors degree that does not have to be explained. The difference with nursing is that you can get a job that pays well, as opposed to history or biology bachelors. Yes, there is a difference between nursing and medicine. You will learn medicine when you get into medical school just like the music major, the history major and the english major.

Go for it! Your institution may provide tuition reimbursement. Take advantage of it. Good luck.