Already posted but was told to post here...

[palmpalm]

I posted this in the "general nursing" forum but some people there told me to post it here. I do apologise for the double-post.

Hi all,

I am looking for input/advice. I'm a 25 year old guy from Ontario, Canada. I was in medical school up until a few months ago. My father has been ill and has not been working and I withdrew from medical school in order to come home and work full-time to help out and be with me dad. At some point in my life I intend to go to med school again but it does not look like a possibility in the immediate future. I live in Canada and we have 2 year 2nd entry (I already have a degree) b.sc.n. programs. I found out that I could do one and have it paid-for. This means that it would not be as huge a financial strain on my family and I and in 2 years time I can be making much better money to help out with everything. And, some years down the line, when I apply to med school again, I hope that my experience as an RN will be helpful.

Having worked and volunteered in hospitals and from being a med student I know how amazing RNs are. They run the show and without them patients and doctors alike would be lost. They do all the work and the doctor gets most of the recognition. I know what an RN does for the most part.

I never in my life thought of being an RN. I've pursued medicine since I was 16. But life has thrown me this curbeball and I think that nursing would be a good opportunity to be financially responsible, help out my family, and still do work that I enjoy.

But, like I said, I am also fairly certain that, when my finances allow it, I will try to return to medicine, though I don't know how far down the road that will be.

What do you all think of this? Good idea? Bad idea? Am I going to ****-off a lot of RNs doing this? Thoughts? Going from med-school to nursing, am I gonna be frustrated? Talk to me people! :-)

[loriangel14, RN]

I think your plans sound reasonable. Best of luck.

[SecondGenRN]

lots of RN's plan to attend med school in the future. Some do it, others stay RN's. It is not unreasonable and I can't imagine you making any enimies because of it (unless you give the perception that you are above RN status). One guy I went to school with had an 8 month career as an RN before he started med school lol. Good luck in whatever you decide:)

[pilgrim]

I think you're being very sensible. Whilst being a nurse, you'll gain a lot of insight into another side of patient care which can help you become a better doctor in the future. Loads of luck and all the best!

[linzz]

I am sorry about your father. My cousin was in med school and also was not able to finish it. I think that being a nurse would certainly be a viable option for you if money is a concern right now. I hope that you will be able to go back to med school at some point if that is what you want.

Good luck.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

When you left med school did you ask anyone about re-entry criteria? If your ultimate goal is medicine you may want to see what experience will be most likely to get you back into school. I worked in research with a physician who trained outside of Canada, when he first came to the country he was not able to work as physician. He considered going to nursing school because he wanted to earn money to support his family and he thought it would get him accepted into med school. However, he was advised that he would be better off working as a research assistant with researchers/ physicians who were affiliated with the university and could write letters of recommendation to help him get accepted into med school. This was the right advice for him, he's finished school and working as a physician now.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Some of the best physicians I've ever worked with were nurses first.

I think psychologically it would be more difficult to go from MD to RN than vice versa. Although nurses in Canada have a significant degree of autonomy, we are restricted by our scope of practice. There are a lot of things an MD might want to do as an RN that would fall outside of that scope of practice and that would create a degree of frustration.

Comparing an FMG to a Canadian-educated medical re-entrant isn't likely an accurate comparison. I would recommend speaking to placement counsellors from both faculties and then using that information as the basis for your decision, palmpalm.