Any RNs considering medical school?

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Hello nurses! I just want to reach out as a new member to ask about RNs who have considered studying medicine. I am in my last year of nursing school and am finding nursing school to be incredibly boring and not stimulating at all. All day long I am measuring and recording vital signs, while I wish I was studying more biology and chemistry. I like the time I get with patients, and I love to make them happy.. but I just feel like this is too easy. I could have slept through every semester of nursing school because it was all too easy and it didn't really require as much critical thought as I thought it would for me. I am going to take a tour at a local medical school after clinicals today because I wish I was diagnosing, researching, and truly treating patients instead of executing orders and running to physicians every time there is a problem that is out of my scope of practice! I just want to know if there anyone else who has felt this way, or if there are any nurses that are in medical school that felt this way. I feel totally alone at school when it comes to the feeling I have towards this because everyone around me is constantly talking about how hard everything is.. I have had to study somewhat.. but besides the detail oriented things, when it comes to nursing exams, clinicals, care plans ... it is all so easy I could sleep through it. Even though I feel relaxed, the nursing faculty is constantly stressing out, and trying to tell us how stressed we are going to be ... it seems like they are trying to push stress only us for things that are practically thoughtless and common sense to myself... does anyone else feel this way? I thought of getting my masters or becoming a nurse practitioner, but I don't think I can live like this for the rest of my life. It is totally boring and I don't feel like it takes as much skill as I thought.. I think I can better serve patients as a doctor.. has anyone else thought of this and expressed their opinion in nursing school, and realized what a stigma there is surrounding nurses who want to study medicine?

I am thinking about it now. I am aware of the prerequisite courses because l was originally pre-Med before switching to nursing. I switched to nursing because of financial concerns. I realized that going into nursing school after four years in college would leave me financially stressed. When I first started nursing I thought I could settle for the career and actually get into it and I am trying to .. I really am trying. But I am so anxious to learn more about everything, and am literally just obsessed with researching cures for cancer. I really love histology and biology, physics especially.. I guess you get what I am saying.. and with nursing it feels like I am scratching the surface, but I know there is more! I am not ever going to discuss my plans with my fellow students or colleagues after the responses I have gotten. Thank you for your reply and insight!

I meant that going into medical school directly following the completion of my bachelors would leave me stressed financially. Not nursing.

I did not know a thing about nursing before I started, but I feel like everything that I have learned was sort of basic and very easy to apply to care. I suppose it Is tough being in school for something I thought was my calling, just to find out that TO ME- it does not take much thought and is so limited in the scope of practice. I honestly do not think it is stimulating to continuously carry out out orders and assess patients. I also do not like the way that all of the nurses attacked me on this post of speaking my mind. I suppose that I should expect such simple minded responses.. since this was t original complaint. if my mind does not operate in one specific simple way - I am arrogant, among other things. I have picked up on the fact that nurses are the carerakers, but are also big gossips, and very quick to judge.. without hesitating... which further clarifies to me, that this will never be a long term career! Thanks for responses!

And you still know absolutely nothing about nursing. In fact you know so little that you have no idea how little you know. Don't want to be nurse that's perfectly fine. But don't come on a forum and disparage the profession which is exactly what you did. If you don't understand that then maybe you aren't as smart as you seem to think you are. Certainly not in the area of social intelligence. You were rude and snotty and got what you deserved. And just so you know, as a nurse with over three decades of experience the last time I just followed doctors' orders was when I was a new grad and didn't know any better. I collaborate with my physicians and we develop a plan of care together. Sometimes I carry out his orders. Sometimes he follows my suggestions. It's a symbiotic and mutually satisfying relationship. And guess what...in one of my roles I actually wrote orders! I know, mind blowing isn't it.

Don't be a nurse, please don't, but I advise you also to not be a physician that thinks that nurses are mindless robots carrying out your orders. That will bite you in the butt in ways you could never imagine.

Furthermore, I'm disappointed that with your superior intelligence and critical thinking skills you haven't been able to figure out the use of the quote button.

But I am so anxious to learn more about everything, and am literally just obsessed with researching cures for cancer. I really love histology and biology, physics especially.. I guess you get what I am saying.. and with nursing it feels like I am scratching the surface, but I know there is more!

Had you approached this topic in your OP like this I can assure you you would have gotten all the support from us you wanted. We would have pointed you in the direction of what kind of nursing jobs would have this kind of focus if you wanted to stay in nursing. Or we would have agreed that med school is the way to go.

Specializes in ICU.
...I suppose that I should expect such simple minded responses.. since this was t original complaint. I find it to be sad that this stigma that the members of this board demonstrated exists.. if my mind does not operate in one specific simple way - I am arrogant, among other things. I have picked up on the fact that nurses are the carerakers, but are also big gossips, and very quick to judge.. without hesitating... which further clarifies to me, that this will never be a long term career! Thanks for responses!

What's arrogant isn't your "way" of thinking rather it's what and how you communicate. I honestly doubt you're a nursing student or will ever be a Doctor. You seem to be just a bored internet troll. If you are somehow considering a career in medicine or as a nurse consider the fact that the majority of people you "treat" or "care" for will likely be less educated individuals having one of the worst days of their lives, how and what you communicate to them may impact their outcome.

Furthermore, I'm disappointed that with your superior intelligence and critical thinking skills you haven't been able to figure out the use of the quote button.

You took the words right out of my keyboard. :)

I find it to be sad that this stigma that the members of this board demonstrated exists..

Please reference the post that reflects a "stigma" against former nursing students or nurses going to med school.

I'm going to try an experiment. I wonder what kind of response the OP would have gotten if he or she had said something like this:

"Hello, nurses! I'm in my last semester of nursing school, and nursing isn't quite what I had expected. I really enjoy working with patients, but I wonder if I might find it more challenging to help patients via the medical model. I would really like to dig into the most complex aspects of patient care - how the biochemistry and pathophysiology point to medical disease processes, for example. I'd like to finish nursing school, take (and hopefully pass!) the NCLEX, and then take a medical school prerequisite (organic chemistry, perhaps?) and explore whether medical school might be an option for me. Does anyone know other nurses or nursing students who have made a switch like this? I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!"

I have tremendous respect for good doctors and I would never want to be one. :cheeky: I'll keep plugging away at nursing school (the easy and the hard parts!) and hope that I can be the best nurse I can be because this is where I feel called to be. I hope the OP can find a calling the suits him or her, too.

Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

You might find that medical school is what you're looking for and you might not. They approach patients and patient care from two different angles. If you're finishing school, obviously you've done your fair share of care plans and probably realized that many of them are patient focused. Medicine approaches patients from more of the disease process focus, and maybe that's what you're looking for. Your initial post did come across as a bit condescending, but I don't think that if you go into medicine you would be at a disadvantage, and maybe if the patient focus of care is something you liked, you might bring that into the medical side. However, if you had financial concerns before, fulfilling all the prerequisites and then medical school itself certainly isn't going to be cheap. Good luck.

I have to laugh at this one. I could never claim to be the smartest person in any room! There are plenty of people who are smarter than myself! I would be foolish to say such a thing! I did not know a thing about nursing before I started, but I feel like everything that I have learned was sort of basic and very easy to apply to care. I suppose it Is tough being in school for something I thought was my calling, just to find out that TO ME- it does not take much thought and is so limited in the scope of practice. I honestly do not think it is stimulating to continuously carry out out orders and assess patients. I also do not like the way that all of the nurses attacked me on this post of speaking my mind. I suppose if all other nurses find schooling to be a challenge, than they will not respect my thoughts or opinions. This is why I asked if there were any other nurses who decided to study medicine specifically- and not if there were any nurses that disagree with me and want to belittle my train of thought. I suppose that I should expect such simple minded responses.. since this was t original complaint. I find it to be sad that this stigma that the members of this board demonstrated exists.. if my mind does not operate in one specific simple way - I am arrogant, among other things. I have picked up on the fact that nurses are the carerakers, but are also big gossips, and very quick to judge.. without hesitating... which further clarifies to me, that this will never be a long term career! Thanks for responses!

For someone who keeps touting their intelligence I find it remarkable that you neither know how to use the quote button, nor type in grammatically correct paragraphs.

Specializes in Disaster, Conflict Mgmt.

OP - you have been given a lot of advice, and have received a lot of feedback. I recommend you work on your communication skills; you seem incapable of processing the advice with any real intention to make changes. If you find nursing unchallenging and boring, without even having started, perhaps it isn't for you, but it may not be for the reasons you think.

Go ahead and change course for medical school, if that suits you, but work on your people skills.

OP, the thoughts you're having indicate that you are setting yourself up for a life of misery unless you actually put all of your energies into pursuing medical training. Nursing has a lot to offer, but it isn't for everyone - and the reasons aren't always because someone isn't smart enough or otherwise can't hack it.

Don't set yourself up for a life of should've/could've.

Just do it.

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