As a nurse, would you go on for an MD?

Published

If you're a nurse and work closely with MD's would you want to go on to further your education and get an MD license? There is more pay and you already pretty much know human anatomy, diseases, medications and clinical skills that you could do well in Medical School. Plus the hospital you work at may have a tuition reimbursement. When you're a doctor you call all the shots and like I've said you make more money as well.:yeah:

if you have the money, stamina, and the determination then go for it

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Nope, I'd rather marry one instead.

No you wouldn't. ;) One of my best friends is married to a triple-boarded ICU doctor and he is like neverrrrr home. My husband is stationed three hours away and only comes home two weekends a month and I'm pretty sure I see him more than she sees her hubby. She's awesome and totally supportive of him but it can get really lonely and miserable spending evenings alone.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
That's what I did, and she's great! :D

Now, when I once mused out loud about going to med school myself, her response was 'I'll kill you.' Surviving one residency was bad enough.:icon_roll

If I were 20 years younger, I might actually consider it. But now, I'd finish residency and start repaying loans at about age 60. No thanks.

BTW, at least here the premeds not only have a lot more science for pre-reqs; they also take higher level courses. A&P, for instance, is a different course for the premeds. Different texts, harder all around, and a different code in the college catalog.

Also, it is incorrect that there is no tuition reimbursement for med school. My wife took her student loans on a loan for service agreement. After residency she went to work in an approved loan repayment site (a FP clinic that served uninsured and indigent patients). Some new docs out here go to the reservations or pueblos. The military also offers options.

We told one of our daughters (BSc in Microbiology and BSc in MedTech) to go to Nursing. It looks like she's going to PT for grad school. Another good choice.

Meanwhile, I think ACNP looks pretty interesting for my next foray...:uhoh3:

Yep! The above mentioned friend's hubby is active duty Navy and when he retires in 6 years he will be raking in the cash with ZERO student loan debt. :yeah:She is sooo buying my coffee from then on. :lol2:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was really glad to find this post. I just graduated nursing school in June and have been thinking about med school. I think I have the grades (I got a 4.0 in nursing school), but I know that I would have to take more science classes. I am seriously considering it though. I actually started thinking about it in my last year of nursing school. The only thing that kinda makes me hesitate is the cost. I already have student loan debt from nursing school...I am not sure I want to add another $100,000 on top of it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU, Pediatrics, Postpartum, M/B.

I know some people still think doctors are in charge and nurses take their orders, but that is changing, and has been for a while! I am currently furthering my education in grad school and working on my Doctor of Nursing Practice in pediatric psych! I like that I can further myself in my chosen field, and not by having to go back to grad school for my MD. I was actually pre-med in undergrad and realized I like the "nursing" aspect of healthcare much more than I liked the "medical" aspect!

Kristen :idntdt:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.
cause i really like the way she wrote this and it should reappear in this thread. =)

I like that name of yours, very original.

And yes she wrote that well.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC/Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

I was kidding!!

I'm happily married for 10 years now, he's still the love of my life.

Despite the fact that he will be able to use the title Dr. in a few short years...as a clinical psychologist.

He can't wait to give my father a card that says "Dr" There are jerks in every profession. I've met nurses who I can't stand and they can't figure out why they are single, but everyone around them knows.

I've met MD's who I can't figure out why they are single.

Too funny.

You need to work with some of the docs I work with--they would make you change your mind in a hurry.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC/Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.
Yep! The above mentioned friend's hubby is active duty Navy and when he retires in 6 years he will be raking in the cash with ZERO student loan debt. :yeah:She is sooo buying my coffee from then on. :lol2:

DH is looking at a military option as well.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Premeds have far more science than we do. Far more. (I think nursing should require more science but that's a different thread.) I believe the premise of the OP was that we would have an advantage going into med school, but that's not the case at all.

Geez Farmer Jane, I had Biology I and II, Microbiology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, not to mention all the science involved in nursing courses learning about disease. What more would we study that would be useful???

There has to be room for Psych, Sociology and all the other softer courses that we need. For this kind of pay, we don't need to be scientists.

If I wanted medical school, I would have tried for that. I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to be able to comfort people, not just coldly write them a prescription and send them on their way. No way would I be a doc. Nursing call is bad enough, but 24/7? Yuck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in psych -22 yrs, med-surg and a little OB.

What a question......... woulda, coulda, shoulda.......LOL I've wished a million times that growing up, someone would have told me I COULD be a doctor - but I didn't know it. My mother said - you're a girl, you can play the flute or the clarinet......be a teacher or a nurse........ which do you pick. She wasn't being mean - that's what she thought my choices were. I've said for years that ALL doctors should have to try being nurses first. If they have the empathy and caring component based on work evaluations and patient surveys, then and only then could they be considered for medical school. Think of the reduction in nurse drop-out rates, think of the reduction in law suits, think of the understanding and improvement in communication............. in a perfect world!:D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
from what i've seen, i would only need one extra semester of o-chem and one extra semester of college physics to fulfiill the prereqs for med school beyond what i've taken for my nursing school, but then again, i also didn't just take the lowest-level chem/o-chem required to get in to nsg school (which a lot of people do).

But you also have to take into consideration as well whether or not the school has a "cap" on these classes. Some do and the school I went to did. When I was taking my pre-reqs for my diploma and BSN programs, I knew a medic who had to retake A&P because she went over the 10 yr cap by 2 months.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Not directly addressing the same topic but just my own experience on the RN to MD thing...I am actually in the process of doing the reverse, ie MD to RN. I am an overseas educated MD and worked as one for 10-12 years before our family moved here. I assumed I would continue being one here so i gave the ECFMG exams (reqd of foreign physicians in order to do their US residencies), passed those, and then started shadowing a few physicians to acclimatize myself to the hospitals here and how things were done. I shadowed an internist on all his calls etc ..now dont get me wrong, its not the hours that do it for me its the patient contact, and quality of it that i did not like.

I thought maybe I should try another specialty and followed an FP around for a month, then worked as an extern at an Urgentcare with her. She did not have any student loans etc, but always complained of how little was left at the end of the day..she said her PA made more than her!

I think that was the point where I got thinking: I have to check this out. At that point I had seen enough real 'action' to feel comfortable in making a choice for myself not based on job 'labels' but job descriptions.

In India ,where i was practicing, doctors do a lot of what RNs do here. As a consequence we do have a great deal of patient contact, we do feel connected to them, and its a great mix of making a good income ( not as much as here though), great job satisfaction and the social respect and admiration one gets are nothing to sneeze at. You truly feel a valued member of your society.

It bears mentioning that we also had a great support system of grandmas, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc so my children (one them with special needs) , DH and I could cope very well. There was always someone we could hang out with, or someone who would pick up the slack if we couldn't...and we did the same for them.

Anyways, long story short, with a lot of introspection, research, and many discussions with DH I have decided to pursue nursing. As you can imagine he was not for it right away..he is an engineer so he could not connect with what i meant , but later after more discussions he said whatever made me happy and whatever was good for the family was definitely ok with him...that was such a relief.

I enrolled in Excelsiors ASN to begin with, that was a few mos ago. Now am done with theory testing requirements and waiting for my practical date (CPNE), and will hopefully be an RN early next year. I have been volunteering in some hospitals locally also..Over time I hope to eventually get to being a Family or critical care NP or if something else comes up that I like more I would be game for it too. I love integrative medicine and wrote to Dr Weil about studying with him sometime in the future..he ( or his office) actually wrote back to let him know when I was ready!

Nursing ( in this beautiful country in particular) offers so many wonderful ways to connect with people. I will be the first to admit that there are times when I have tears in my eyes at the thought of doing the work that I love, the way I want to do it, when I want to do it..it feels like a miracle.There are times when I feel like I am a kid on Christmas morning...its like, you mean I can do this ? and this ? and this ?..and i love and want to do it all!!!

Forgive me for writing so long but today is one of those mornings when I look about me and thank the creator for giving me so much!!

God bless u all !

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion