Aspiring Nurses: Why not Med School??

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Many of the courses required for Nursing Schools and Medical Schools are the same, as many of you are aware. What made you choose the Nursing route over the MD? They are both challenging and require lots of commitment, but MD gets more prestige. So why Nursing? Enlighten me! :idea:

Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

No, we are not having a flame war. We are just disagreeing, and that is fine!

Well I do not take offense but it is certainly heartening to see a nurse poster (blessed######) come to a new poster's defense. Maybe nursing is a good profession because the people in it are so nice.

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
Many of the courses required for Nursing Schools and Medical Schools are the same, as many of you are aware. What made you choose the Nursing route over the MD? They are both challenging and require lots of commitment, but MD gets more prestige. So why Nursing? Enlighten me! :idea:

As a note Muurman, the question that you posted can be considered offensive to many of us. It displays either a considerable lack of knowledge about practice of Nursing, which is different from medicine and has its' own rewards or a misconception that somehow MDs are better than nurses or that a nurse is just someone not smart enough to go to med school, instead of separate career field.

Much like if someone asked, "Lawyers and police detective deal with criminals - why didn't you become a lawyer, because it is more prestigious. After all some of the classes are the same.

Thus some defensiveness around the question may occur.

But in answer to the question. I became a nurse because I wanted to become a nurse. I have no desire to be an MD.

Maybe you should ask a group of MDs why they didn't become nurses instead of MDs?

I love this website!!!! I didn't take the coment as rude. I really hate when someone ask me why not med school. I have heard the same question millions of times. I had a BS in Psychology and I too knew what I really wanted too late. Married with two kids I was thinking of going to med school. I almost The day I realized I wanted to be a nurse is when I was pregnant with my second kid. The doctors where in a hurry all the time. They didn't talk to me more than five minutes; very distant allmost like machines. I also did some volunteer work at an ER for two months and I realize that what I really wanted to do was to be nurse. They have human and personal contact with the patient. I respect a lot MD field but for me a Nurse its the one that makes the difference. At least in my experience and I realized that my psychology degree was going to be a great plus. I'm still waiting my letter but I wouldn't choose the other way. I do feel that the Nurse profession is not valorated enough but who cares!!! we know it and that's what counts.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I considered med school. I even took the pre-reqs and sat for the MCAT. I didn't get in. It was suggested that I go overseas to Granada or the Virgin Islands. I didn't want to do that.

So, I got an MBA and worked in the healthcare field. But, I never felt satisfied. Now, I am going to NS and I love it!

Specializes in ICU.

I thought about med school pretty seriously when I was younger. Even thought about one of those direct-entry 6 year programs...life happened, I ended up studying technical theatre for about 3 years then switched to psychology and graduated with my B.S. Now I'm going to nursing school (starting an accelerated BSN next week) and I think it's what I was supposed to do all along.

Why no MD for me? In no particular order...

1. I don't want my career to be my life. This is a thought echoed by a few previous posters. I want to go home and play with my dog and cats and hang out with my husband and not worry about getting called at 3am. I want to go on vacation and not carry a pager.

2. Don't want to carry that kind of . I will carry my own policy as an RN but it will be nowhere NEAR as costly as an MD's.

Plus, I'm way less likely to be named in a suit...

3. I have several friends who are physicians and each and every one of them is miserable. It's very sad, actually. I always ask about their jobs, thinking something has changed, and not once have they ever had anything good to say about it, whether it's the constant abuse, lack of sleep, horrendous hours, or what have you. Now they are $200,000 in the hole and hating life. That just sucks.

4. I wanted to be more involved in hands-on patient care than I feel most doctors get a chance to be.

5. I absolutely love the flexibility that this career offers, again, a thought echoed by a few other posters. I'm the type of person that has many different interests and hops around to a lot of different hobbies (running, sewing, karate, rock climbing, reading, knitting, etc.) I once thought I'd like to get my PhD in Industrial Psychology but I could never narrow it down to a particular field of research which is generally what PhD programs want you to do. And that's pretty typical for my entire life, really. Jack of all trades, master of as many as possible, and that's the way I like it. I don't like feeling like I have to be tied to a certain interest for the rest of my life.

Nursing will offer me the chance to experience a ton of different areas, and should I happen to find a "niche," then that works, too.

Hope that helps. Welcome to the site! I think you'll find a lot of good information here, but be careful, because some of it can really get in your head sometimes. :)

Because I want to be a NURSE!!! :nurse:

Specializes in Neuro.

All my life my parents, my relatives and my parents' friends have said "Wow, Meghan's so smart -- she should be a doctor!" (I often wonder if it's only a coincidence that my initials are MD). When I decided to go into nursing, they all said "Ah, that's nice, but shouldn't you apply to med school instead?"

So many people think that nursing is like a downgrade from being a doctor that it does get frustrating and demeaning. I try to explain to people about the holistic approach that nursing offers, that I can treat the whole patient instead of the disease. And I love the flexibility of hours and specialties I can try so the chances of total burnout are much less. And honestly, the further I get in nursing school, the more they are impressed by how much stuff I have to know as a nurse. They don't realize that nurses help to double-check what the doctors are doing, so we have to have knowledge of the pathophysiology and treatment of diseases just like they do.

Ironically, a good chunk of my classmates (ABSN program) were pre-med in college, several took the MCAT and one actually attended a year of med school before switching to nursing. We all have different reasons. Some couldn't get into med school, some decided they didn't want to spend so many additional years in school. Some didn't want the extra responsibility and liability. Some didn't want their lives to be taken over by work.

While I'm sure I could have gotten into med school and been a good doctor, that's not my passion, so I didn't do it.

Specializes in ICU, CVICU.

I wanted to work in the hospital and take care of patients. How much meaningful time do you actually spend with your physician?

Also, I wanted a family! My good friend is a family medicine resident and we both have babies the same age. She spends over 100 hours a week at the hospital (in spite of the 80 hour cap) and she never sees her daughter. Even when she finishes the program, she will never have the flexibility that I have (if she wants to make any money).

The course of study is longer than my remaining life span.

I wanted to work in the hospital and take care of patients. How much meaningful time do you actually spend with your physician?

Also, I wanted a family! My good friend is a family medicine resident and we both have babies the same age. She spends over 100 hours a week at the hospital (in spite of the 80 hour cap) and she never sees her daughter. Even when she finishes the program, she will never have the flexibility that I have (if she wants to make any money).

This would definitely end any thought of becoming a doc. I want to be with my family.

I never wanted to be a nurse or a doc. I majored in Social Work.

Went back to school at 38 for nursing. All because I saw an ad for an EMT class and thought it would be fun and someone said "Why don't you become a nurse instead?". hmmmmm? :idea:

steph

Specializes in Clinicals.

I couldnt pass Organic Chem. :o I'm sure that everything happens for a reason and now I'm on my way to become a RN! (and hopefully a CRNA)

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