Bad Idea???

[Daisy_08]

my cousin, who is in grade twelve, has been accepted to her top two university choices. she would like to go to medical school to be a doctor. lately she has been saying that she will go into nursing first (she was also accepted into some bscn programs) and then apply to medical school. her reasoning is that she can get some medical experience, have a good job to work at, live at home while in nursing (the university she would go to is near her home town but not very prestigious) and if she does not get accepted to med school she will still have a good job.

i'm curious to see what other nurses think.

i have my own opinions but have kept them to myself so far.

thanks for your thoughts

[BrookeeLou_RN]

It is a good idea, gives her a solid Back-up plan. If things change and she does not go to med school, she could also consider NP school.. she may even prefer that rote once she becomes a nurse. Granted she will not be able to work while in med school. She is what like 18 years old,, she may change her mind many times in the next few years. This shows grown-up planning and forethought on her part.. If all things were equal and she had gotten into a good pre-med school and was certain this was her choice and finances were no issue at all..some would say why waste the time... but at 18ish she has time and having a plan is much better than all the eggs in one basket.

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

I wouldn't waste my time. Why spend all that time and energy into a career you have no intention of pursuing? Also; there is the cost factor. Unless she's got lots of money I think it would be wise to pursue the profession she intends to stay with.

It takes a great deal of work, time, and money to get into grad school and pursue a PHD; think dissertation.

[MorningLight]

Pre-med majors have quite a few more classes to take, which will prepare them for the MCAT. Nursing core is just the basic sciences (1 yr of chem, microbio, 1 yr of anatomy, statistics, sociology, psychology). It think it's kind of a cool idea, but I don't think pre-med students can fit all the core into 2 years. The BSN usually takes the second 2 years just for nursing courses.

[DogWmn]

One of my docs was an army nurse during the Viet Nam era and came back and got her DO...she's a really good doc.

I think it depends on the person, finances etc.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

I don't see anything wrong with her plan...but she may surprise herself when she finds out all of the scut work that docs actually must do. It is NOT glamorous. She may end up falling in love with nursing and want to stay in the field. If not, she will at least have a real life understanding of what docs do day in and day out. I work with a resident who is in his 3rd year, and he was shocked at the amount of BS he is going through. He told me that he wants to quit the program and become a chef (he is a darned good chef!). He feels that his life is not his own (correct, O Naive One!), and he doubts that medicine will change much by the time he becomes an attending.

I love that your relative is so young and seems to want to plan her life around medicine. She will be good at whatever she does, no doubt.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I've heard of people who became X-ray techs or phlebotomists before med school (they figured they were going to be in the hospital a lot anyway, so why not get paid for their time), but not nurses.

[swift125]

Interesting thread: I just had an encounter with a GI doc (MD) and she was the most caring, friendly and personable doc that I have ever met. At age 57,I fly for a major airline (not a nurse,allnurses can ban me if desired), and my health has been basically ignored (by me). My last ATR (airline transport rating-this is the pilot's licence to fly the big stuff) was done by this gasto doc and she was great.....I will spare you the details of how she diagnosed my GI bleed..anyway, she was an RN who worked her way thru medical school.....and she's a fantastic doc....I can'tsnow her for anything (and I have the clinical backgrount to do so, plus my salary is pretty great)........basically: a nurse who becomes a physician is a great individual........mine won't let me get away with sh*t...and i'll probably live for a long time because of her care..thanks Michelle..........