BSN to Med School

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Well, hello all! This is my very first thread to post, so don't critique too much! :)

I am going to start this off by telling you a little bit about me and the background that goes with my question(s).

I grew up in a small town outside of Houston, Waller, Tx. My dad and brother are Firefighters/EMTs. I knew I wanted to be like them in some way, just not exactly. At first I wanted to be a vet, but my parents one day mentioned "Animals don't talk." Lol. It's true, and kind of deterred me away from going that route. When I entered high school, I had the option to receive a CNA license in hopes to become a nurse, so I did upon graduating.

I moved up to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area after graduation in attempt to go to UTA's nursing program. I was hired on at Arlington Memorial Hospital as a PCT on Cardiac Tele, and have been working there for 2 years now.

Since working there, I've been dying to get into the middle of all the fast paced action when alloted; codes, trauma, CPR, etc.. I'm addicted to the show "Trauma: Life in the ER", it is the actual footage of Trauma situations. One night, while watching the show, it dawned on me that a ER doc/Trauma Surgeon is what I want to be.

I was recently accepted into the nursing program that is held strictly for Texas Health Resources' employees and family members. (Arlington Memorial and 12 other hospitals in North Texas is owned by THR). It is an 18 month (no summer school) ADN program, with an automatic transfer to UTA for a BSN, which is just another year. So in 3 years, I will have received my Bachelors in Nursing.

I've read that in order to get accepted into Med School, 1) you have to have met MCAT standards for whichever university, 2) pre-reqs completed, and also 3) an accredited Bachelors degree.

I know that they are totally opposite career choices, and that they just compliment each other. But the reason for me to become a nurse first is so that if I ever get into Med School, and it becomes too overwhelming for me or my hopefully future family, I will have nursing to fall back on.

My questions come into play now;

1) Have you, or anyone you know of done something similar to this? Or wanted to?

2) The hospital is paying for all my schooling now, including my BSN at UTA. Do you think there is a hospital that would be willing to pay my way through Med School, as long as I sign a contract to work for them "x-amount" of years?

3) Do you see any future complications with the route I'm taking in order to get into Med School?

By the way, I absolutely LOVE nursing! But I want to be the ring leader in trauma situations (not being told what to do (yes, I know that is what nursing is all about)). Also, working my way up from a PCT-RN-BSN-MD would give me clarity from all aspects around the hospital.. One of my charge nurses was a PCT before she became a nurse, and I promise she is one of the BEST nurses our hospital has to offer! Amazing young lady!

Sorry this was so long, but I don't want to leave out any details that I might have to add a little later in order to get a clear answer to my questions. Thank you all so much!!! Stick around please, in case I have further questions.

Thanks,

JWestbrook

Have you thought about going the PA route?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
by the way, i absolutely love nursing! but i want to be the ring leader in trauma situations (not being told what to do (yes, i know that is what nursing is all about)).

i want to clarify that doctors (mds) are not the ring leaders in trauma situations. on tv this is true. in reality the entire team works together to run the code. i know that sounds strange but that are what happens. nurses do not just sit around waiting quietly for an order from a doc. trauma nurses know what to do and when to do it so they advocate for a particular medication, study, test, anticipate needs, etc. with this said, i understand why you want to be a doctor. you will definitely be treated better then when you work as a nurse and you will be given more autonomy then when you work as a nurse. therefore, since you have the time and possibly the money to become an md i highly encourage you to choose that route!!! if you can avoid nursing, then that may be your best bet. gl!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
Your plan sounds doable, but one thing you might want to keep in mind is the NP or CNS route specializing in trauma/er/acute type of care. Benefit to the NP/CNS route would be finances and length of study. Good luck in what you choose!

I really have thought about becoming an NP and specializing in Trauma/ER. As I did research I found out that even if you do specialize in those areas, you will most likely be working with the Ears, Nose and Throat patients... I know, I know. Not everyday is going to host a adrenaline rush event, but when that time does come, I don't want to be probing a persons ear for infection or whatnot.. Thanks for your advice, I will still keep that option available as the years go on.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
Have you thought about going the PA route?

I have, but I figured if I am going to put that many years into studying, I mine as well become a doc... But I really need to do a bit more research on PA's. Years of school, pre-reqs, pay, etc..

Thank you!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
i want to clarify that doctors (mds) are not the ring leaders in trauma situations. on tv this is true. in reality the entire team works together to run the code. i know that sounds strange but that are what happens. nurses do not just sit around waiting quietly for an order from a doc. trauma nurses know what to do and when to do it so they advocate for a particular medication, study, test, anticipate needs, etc. with this said, i understand why you want to be a doctor. you will definitely be treated better then when you work as a nurse and you will be given more autonomy then when you work as a nurse. therefore, since you have the time and possibly the money to become an md i highly encourage you to choose that route!!! if you can avoid nursing, then that may be your best bet. gl!

with that last bit, i think you understand where i am coming from. the show i was referring to, is actual events, and i have been in codes myself, i know that the docs aren't the "ringleaders", but i think i just want know that i have so much power and knowledge that nothing cannot be done to save this persons life.

thank you for your helpful and caring words!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You are right. As a nurse many years back I was trying to apply to Med School at UCLA and I was told that my chances were poor because I was a nurse!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peri-Op.

I know 3 or 4 MDs that were nurses. They would work 2-3 night shifts a week while going to med school. It is a good way to plan your route if you dont have your own financial means to pay for it now.... However, you know what happens when you make plans? Life happens and plans change alot but at least you will have your RN to support yourself. If your plans workout you will be able to move on and be an MD.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Don't go for the BSN. Get a bachelor's in something else. A BSN isn't going to save much time because you'll still need to take a slew of sciences that aren't required in nursing school. Besides, do you really want to take a class on nursing research or community health from a nursing standpoint? School is cheap in Texas. Splurge a little and pay for your bachelors so you get something that looks good to med schools.

And, yes, you're looking at a zillion years of school. After your ADN, give yourself 2 years for a bachelors, 4 for med school, a year as an intern and several years for your residency (length depends upon specialty). You might also add a few years for a fellowship in there.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

Oh to be your age again! You're young with lots of ambition but like another stated, plans can change due to life events. THR may decide(or be forced to due to the economy) in a year to stop paying for the education of its employees then you are on your own to find loans, scholarships, work full-time. I imagine the 18-month ADN program will give you a taste of the rigors you will encounter. For several years our hospital selected 6 employees every 18 months to finance their RN education. All-expenses paid tuition sounds and looks great until the hospital started being late with paying for tuition. I have a friend who finished her RN degree thru our hospital program and doubt she would do it again. The hospital promised to pay for this and that and didn't follow through. Such an intensive program also does NOT allow time for anything unexpected; no illnesses, no deaths, no catastrophes allowed. She absolutely could NOT miss any time even when her husband had to have surgery and was out of work for 6 weeks. So keep these things in mind. Best of luck to you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

As I mentioned in a pm, why dawdle around in nursing if medicine is your goal? Just go for medicine!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have my BSN, I want to go to med school but the cost deterred me; now that I am a RN I am working on paying back the loans, and life still happens, it sucks.

My advice is to just go to med school directly and incur loans from the beginning to end without BSN/wasting time in middle and follow through. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I started looking into my educational possibilities a few years ago I wanted to be a doctor. I only even looked at being a nurse because I saw nurses go to being doctors on E.R. and I thought it was a reasonable stepping stone to being a doctor.

It's not.

In most cases anyway. I talked to doctors and I talked to nurses. I event talked to a career counselor. It was broken down to me like this: yes, some nurses do move on to the MD, others don't do as well, and most encounter bias because they're nurses, so it would be difficult to get into med school, which is already pretty difficult.

Combine this with the fact that MDs and nurses have totally different thinking, learning, and problem solving models you are making things more difficult than they have to be. Nurses don't think like other people. Doctors don't really think like other people. Neither really think alike.

Granted - I was a guy who was going to have to pay for education with loans, financial aid, scholarships, and out of pocket, so that played a part.

What swayed me was one of the nurses I talked to asked me why I wanted to be a doctor. I said I wanted to help people, and she said I could help people as nurse or at a soup kitchen or as a garbage man. Why doctor? At the time I was under the impression that the doctor was the end all be all and big boss man. He was the leader and gave the orders, etc.

I told the nurse that I felt like I would have a bigger, stronger impact as a doctor because I would be in a better position of control to help than if I was just a nurse.

Man, I was dumb. She asked me "who's the first and last person you see whenever you go to the doctor?" "Who answers your questions?" "Who bandages you up?" "Who watches out for you?" "Who do you trust ultimately?"

The nurse. She explained that nurses are directly involved in the care of the patient and in their recovery. Nurses help guide patients from illness to health. She explained that it was her opinion that doctors spent so much time behind their MD, diseases, and textbooks that a lot of them became disconnected from the patients.

Wanting to be boss or the leader in medical situations is no basis for making a decision to become a doctor. Watch the nurses - we have our own thing we do that just so happens to support and complement what the doctor does and vice versa. Like someone said before me: we're a team. There's no healthcare pyramid with a doctor at the top in situations like that. We are all at each others sides working toward the same goal: taking care of a human life.

I have worked in places where we saw a doctor maybe once a day and even then, if we blinked we missed him or her. It's up to us as nurses to take care of the patient.

For me, nursing worked out great because my goal was to work in primary care. I can do that as a FNP.

Just thought I'd offer my view since I was in the same boat as you once upon a time

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment