Can an ER Nurse to an ER Physician?

bhanson · Apr 4, 2011

Nursing is in no way a precursor to becoming a physician. The two professions have completely different models and entirely separate scope of practices.

Yes, it is possible to go from being a nurse to becoming a doctor, but having a BSN gets you no closer to becoming a Doctor than having a Math or English degree does. There are zero to negligible benefits to going to nursing school first if your desire is to become a doctor.

Quick summary of medical education requirements:

Bachelors degree (in any subject) with 3.5+ GPA (overall and in pre-reqs listed below)

General Biology I, II; General Chemistry I, II; Organic Chemistry I, II; Physics I, II (many schools require more)

Shadowing

Volunteering

Research

Letters of recommendation

30+ score on the MCAT, one of the most difficult pre-professional standardized exams

To have a 50% chance at getting accepted to ANY school in the country (most people apply to 10-20 schools).

Then you accumulate thousands of dollars in debt and spend the next 4 years soaking up ridiculous amounts of information. Provided you pass the USMLE exams (think MCAT infused with nootropics), depending on your scores you will match into a residency that typically lasts 3-4 years where you will be working close to 80 hours a week (and many nurses will be making more money than you at this point).

Nursing school requirements:

These vary widely but typically you are looking at about 4 years for a BSN, 3 years for an ADN, or 2 years for an ADN from a vocational school. The BSN requirements will likely not cover the medical school pre-reqs.

Entrance into BSN programs directly will be tied to your secondary school performance and will depend on how well you perform in your general education classes.

Entrance into ADN programs will depend on how well you do on your pre-reqs, and usually some sort of entrance exam.

Entrance into vocational programs are usually based upon an entrance exam only. There are some programs in my area where you can take an entrance exam and start nursing classes the next week.

EDrunnerRN · Apr 4, 2011

I know a D.O. who did this. It is my understanding that DO programs are more likely to take people from the medical field than an MD program. But heck, I also know anesthesiologist who went from GED to RN to MD. You have a dream go for it, it doesn't matter how you get there!

PMFB-RN, RN · Apr 4, 2011

Yes an ER nurse can become an ER physician. The path is the same for everybody reguardless of under grad degree. You must do pre-med courses, then go to medical school, then complete a residency. Some universities offer BSN/pre-med.

My understanding is that nurses have one of the highest accepeptence rate for medical school of any undergrad degree.

casi, ASN, RN · Apr 4, 2011

It's definitely possible if with a lot of hard work. If you are really interest in the nursing model there is always the ability to go on from your BSN and become a NP.

CeilingCat, ASN, RN · Apr 4, 2011

You could become a MD, but the path you follow to become a nurse is not the same one a Dr would follow.

You COULD become a nurse and head to grad school to become a NP or PA. The NP and PA both do some duties as a doctor, though you still aren't a "M.D." In some ERs there are quite a few NPs and PAs. Expect to put in an additional 2 or 4 years of grad school once you have your bachelor's. You might also need to fill in a few additional pre-reqs depending on the grad school (example: Organic Chem).

edrnbailey · Apr 4, 2011

Nursing is in no way a precursor to becoming a physician. The two professions have completely different models and entirely separate scope of practices.
Yes, it is possible to go from being a nurse to becoming a doctor, but having a BSN gets you no closer to becoming a Doctor than having a Math or English degree does. There are zero to negligible benefits to going to nursing school first if your desire is to become a doctor.

There is no comparison between the two. Nursing and medicine come from completely different perspectives and ideological views. I have several friends and co-workers that are NP's and PA's. Some started with nursing and pursued advanced degrees, and others have no nursing background. One friend who is a PA told me that even those in an NP program struggle at times because of the difference in the theory and thought processes. PA's tend to acclimate much better (at least in the ED setting) because their education is based on the medical model not nursing.

vary widely but typically you are looking at about 4 years for a BSN, 3 years for an ADN, or 2 years for an ADN from a vocational school. The BSN requirements will likely not cover the medical school pre-reqs.
Entrance into BSN programs directly will be tied to your secondary school performance and will depend on how well you perform in your general education classes.
Entrance into ADN programs will depend on how well you do on your pre-reqs, and usually some sort of entrance exam.
Entrance into vocational programs are usually based upon an entrance exam only. There are some programs in my area where you can take an entrance exam and start nursing classes the next week.

I cannot say about any vocational programs because I am unfamiliar with those, but in my area, SC, even those pursuing an ADN through technical or community colleges end up with 3-4 years of education. Partly because of waiting lists to enter the nursing program itself. Most students use this time to complete pre-requisites. At most universities in this region, BSN students do not start taking classes until junior year. Admittance into the college of nursing is based on GPA so those pre-req's are still very important. Even with that, given the time frame involved, I would go for the BSN. Not only will you receive a higher degree for the same amount of time but with recent views on entry level education, BSN is the degree of the future. Regardless of which route you take for nursing, the general education requirements are vastly different than those for pre-med. Nursing places more emphasis on social sciences (pshychology/sociology) along with the anatomy/physiology and medicine focuses more on the chemistries or molecular level.

Nursing = whole person.... medicine = disease/body system

With all that said, I know physicians who were nurses first. They are great docs, but you can tell they come from a different view point than most of their peers. They just think differently.

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Apr 5, 2011

Becoming an ED physician is not going further than being an ED nurse, it is an entirely different career path. However, it is possible to switch from one path to another, just as I left Law to go to nursing school.

msn10 · Apr 5, 2011

Some of the best doctors were nurses as well. They get the entire health care "scene." I would rather a medical student go to nursing school first than just getting a degree in biology. I knew a cardiologist who was an RN first and she is a phenomenal doctor. She is respectful to the nurses and hires NP's instead of taking on more partners to provide full health care services to her patients.

Yes, they have different scopes of practice and as a nursing student you will have to take additional classes to fulfill your pre-med requirements. But when you get into medical school you will be much more confident an knowledgeable about patients and their conditions. If you like health care that much than welcome aboard and good luck :)

RN1980 · Apr 5, 2011

ive seen it done before. if your scores are competative and the admissions board likes you then you got a chance.

elkpark · Apr 5, 2011

Nurses are as welcome to applly to med school as anyone else. However, being an RN doesn't get you any special consideration or "shortcuts."

My father was an RN who went to medical school and became a physician, many decades ago.

ByTheLake · Apr 5, 2011

I will tell you that we have three former nurses who are now ER Attendings where I work. All of them state that yes, they feel their career as a nurse added something to their knowledge and practice as a doctor that medical school didn't and couldn't, and that they believe they greatly benefitted from being a nurse first. Two of them are among my favorite doctors, and were even before I knew they were former nurses. They just seemed to GET the whole picture better than other doctors, to see things in a way others didn't. They also have a lot more understanding of how all sorts of things work in a hospital beyond their own jobs. For example, they will open their mouths and ask the tech to come in and get the blood while another is hooking up the EKG on a chest painer in triage when there's no beds to put them in 'cause they know CE results take so long that we won't make our time window if we wait even 12 minutes to draw blood. Or, when writing orders for meds, they think about things when deciding route that many other doctors don't think about so while we often go to Dr. John Doe and say "can I give this ___ instead of ____ because of ____" an order from Dr Former Nurse is already the right route because they *also* thought about this from a nursing perspective. They also get when there are things beyond your control, what's realistic and unrealistic, so they don't expect the unrealistic for you. But knowing that they know our jobs as well also helps keep us on our toes. I know if I slip up when working with them, they WILL know!