so confused.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Jan 3, 2006

First off you are still very young so you have time to decide. And only you can decide which path you want to take....good doctors, nurses, vets are important.

I was torn at first as well btwn nursing and medicine, so what I did was start taking all the pre-med classes as well as the nursing pre-reqs (some will be similiar...like Anatomy, Chemisty, Physiology, Biology, etc) and just go from there. You don't have to decide right now.

Talk to, shadow, etc people who work both in nursing and as doctors...volunteer at a hospital, or get a part time job in a hospital so you can see and really get the feel for what Dr's/RNs do and learn the ins and outs of it all. When I was in my 20's I used to think I wanted to be a lawyer UNTIL I went to work part time with one and realized it was *nothing* like I thought it was going to be like! LOL

There are a lot of good books to read, my fav ones for nursing were by Echo Heron (I LOVED her books!).

Good luck with your decision!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 3, 2006

I suggest you get into school and start taking general college subjects because you are going to need them no matter what you end up getting into as a career. You will at least need Composition, math, psychology, sociology, and some basic sciences. I also suggest you see if there is a Pre-Med Club and a Nursing Club at the school you go to. These are groups of students aspiring to or looking for information about these careers and their purpose is to share information they discover about these careers with each other. You will also run into students who know they want to be in nursing or medicine who you will find interesting to talk with. So, get thyself into college ASAP and start your college career.

If you like I can get you some links to information about nursing. I also can provide you with links to sites that will give you information about what courses you need to be taking as a pre-med student as well as the application process for medical schools. You can also do searches of the Internet for this information as well.

outcast-nurse · Jan 3, 2006

Kristen,

No worries! For now, you should just go for a nursing program since you can still make it into med school if you change your mind in the future. Also, in the case that you don't make it into med school (I don't mean to be offensive) you can still get a job and go for a master degree. After you get the master degree, you will be doing similar things as physicians but the only exceptions are the responsibilites, money, etc. I'm sure many people are in the same situation as you.

Annabelle57 · Jan 3, 2006

you are not alone, i'm sure! up until a few years ago, i was caught in the whole md-or-rn debate, too.

everyone here is right about the prerequisites - both programs are going to need similar courses as prerequisites. since nursing is (in most cases) a degree you'll earn as an undergraduate and the md is a graduate degree, do all the nursing stuff. med schools usually look for a few different sciences that nursing programs do not require (physics is one that comes to mind) as well as some advanced mathematics, but not so many courses that you couldn't fit those into your rn curriculum. anyway, your first two years of college (assuming you went to a 4-year school) are going to be gen ed requirements/nursing prerequisites, anyway. it's not like you have to have your mind completely made up by the first day of classes, or even throughout the first year or so. it seems practically tradition for most students to change majors midway through college, anyway :smokin:

i also recommend shadowing an rn *and* an md. i chose the rn route because i wanted more hands-on time with patients... and i didn't want to do the length and expense (emotionally, physically, and financially) of med school. i just can't stay awake 36 hours at a time. but, what works for me may not be your cup of tea, so talk to every rn and md you know and get as much info out of them as possible.

bottom line: don't be afraid to start college because you are still undecided. i can't tell you how many of my friends started school without a clue... and came out just fine (and successful and happy). like i mentioned, hardly anyone has it all figured out when they start college - in fact, that's what college is for, in part. you find out who you are and what you like (music & biology classes, sleeping in, crew team) and dislike (7am classes, that kid across the hall, physics class) in college.

i wish you all the best... and enjoy the journey! :wink2:

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 3, 2006

http://www.nsna.org/career/is_nursing_for_you2.pdf

http://www.nursingsociety.org/career/cmap.html

http://www.discovernursing.com/

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2320.html - about becoming a doctor from the american medical association

http://www.aacom.org/home-applicants/ - american association of college of osteopathic medicine. by surfing around this site you can find information about osteopathic doctors.

December716 · Jan 3, 2006

Don't be afraid to go to school and start taking classes without knowing what to do. I was originally going for nursing, but when I started taking the sciences, I loved them so much that I changed my major. I'm now going for a double degree in Lab Medicine and Microbiology. So by taking classes, taking to advisors, etc, you'll get a better idea of what you want to do.

When I'm finished with my degree, I'll have completed all pre-med pre-req's (although I don't think I'm going down that path). I have to take one year of Inorganic Chemistry, one year of Organic, one year of Physics, one year of Calculus, and one year of Biology. Whereas my nursing pre-reqs were one quarter each of Organic Chemistry, Intro to Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, and Nutrition. The nice thing about pre-nursing is you can space out the difficult sciences, whereas pre-med you'll end up taking two (or three) at a time. Like this next quarter, I'm going to be in lab for over ten hours a week for my Inorganic Chemistry and Botany classes. I'll have lab every day.

Good luck and don't get discouraged by not knowing what to do!

NaomieRN · Jan 3, 2006

What you need to do, check out the different schools in your area, talk to a career advisor, hopefully, you can start taking general education classes. Remember, before you start any major, you would need a good two years of general education courses. Dont stay home and waste time, even if you have to take one class a semester while you making up your mind.

I started of with taking general studies for two years without knowing what I wanted to do. Good Luck!

Glimmer · Jan 3, 2006

I was in the same boat... really thought long and hard about going to med school. I have a friend of mine that graduated last year from med school and is doing his residency. He is what convinced me not to go. The amount of work and stress he went through... and now I hear the horror stories about his residency and it makes me glad that I am going to nursing school!!! LOL although I hear just as many horror stories about nursing schools and nursing in general these days :eek:

He also was very right when he told me that if i went to nursing school... got my RN and worked for a while but then decided that going to med school was what I wanted to do I could always go back. His theory... older students make better students in a field like medicine. (he was 34 when he graduated from med school so not exactly "old" but he was older than some of the people in his program who entered med school straight out of college who went striaght out of HS... he said they tended to struggle and couldnt manage real life with med school)

Since you are right out of school I would suggest that you start taking pre-reqs while you make your final choices like other posters have said. You will need the basics in either program. In order to get into med school you have to have a BA/BS basically. I know one gal that applying to med school with her BSN and additional science classes. She has worked as a nurse for 10 years and now would really like to become and MD to continue her work with the oncology patients she has worked with for the last 8 years... but on a different level. She just got called back for her second interview and her first pick school. She was told in the first interview that they admired her previous work experiences, dedication, and her academic performance (she was an outstanding student and had really good MCAT scores.) I have no doubt that she will be an awesome doctor because of her previous experiences, etc... not to mention she will be a doctor that knows how to treat nurses :roll

Good luck!!! Either way get into school... you will be happy that you did regardless of what your major in!

Alnee

emndarmic · Jan 3, 2006

I didn't have the MD debate, but I did have the RN debate. I started classes for RN last spring and dropped out thinking it wasn't what I wanted, but as the rest of the year went on something started eating at me again, I would watch "A baby story" on TLC or "Birth Day" on Discovery Channel and the desire to be a L&D nurse came on stronger and stronger with every moment of watching. Everytime I see a baby be born on T.V. I literally get excited and emotional and say outloud "That is what I want to do" so see it came back to me. You absolutely don't have to decide now -they are right, but I have a feeling if your anything like me, your ole MD feeling will take over. Which ever you decide they are BOTH great career moves, so good luck to you.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 3, 2006

Glimmer. . .RE: med school dream. . .don't give up. Check out the osteopathic schools. They tend to take students with a non-traditional approach to getting to medical school. While any medical school is hectic because of the sheer amount of factual information you have to assimilate quickly, they are not as tough on their interns and residents and seem to treat them a lot kinder. I had a friend who went through an AOA school, but wanted to do an AMA residency. He couldn't wait to get out of his one year contract--it was a horrendous, driving year in which he got practically no sleep and felt he was overly abused. He went to an AOA residency that he said was like the difference between night and day in the amount of time required in the clinical area and time to rest up at home inbetween being on call.

Glimmer · Jan 4, 2006

The osteopathic schools are nice... but I dont think med school is for me. I am happy with my choice of nursing school (at least for now... maybe when I get out in the field and few years under my belt that will change)... although I honestly think that if I was going to go to school for something else that would require such a big time commitment I would go to school and become a chiropractor. But for now (and hopefully forever) the choice is nuring :)

Alnee