D.O. VS. CRNA

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At work yesterday a D.O. and I had a great conversation or maybe debate about why I want to be a CRNA. His argument is that in the time it takes a person to become a CRNA you can be a Doctor. He was not being ignorant as if he were implying a D.O. is better, but he was talking time and money. I said becoming the CRNA is better financially because unlike a Med student you can get a ASN and work as a RN go for a BSN then CRNA all the while earning a income. His argument was your spending the same amount of years in school. 4 maybe less undergrad and 4 years med school and if your all about money your certainly going to make more as a Doctor. It was more of a fun discussion and we had so many staff members debating the pros and Cons! One of the residents said that you have a lot less debt as a CRNA and your also going to make a lot more $$$ right out of college! Funny it opened the eyes of a lot of people. I would love to hear everyones opinion on all Nurses. Oh yeah, and the Doctor says the CRNA programs are so competive some only allowing 15 students thats it's actually more likely you'll be accepted to medical school than a CRNA program. Humm?:eek:

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

And don't overlook the fact that many CRNA programs will not allow you to work while attending their programs due to the rigorous schedule.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

It's becoming more competitive.

You're gonna start going up against people with mega experience. That one year of ICU isn't going to cut it anymore....compared with people who already have a Master's or 20 years of ICU experience.

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Oh Yes. He did not get me there. Are Med Students Allowed to work?

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Specializes in Pulmonary, MICU.

Allowed to? You won't really have a lot of time to. Had former two roomies who were med kids and they spent most of their time either studying or complaining about how they should be studying. But yeah, in 7 years of school you can become a CRNA, in 8 years of school you become an MD/DO. The difference is that the MD/DO then has 3-5 years MINIMUM before they can even practice and make any money (those 3-5 they are salaried at around 50k a year...they don't make enough money to make the base payments on their student loans so most defer loan payments based on "financial hardship"). After that they will make 170-400k but they'll also have hundreds of thousands in debt.

Really, it's all what you want to do. Of course an MD will be more profitable in the long run....but I don't want to be a doctor. I want to be a CRNA. In a time where healthcare costs are skyrocketing, CRNA's are cheaper than anesthesiologists. For me it makes sense to become a CRNA as they will become the more popular option, just as in the future FNP's will become nearly as popular (if not more) than GPs.

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Amen to that. I can see this already taking place where I work. Especially with the NP's. Best of luck on becoming a CRNA!

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I have friends that work as CRNAs pulling in 6-figure incomes-not too shabby in my book.

otessa

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Assuming that your ultimate goal is to do anesthesia then:

1. If you are already an RN then it is a lot quicker to get your CRNA then it is to back and get all your prereqs for medical school and then go through medical school and residency. It would take approximately 2-3yrs to get ready to apply nurse anesthesia school if you were able to get into ICU right away, and even quicker if you were already working in ICU. Becoming an anesthesiologist on the other hand would take most nurses two years of prereqs/taking MCAT, another yr of applying/waiting to goto medical school, 4yrs of medical school, and then 4yrs+ of residency training.

2. Just because you goto medical school does not mean that you will get into an anesthesia residency. Anesthesia residency training is one of the more competitive residencies for physicians to get into.

3. Being a CRNA pays on average about 140-150K a year. That is as much or more than most primary care physicians make. I am not saying it is right or wrong either way, but just a simple fact.

4. I personally wouldn't do CRNA school just for the money, and that is from somebody that has only one week of clinical left before they graduate nurse anesthesia school. The responsibility, the schooling, and the sacrifices that most of us make to get through school just aren't worth the money.

5. There are very few nurse anesthesia schools that allow for you to work during school. Overall, most nurse anesthesia schools do not allow you to work at all, and just because a school allows for some sort of part-time work doesn't mean you will be able to keep up your grades and goto school.

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Specializes in CRNA.
It's becoming more competitive.

You're gonna start going up against people with mega experience. That one year of ICU isn't going to cut it anymore....compared with people who already have a Master's or 20 years of ICU experience.

One year experience is not enough, but from my experience a bright motivated person with 3 years of experience is on a equal playing field with someone with 20 years and a Master's degree. I've seen several people with other Master's not make it through the CRNA admissions process, and I've seen 2 who started and then quit because it was significantly harder than their other Master's program. They both thought they had it down because they had 'been there and done that', they didn't make it through the first 2 semesters.

I think the minimum requirement should be 2 years experience, but then it depends on the individual. Most people would benifit from 3.

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