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Discussion

Ditching NP school for MD?

I am currently 25 years old beginning NP school. Debating whether financially speaking I should start medical school at 26 years vs staying NP. Any thoughts?

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    • Featured Replies

    Have you been accepted to medical school? Or where are you in the process of preparing yourself as a medical school applicant?

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    This depends on a lot of factors and no one can make this decision but you. I would put some serious contemplation into the issue and weigh this against all your resources to include financial. What kind of lifestyle do you want to lead? Do you want to work as an independent provider or work with a provider. How many years do you want to put in towards your education? List the pros and cons of each. So many more questions to ask yourself, maybe others can add more.

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    • Expert

    Your life, your call.

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    • Author

    I currently have a biology degree with all the prerequisites complete. I'm just missing the mcat score. I think I'll take a shot and see what happens!

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    Well, you might as well give it a shot if you're interested. Now that you've asked yourself the question it's probably not worth it to spend the rest of your life wondering "what if" - and I don't say that just because it's medical school you're talking about, I say that because you've expressed interest in what is essentially a different career.

    Good luck!

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    • Author

    You're so right. I'll take a shot and see what happens. thank you everyone for the feedback!

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    Give it a shot! But do keep in mind the time commitment of becoming an MD -- 4 years of MD school, residency, and then possibly a fellowship/specialty. Not that it isn't worth it, but it's something to keep in mind. Good luck!!

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    Besides your MCAT, do you have the correct extracurricular activities yet like shadowing or non-clinical altruism? I know you probably have a lot of clinical experiences.

    *Just saw a previous post of your GPA. If you do this, realize your nursing GPA will be factored into your science gpa based on AACOMAS (DO school application). You are a borderline MD/DO applicant at this point, but certain factors like ethnicity and state of residency might give you a bit of a boost to your application.

    If you don't kill the MCAT (508+), or apply to the right schools (new DO schools sadly have lower standards), you'll be looking at 1-2 years of GPA repair before you can apply.

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    • Moderator

    I am going to be Debbie Downer and tell you that your GPA alone is going to sink you. Applying to medical school is not something done on a whim — I know, you're not really "whimming" and this is probably something that's been on your mind, but it's going to require a lot more effort than just the MCAT (which is enough alone). Do you have letters of recommendation from your science professors? Volunteer hours? Shadowing time?

    For medical school, grade replacement isn't a thing, so unfortunately your GPA (ALL classes, ever) is what it is.

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    • Moderator

    Oh, and regarding your age — you wouldn't be the oldest person to start med school if you're still in your 20s. My husband started at 30 after some years of Army service and then completing his undergrad (cell bio), and he's not even the oldest person in his class.

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    You know what, I just saw that OP stated FINANCIALLY speaking is NP vs MD/DO better, not for us to criticize his shot. I think I would give NP school an edge on this assuming OP goes into some sort of primary care field as a physician.

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    • Moderator
    You know what, I just saw that OP stated FINANCIALLY speaking is NP vs MD/DO better, not for us to criticize his shot. I think I would give NP school an edge on this assuming OP goes into some sort of primary care field as a physician.

    He did post about his chances separately in another post, so I though hey, two birds, one stone. ;) If MD/DO isn't realistic, I am going to say it.

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