Ditching NP school for MD?

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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?

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
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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Specializes in Critical Care.

Unless you want to go into a specialty you are probably better off staying with NP. The student loans alone should be less than medical school. The cost of grad student loans are much higher now because there is no longer a grace period while in school so the interest is capitalizing from day one and the loans are growing during school. Medical school requires a residency which depending on the specialty is years longer during which your student loans will continue to climb!

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If MD is your end goal, then do it!! Nursing is great, but if anyone has an opportunity to reach their goals, don't let anything stop you.

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Go for MD, many but not all Np's look frazzled and overworked doing stuff for the MD. No offense but it is true. You can pay your loan off just fine, once you start making that MD money. Many nurses are still in debt, years after going to school. It is hard for them to use the hospital for retirement because they bounce around a lot. Your training will be great. Think of the long-term picture. I am actually going for my MD right now. Good luck!

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Specializes in ER/trauma, IV, CEN.

I must politely disagree with PixieRN and say you CAN do it and it is not un-realistic. I am now pre-med brought my nursing GPA up from a 2.98 to a 3.37 after two semesters of science classes and will have a 3.4-something after this summer. I totally understand how hard it is to move your GPA after so many classes for your BSN, but you CAN do it if you are persistent. It is important that you get some excellent physician references, shadowing experiences, and do your absolute best on the MCAT. There are also post-bac programs out there with guaranteed acceptance deals if you rock their program (which essentially is equivalent to your first year of med school) and they only require a 2.9 GPA. It is one year and then you can matriculate into medical school. It is a great option if you cannot move your score much. As far as the NP vs. MD/DO choice, for me I know I want to work critical cases in the ER and it is hard to do around my area as an NP. I love the NP's I work with in the ER but they often are stuck seeing 4's and 5's even though they are capable of seeing more acute patients. Just make sure whatever choice you make you don't have regrets! Good luck to you.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
I must politely disagree with PixieRN and say you CAN do it and it is not un-realistic. I am now pre-med brought my nursing GPA up from a 2.98 to a 3.37 after two semesters of science classes and will have a 3.4-something after this summer. I totally understand how hard it is to move your GPA after so many classes for your BSN, but you CAN do it if you are persistent. It is important that you get some excellent physician references, shadowing experiences, and do your absolute best on the MCAT. There are also post-bac programs out there with guaranteed acceptance deals if you rock their program (which essentially is equivalent to your first year of med school) and they only require a 2.9 GPA. It is one year and then you can matriculate into medical school. It is a great option if you cannot move your score much. As far as the NP vs. MD/DO choice, for me I know I want to work critical cases in the ER and it is hard to do around my area as an NP. I love the NP's I work with in the ER but they often are stuck seeing 4's and 5's even though they are capable of seeing more acute patients. Just make sure whatever choice you make you don't have regrets! Good luck to you.

Good point about the post-bac, I hadn't thought of that. The only issue for the OP is that there is no more undergrad coursework to be done — the OP already has a bio degree and pre-reqs done, and would have to go back for those letters of recommendation and all that jazz. Having seen someone go through the whole MCAT process and application cycle, to include primary/secondary applications and the interview process .... let me just say it's eye-opening. I wish you the best of luck in achieving your med school goals.

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Specializes in ER/trauma, IV, CEN.
Good point about the post-bac, I hadn't thought of that. The only issue for the OP is that there is no more undergrad coursework to be done — the OP already has a bio degree and pre-reqs done, and would have to go back for those letters of recommendation and all that jazz. Having seen someone go through the whole MCAT process and application cycle, to include primary/secondary applications and the interview process .... let me just say it's eye-opening. I wish you the best of luck in achieving your med school goals.

Thank you so much! Thankfully I had not taken ANY of my pre-reqs yet so I didn't have to worry about that. But if he goes straight into the post-bacc he won't have to redo anything and his GPA is acceptable for it as is. It is a wonderful "second-chance" for us folk who struggled working while in nursing school or had to deal with life (the 6 pt scale my nursing school used sure didn't help either). It is a lot to take on and I have doubted myself many times but I have proven to myself so far that I can do it and have made many friends along the way. I am also so grateful for the support of the nurses and physicians I work with. No nurse has said any bad word to me about changing fields and have all been supportive with a few "you're crazy woman" statements in there.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Thank you so much! Thankfully I had not taken ANY of my pre-reqs yet so I didn't have to worry about that. But if he goes straight into the post-bacc he won't have to redo anything and his GPA is acceptable for it as is. It is a wonderful "second-chance" for us folk who struggled working while in nursing school or had to deal with life (the 6 pt scale my nursing school used sure didn't help either). It is a lot to take on and I have doubted myself many times but I have proven to myself so far that I can do it and have made many friends along the way. I am also so grateful for the support of the nurses and physicians I work with. No nurse has said any bad word to me about changing fields and have all been supportive with a few "you're crazy woman" statements in there.

I understand — I have worked full-time all my adult life through all my degrees, and it's a challenge. Make sure you cultivate relationships with your science professors so that you can get all those strong letters of recommendation for your application cycle. :)

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Follow your heart and head. If you have the heart, head, money and will go for MD. You will be doing the same job but at the highest level. Don't let what people say hold you back. Being a NP is cool, however, they are not the captains. They are just co-pilots. (NP's never become God either)

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The biggest plus into going to MD school is, they expect you to come off the street and actually teach you everything. NP school is a sham. They expect you to bring all the knowledge to the table and expect you to hit the road running. There is very little clinical opportunity and the school rushes you through the curriculum assuming you will cover everything you will need in your role i about a year. It is a setup for failure. After you graduate, you work for a small business owner without any benefits and in most states cannot practice independently. If you dare to set up your own business, you will be forever paying a substantial part of your income to some physician required to supervise you. You will get sued as readily as a physician will be and AMA will not be there to back you up.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVICU.
Go for MD, many but not all Np's look frazzled and overworked doing stuff for the MD. No offense but it is true.

Maybe because they had no nursing experience when they started the programs!

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Maybe because they had no nursing experience when they started the programs!

That is the catch. NP schooling is built upon someone elses training and experience. There is no effort to fill in the blanks. They fall even behind PA programs in that respect.

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