Do any of you think about going to med school?

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Are you glad that you chose nursing over MD? Reason?

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It's an idea I had in mind when I began nursing, but after having been in the nursing program for a while...I really love the nursing model. If I ever choose to advance my career, it would be within the nursing domain.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Critical Care.

OP, are you looking for information about medical school and the path to becoming a physician? I would really suggest checking out the Student Doctor Network online; it's a great resource!

I was always planning on going to medical school...up until my junior year of high school when my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. I visited the hospital so often that I got a great sense of the dynamics between MDs and nurses and the differences in roles. As a visitor to the hospital, I'll never forgot the nurses that cared for my grandfather. I have distinctive memories of these nurses and how they cared for our family. I'm sure the docs were amazing as well but I don't remember anything about them. But that's the reality of these professions; often docs are covering so many patients that it's just not physically possible for them to spend a lot of time with each patient every day, but as a nurse we are going to be a constant for that patient and their family for 12 hours. They tell us their concerns, what they are afraid of, and ask us questions they may not feel comfortable asking anyone else.

Since nurses are at the bedside most of the time (and in an ICU setting it can literally be 24/7), they are the "ears and eyes" for the MD. We see the subtle changes, think through our interventions, and make recommendations about what we think the patient needs. We're always advocating for our patients no matter what, especially if they are not able to speak for themselves.

Often, people say the main difference between MDs and nurses is that while MDs diagnose and come up with the treatment plan, the nurses are the ones who are actually carrying out that plan. To be honest, everything about being a physician always really appealed to me. But it wasn't until the experience with my grandfather that I realized there was something even better out there for me...and it was nursing.

Oh, and I realized that the path to becoming a physician just was not for me. 4 years of competitive undergrad learning things I'd never use in my actual career (notably organic chem, physics, and biology courses about plant life and the ecosystem), another 4 years of med school, and then having to complete a residency on top of that was just not going to happen. Also, I just didn't want to wait that long (~5 years) to get real clinical experience. No regrets over here :)

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Good Lord no, never. Nope.

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Specializes in ICU.
OP, are you looking for information about medical school and the path to becoming a physician? I would really suggest checking out the Student Doctor Network online; it's a great resource!

I was always planning on going to medical school...up until my junior year of high school when my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. I visited the hospital so often that I got a great sense of the dynamics between MDs and nurses and the differences in roles. As a visitor to the hospital, I'll never forgot the nurses that cared for my grandfather. I have distinctive memories of these nurses and how they cared for our family. I'm sure the docs were amazing as well but I don't remember anything about them. But that's the reality of these professions; often docs are covering so many patients that it's just not physically possible for them to spend a lot of time with each patient every day, but as a nurse we are going to be a constant for that patient and their family for 12 hours. They tell us their concerns, what they are afraid of, and ask us questions they may not feel comfortable asking anyone else.

Since nurses are at the bedside most of the time (and in an ICU setting it can literally be 24/7), they are the "ears and eyes" for the MD. We see the subtle changes, think through our interventions, and make recommendations about what we think the patient needs. We're always advocating for our patients no matter what, especially if they are not able to speak for themselves.

Often, people say the main difference between MDs and nurses is that while MDs diagnose and come up with the treatment plan, the nurses are the ones who are actually carrying out that plan. To be honest, everything about being a physician always really appealed to me. But it wasn't until the experience with my grandfather that I realized there was something even better out there for me...and it was nursing.

Oh, and I realized that the path to becoming a physician just was not for me. 4 years of competitive undergrad learning things I'd never use in my actual career (notably organic chem, physics, and biology courses about plant life and the ecosystem), another 4 years of med school, and then having to complete a residency on top of that was just not going to happen. Also, I just didn't want to wait that long (~5 years) to get real clinical experience. No regrets over here :)

Doctors learn the medical model of medicine. They study the disease and treat the disease. The nurse treats how that person responds to that disease process. What do they need now? Is their BP 188/102 right now? What is happening to the patient because of it? What does that BP need to be at right now. Should it stay elevated due to their diagnosis, do they need a certain type of med by the parameters given, could it just be temporary because they are in pain and they were just messed with like turned or cleaned? Does the physician need to be called as this is brand new? That's the nursing model.

The doctor treats the disease, the nurse treats the person. Two completely separate jobs that work together as part of a team.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adult Oncology.

OP,

why is it that you are considering med school? maybe we can give some better advice or provide more accurate answers.

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I considered it but to be candid I knew a few people from my younger life who went to med school. It did something to them. It changed them in a way that was not good. It was almost like the experience fractured them into two people. The person I knew and loved and then this other less desireable version of them. Hard to explain but no thanks.

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Long story short. A life incident inspired me to study to become someone in a medical field and I thought about becoming a surgeon but I underestimated myself too much and I chose nursing. I know that doing well with nursing school doesn't mean I will do well with med too school but becoming a surgeon has been on my mind all the time and I just can't help stop thinking about going to a med school.

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No. Doing good right where I'm at.

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My plan my entire life was to go to med school. It changed my senior year of high school. I'm going to NP school now, but if I had a do-over, I would've stuck with my original plan. I opted for NP instead. I'll be 30 when I graduate NP school. I felt it was more reasonable to continue in nursing, rather than start all over again.

My plans changed the last year of high school, too, when I discovered that chemistry and college level math were not going to be easy for me. My suspicions were confirmed in the first year of college. If I had even the slightest inkling about how to go about getting proper tutoring and instruction to my learning abilities to make up my science and math deficiencies, things might have gone a lot differently.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Critical Care.
Long story short. A life incident inspired me to study to become someone in a medical field and I thought about becoming a surgeon but I underestimated myself too much and I chose nursing. I know that doing well with nursing school doesn't mean I will do well with med too school but becoming a surgeon has been on my mind all the time and I just can't help stop thinking about going to a med school.

Depending on which area of surgery, would you be ready to complete 4 years of medical school, and 5+ years of residency? After that point, you'd be considered a brand-new surgeon.

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Depending on which area of surgery, would you be ready to complete 4 years of medical school, and 5+ years of residency? After that point, you'd be considered a brand-new surgeon.

Yeah I know and that's what makes me sad and regret my past. I always beat myself up for that.

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