Doctor in your next life?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Would you want to be a doctor?

    • 34
      Yes, sure would.
    • 53
      No, it wouldn't be my thing.

87 members have participated

Just curious - to all the RN's, NP's, CNS's, etc. out there.....

If you had to do it all over again, would you have became a doctor instead?

Keep in mind all factors to consider: malpractice rates, med school tuition, time committment......

Happy Sunday!

-HG

I think thats another thread, next to "Male L&D Nurses" is "Female Army Ranger/Archeological Adventurers" LOL

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

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NO. I wouldn't be a doctor, unless it was a veterinarian.

I really don't think I'd be a nurse either.

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No way! Too much responsibility, time, and my loans would not be worth it. I make a great living now, have a M-F job, occasional Saturday's, and if I want to make more money I can always take more call.

Christine

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The figure I gave was a very conservative one, and was income after expenses (ie overhead and malpractice). There are many sites out there that list physician salaries based on specialty and geographical area. And no, i don't think I am out of my mind for wanting to better myself through education. I want to know as much as I possibly can about the human body and disease in order to more effectively treat my patients.

On the years wasted in school comment, I am what you would call a traditional student (started college right out of high school, med school right out of college). I just finished my first year of med school and I will be 23 on June 12. That makes 26 just out of med school, when I'll make $35-40K a year, and 29-30 just out of residency, when I'll start making 125-200K a year. If I live to be 75 (God willing) I'll have 30-35 years of good practice years, followed by 10-15 good retirement years.

The years don't seem like that much when you truly love what you are doing (as I do). That being I said, I can definitely understand having doubts about going to med school later in life. There is a lot more to consider, for sure.

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No I like Ob way too much and the way that's going w/ malpractice today , I'd probably be limiting myself to hysters and pap smears just like a lot of docs in my state are now. I don't think I have the right personality for it anyway. If that's your thing, I say go for it. We need more good docs, esp. OB/Gyn's right now. I think if you are a nurse first it gives you a real leg up in dealing w/ pt. care, but may hinder you in the physician social hierarchy. Some doctors still don't realize that many of us are not nurses because we were to lowly to be doctors, but because that's what we choose to do. Now I'd really love to be a CNM if I were a little younger, a little less in debt, and if there wasn't all this malpractice stuff going on in PA!

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Absolutely. More independence, compensation, power and problem-solving. I think physicians do all of the fun stuff, honestly. Wish that I had worked harder in my undergrad at college, and had taken that route. If my child is interested in healthcare, I will definitely push for medical school over nursing!

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
The figure I gave was a very conservative one, and was income after expenses (ie overhead and malpractice). There are many sites out there that list physician salaries based on specialty and geographical area. And no, i don't think I am out of my mind for wanting to better myself through education. I want to know as much as I possibly can about the human body and disease in order to more effectively treat my patients.

On the years wasted in school comment, I am what you would call a traditional student (started college right out of high school, med school right out of college). I just finished my first year of med school and I will be 23 on June 12. That makes 26 just out of med school, when I'll make $35-40K a year, and 29-30 just out of residency, when I'll start making 125-200K a year. If I live to be 75 (God willing) I'll have 30-35 years of good practice years, followed by 10-15 good retirement years.

The years don't seem like that much when you truly love what you are doing (as I do). That being I said, I can definitely understand having doubts about going to med school later in life. There is a lot more to consider, for sure.

Good Point :)

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Thank you everyone for posting! It's so great to hear all the different thoughts and opinons on the subject. Just in case anyone is interested in why I asked the question, here's my story:

I will be 28 years old this year. I just got married 6 months ago to a 'Brit' who moved here from London and is just getting settled into his new life here. We love having time to just enjoy ourselves, travel, etc. And I would *LOVE* to be a doctor - *sigh*. This revelation has only come to me in recent months after a few encounters with different people.

Out of college I decided to go into education because I love kids and thought that it would be a good lifestyle (haha, not financially though!) in that I would have summers off and TIME to live life - travel - paint - read... whatever I wanted! My quality of life is very important to me. But once in the credential program I just felt like it wasn't enough for me. There was no intellectual challenge and as a teacher I felt like nothing more than a glorified babysitter who would be told what to teach and when to teach it. So I finished off my 2nd of 3 semesters of the program and went to England to be with my husband (we weren't married yet). So I spent a year there in England, and then we came back to San Diego and got married. Then I started thinking about what to do with my life.

I always had an interest in healthcare, but never really had the encouragement from my family to go after my dreams. So I went to see my Nurse Practitioner one day, and thought, wow, this is a great job that she has! Then I happened to meet a girl at a friend's birthday party who was an NP and we chatted a lot about the profession and she mentioned a new program called MEPN (Masters Entry Program in Nursing - you know the ones I'm talking about...) where someone with a non-nursing degree can get their RN and NP in 3 short years. So that excited me! I continued to talk with my new NP friend and spent a day shadowing her. She works for a cardiologist and makes rounds in the hospital for all his patients. It was great and I loved it. So I spent a lot of time and energy researching the program and decided that it was for me. Fortunately my husband is very supportive, so I was on my way! The program however is VERY competitive, so who knows if I'll get in. I take two prereqs this summer..... wish me luck!

However, along the way, I've started wondering if I am just not being brave. I definitely like to be in charge. I like being able to make decisions. I think I am the kind of person that needs to feel respected. Sad, I know. And then of course I've spent a lot of time on these boards, reading horror stories from RN's and also hearing that NP's don't make much money, can't find a job, NP school is so 'dumbed down'..... well, it just got me to thinking that maybe I just need to be brave and go for it and become a doctor. Well, that brings me back to the start of this somewhat boring story where I mentioned my husband, moving here, just getting settled.... I can't imagine putting him through moving to wherever I get in, spending all those years in post-bacc then med school (if I could even get in!)..... blah, blah, blah.....

My main concern is that I will become an NP and feel that I should have became a doctor. So that's why I posted - I love to hear each and every comment from you! It really helps! :)

Best wishes!

-HG

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The years don't seem like that much when you truly love what you are doing (as I do). That being I said, I can definitely understand having doubts about going to med school later in life. There is a lot more to consider, for sure.

I'll be taking my MCAT a 39 and gods willing entering med school at 41....To me the years are not important...I'll be living them anyway. I sure as heck don't want to be banging my head against the wall at 45 thinking "I could have graduated med school this year" If it's one of those things that you have to do, age doesn't matter. Nor do the years of study or the time involved seem so awful. I welcome them as a way to get to where I want to be. I just want to do the fixing. :) Always have, always will.

also if you haven't seen it check out http://www.oldpremeds.com. It's a source of inspiration for me and reminds me that this can be done, regardless of my age.

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In my next life, I'm going to be a mortician. EVERYONE is a potential customer and it can't be outsourced to India.

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I actually had an offer to have my Med School paid for by one of the Doctors I worked with... the catch was I'd have to give him several years at his nursing home he was going to start.... was probably stupid but I can't see me doing nursing home work

My next life will probably have me doing something related... went to a past lives person who did a reading for me and said I'd been a midwife, a WWI medic, now I'm a nurse... I like the idea of Veterinarian too before someting else

If I had a choice I'd be a service dog trainer, and since that pays awful, I would have to be born wealthy

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I would have went to college right out of high school. I would have become a teacher or a lawyer.

No medicine at all!! N O N E

C.

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