Don't you want to be a Doctor?

DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 13, 2009

I think many nurses, particularly men, face this assumption that we're somehow some kind of sub-doctor who didn't have the grades for medical school. It's a mistaken view and it can be frustrating.

I've been asked the question over the years and these days I turn it around by saying that I think medicine would have been too limiting for my intellectual capacities and I'd have been frustrated! I explain that while as a nurse I've been able to do so many different things (infectious diseases, occy health, oncology, respiratory, burns etc.) in various settings (hospital, corporate sector, community, outreach work), not to mention teaching and research, as a doctor you tend to get too stuck in your speciality (like you may become a cardiologist for example, and then that's it for the rest of your career). I also explain that while a doctor's view is very narrow, i.e. usually restricted to the clinical, as a nurse you can see your patients in their globality (clinical, social, psychological etc.) and that I believe the only two professions in health and social care who really get such a global view are nursing and social work. I then explain that the ongoing education as a doctor would have been frustratingly limited, essentially sticking purely to the clinical and to your chosen speciality, while nursing gave me the opportunity to do not only very varied further clinical studies (encompassing nursing, medicine, pharmacology, nutrition, psychology etc.) but also my masters in sociology which I thoroughly enjoyed and can apply to my daily work in patient contact, and as a doctor I'd probably not have had that opportunity.

By that point, if they're still awake, they usually realise that they asked a pretty stupid question.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jul 13, 2009

Nope, I've got no desire to be a doctor. I'd much rather have a personal life.

Mike A. Fungin RN · Jul 14, 2009

Every time I'm asked "Why aren't you a doctor?" I'm tempted to respond with my best deadpan delivery, "Because I like helping people."

1287PennEMT · Jul 14, 2009

Every time I'm asked "Why aren't you a doctor?" I'm tempted to respond with my best deadpan delivery, "Because I like helping people."

Ha! Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses that.

Another favorite: I care about people, not my ego.

A bit of a harsh generalization but...

I try to take care if it's someone who could be thinking about a career in nursing, or medicine, to sit down and explain why exactly I chose nursing instead of medicine.

Also I tell people about how I like practicing my skills and doing what I like doing and what I do best. In my experience a lot of doctors in the big, exciting academic centers don't really use their skills anymore, they just teach teach teach so the only time they got to really use skills with patients was for a few years during their residency/fellowship.

Spatialized · Jul 14, 2009

I just smile and say, "Nope, I love poop too much!"

Then in all seriousness I relate how that I wouldn't even be done with residency until my forties and would like to raise a family and lead a semblance of a normal life. Beside, my last name doesn't exactly sound great as a MD - I can hear it now, "Dr. Long, Dr. Long, please call your answering service." Yeah, at that point the cheesy Mediao-film funk starts up... :smokin:

Tom

Larry77, RN · Jul 16, 2009

I used to say because I really like working with patients but now I'm stuck at a desk all the time (doing charge) so I am going to have to come up with something else. I have a lot of friends that are docs and I really like that when I'm off, I'm off, I don't have to worry about charts...maybe I'll use that.

I also hate that most people think that we just stopped in the middle and decided to be "just a nurse"...BS...we basically would have to start our schooling over!

mcknis · Jul 16, 2009

oh i feel with ya brother! i hear it probably at least once a week or once every other week, but at the most, become a nurse practitioner...who knows. time will only tell for us all!

chiromed0 · Mar 18, 2010

I think Greg Focker addressed this issue already in "Meet the Parents".

(just for a laugh).

I am a Doctor (not MD/DO) and now I'm a nurse. So what. Just take care of people's needs, fill a void that matters, cash your paycheck and go home.

If patients have a problem with you being a nurse it might be b/c they sense 'you' have a problem with you being a nurse. Go into a patient's room with confidence, not trepidation, and own the situation, even if you have other professionals there. That doesn't mean bossy, rude or other. It just means confident, calm assertiveness...watch the dog whisperer. Same thing different animal.

You'd be surprised at how many Doctors are crapping their pants with the responsibility of being a DM. They are trained to think that way and just fake it 'til they make it. They really do count on nurses to pull them through until they have enough experience themselves.

Nothing to get frustrated at just accept that we have a different role to play in patient care. I used to get ****** at people assuming I was a rad tech instead of a Doctor b/c I don't walk around my clinic with an air of superiority or make people call me "Dr." for no reason. Now, I'm even more upset when people assume a medical assistant is a nurse and office personnel going right along with it. I'd be more upset about that then a patient assuming I was a Doctor.

Txnursekristi · Mar 18, 2010

doctors diagnose

nurses heal

MOTOXRN2004 · Mar 26, 2010

LOL thats a great one Mike, if you dont mind i think im gonna used that one too.

MOTOXRN2004 · Mar 26, 2010

I've never been asked if I wanted to become a doctor. I would sometimes get asked, when I meet a pt for the first time. if I was the x-ray guy, lab guy or the EVS guy there to mop up the emesis on the floor. I dont get offended cause it makes me chuckle. So if I ever get in trouble I can always say it was the xray or lab guy who did it.