I am posting this thread because I feel really depressed. Maybe I can say I might need comfort but I can honestly say I regret forever why I did not go to medical school.Let me tell you my story.
I am already 28 years old. I am currently an LPN and I am in school for my RN.I had my Med surg clinical in the hospital and walked right in the middle of a code seeing a very familiar young doctor doing CPR. When I asked the nurse precepting me, I found out that doctor is my former classmate in high school.We both graduated high school in 2002. Now, 11 years later, I never felt so low in my life, I was looking down on myself regarding my status in life.Compared to her, at 28 years old, she was already a doctor and I am still stuck as a nursing student. I was so ashamed that I even tried to avoid her. I feel like my status in life is so low compared to her.
Plus, add the fact that I always wanted to be a doctor all my life since I was a baby.But my mom told me why not just be a nurse first and when I have enough money saved, go to medical school.Also, add the fact that it took me almost 10 years before becoming an LPN due to some unforeseen life circumstances. Have I known that I will be in school this long, then I should have spent my $60,000 student loans on becoming a doctor(which is what I always wanted, which is my heart has always wanted.) instead of going through 10 years of nursing school.Dont get me wrong. I love taking care of people and being a nurse. But I've always been more interested in actually treating patients and more on the medical side than on the caring side.
I am so jealous of my high school classmate. I feel once I get my RN, it is too late to go to medical school since by that time, I will be in my 30s, I am already married, I am already too old to go to medical school maybe my body might not have enough energy anymore to go through med school related to age plus I cannot add any more student loans to my $60,000 debt.I wanted to be a doctor so much I am willing to go to medical school in any country as long as somebody helps me become a doctor.Sorry for posting this but I guess I just need to vent how sad I am.To any nurses out there, do you think I have the right to feel this way?Is it really too late for me to go to med school once I get my RN in my 30s?Thank you.
28 isn't that old--several of my classmates went to nursing school in their 40s (one was even in her 50s). You probably have at least some of the pre-reqs already, why not just ditch nursing school and get the rest of them now then switch to medical school? Like why waste time (and more money) getting an education you don't even want? If being a physician is really your dream, go for it.
However, like others, I wonder if the discontent isn't due to "grass is greener" syndrome. Envy is an interesting thing that, as Faulkner noted, we only bestow on people we think are our equals (or inferiors). That impulse comes into play when we think "I could have just as easily done that--that should be me". Yet I can guarantee the classmate sacrificed a tonne of things to be a physician that you have not had to sacrifice. If you really want to be a physician all the work will be worth it and you will, like your classmate, find ways around the obstacles. But it should be something you do for yourself rather than something you do to show others that you "rate".
And honestly it's not like you're doing the nursing profession any favours by making it the consolation prize for failures. There's nothing wrong with deciding you don't like it and moving on.
I know med students in their 40's and 50's. 28 isn't old. I would sit down and figure out what all pre req's you need and also you have to figure in how much time to finish your bachelor's degree. You really need to try and work in those extra science pre med pre req's in with your bachelors and you need to get A's in them. A B here and there won't kill you but the med school admins really like to see good grades in the hard sciences like general chem 1&2, org chem 1&2 and physics 1&2 , calculus etc. It will be faster for you to get these done while you are doing the BSN. Afterwards, it could add a few years to your timeline.
Then you need to take MCAT and score well. Realize med school is like 4 years and then residency is 3-4 more years. You get placed in specialties based more on your med school test scores than just what you want to do. So you could easily end up in primary care unless you can excel on your tests in certain areas.
Also, you need to think of what your priorities in life are...do you want to be really tied down to your practice and being on call all the time? Do you want to have more time off for family and hobbies? That kind of thing. Good luck whichever you choose.
Specializes in Medsurg, Public Hlth, School Nurse, Acute Rehab.
One of the surgeons I worked with was a clerk and then an RN. He went on to be one of the best orthopedic surgeons in our area. It can be done if you have the determination. :)
Oh my gosh, you're so young. I wish I had realized at 28 that I wanted to be a nurse, but instead I was almost 39. But did I make excuses? No. Well, maybe a little in the beginning. I was newly married, and just about to find out I was pregnant, still paying off student loans from my master's degree in another field from ten years prior, and still went back and did my prereqs and kicked butt to make sure I got straight A's so I'd have a 4.0 GPA when I applied. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into a very competitive program. As another poster essentially said and as my Dad always told me, the time is going to go by anyway, so you might as well be getting somewhere while it does. If you truly want to be a practitioner, not for the prestige of being able to tell people you're one, but for the love of practicing medicine, then stop whining about why it can't be done and make it happen, either through becoming a practitioner as an MD, DO, NP or PA (I say that in the best possible way, as I had to tell it to myself about becoming an RN not long ago as I did go through a phase of thinking it couldn't be done). Finally, I know of an MD that did not enter med school until age 51 and he is now happy as a clam in his own practice.
The only problem with going back WILL be time for your family and dealing with the sheer difficulty of school. It's one thing to say "hey I am going to be a doc!," then to actually do it. Remember all those thousands of pre-med freshman in college? Yeah they couldn't hack it.
Here is a timeline for you:
2 years for pre reqs (maybe 3)
1 year gap year or MCAT retake/applications
4 years med school
4-7 years residency
??? Years fellowships/internships
You WILL be in your 40s when you start actually practicing. if you are ok with that then go for it however, I really don't see where a family would logically fit if that's what you want. Nursing school is easily doable with a family, med school ehhhh. Remember you have to move where you are accepted, there isn't just a local MD school that has its arms wide open for you.
Firstly being a nurse is not lowly and secondly, maybe you been watching too much Grey Anatomy. In my clinicals the doctors are hardly around. I did a research paper and nurse get an average of 39-60 minutes per day with the patient. Nurses today are frustrated because they spend more time on a computer charting than with the patient. Doctors spend even less time with patients because they have to do lots of rounds on like each floor depending on where they work. You may be confusing your own pride with patient care. If your passion is for the patient, then being a nurse is the way to go. Even self it's never too late because your nursing experience will make you a better doctor. And about your classmate, CPR is probably the only time she even got to touch a patient, don't believe the Grey Anatomy hype, it's the nurses who run the floor.
I'm 10 years older than you are still in nursing school.
" Now, 11 years later, I never felt so low in my life, I was looking down on myself regarding my status in life.Compared to her, at 28 years old, she was already a doctor and I am still stuck as a nursing student. I was so ashamed that I even tried to avoid her. I feel like my status in life is so low compared to her. "
Before spending any more borrowed money on a new educational direction, you need to face your own feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. Do you truly feel you are "so ashamed" to be a nurse/nursing student? Is your occupation the only means by which you measure success/happiness in life?
If so (and your post certainly seems to indicate it), then I think you must look deeper than your career to find the reasons for your unhappiness. Perhaps some counseling would help you figure out why, at only age 28, you are married, with a career, yet feel so regretful. The worst thing you could do is take out more loans and spend many more years chasing an MD, only to find that you are still unhappy.
And I do feel compelled to mention that, as a nurse, I find your post somewhat offensive. A nursing forum is a strange place to voice your low opinion of the nursing profession.
thanks for all your replies my fellow nurses. Just to clarify, like I said, I love being an LPN nurse. I do not want to go to medical school just for the prestige and money. But because it is what I always wanted to do all my life. Everytime I see the doctors walk in, I envy them because I always wanted to be one of them.Every year, I always ask myself why I did not go to med school.I have a 4.0 GPA so academically I can qualify.I just do not have a chance yet to pursue it because first, I am honestly financially in need since I'm back being a nursing student for my RN. I only work once a week with my school schedule.Even when I can finally afford to be one when I become an RN, I will probably be in my 30's by that time that's why I feel too old. I dont think I will have enough physical stamina and brain power to survive medical school in my 30's unlike when I am in my 20's.
Anyway, sorry to all nurses. Please do not misinterpret what I said about my low status in life. I was not talking about having a low status as a nurse. I was talking about feeling very inferior because my classmate at 28 is already a doctor, even training other older doctors, and I am still here, a STUDENT.Thank you all for your opinions and encouragement.
my classmate at 28 is already a doctor, even training other older doctors, and I am still here, a STUDENT.Thank you all for your opinions and encouragement.
But remember that you're not "just a student" right now. You have years of work experience, and you have family. Others have already pointed this out. What you have accomplished so far does not diminish in comparison with what your friend has accomplished. They're just different things, that's all.
Are you pursuing BSN? Because if you are, you can start taking pre-med courses like physics, biochem, etc whenever you can, so that you have the option of applying to med school after becoming RN, if you still want to.
thanks for all your replies my fellow nurses. Just to clarify, like I said, I love being an LPN nurse. I do not want to go to medical school just for the prestige and money. But because it is what I always wanted to do all my life. Everytime I see the doctors walk in, I envy them because I always wanted to be one of them.Every year, I always ask myself why I did not go to med school.I have a 4.0 GPA so academically I can qualify.I just do not have a chance yet to pursue it because first, I am honestly financially in need since I'm back being a nursing student for my RN. I only work once a week with my school schedule.Even when I can finally afford to be one when I become an RN, I will probably be in my 30's by that time that's why I feel too old. I dont think I will have enough physical stamina and brain power to survive medical school in my 30's unlike when I am in my 20's.
Anyway, sorry to all nurses. Please do not misinterpret what I said about my low status in life. I was not talking about having a low status as a nurse. I was talking about feeling very inferior because my classmate at 28 is already a doctor, even training other older doctors, and I am still here, a STUDENT.Thank you all for your opinions and encouragement.
4.0 in nursing or in med school pre reqs? Big big BIG difference.
I did both in college (summers for pre med) and the difficulty difference was astounding with pre-med being much harder.
Med school is not all that it is cracked up to be. I work as a nurse's aide and have had more than my fair share of encounters with doctors. Just this week I had my clinical rotation in the OR, and I was talking to a Resident who shared his woes with me about being in Residency for FIVE YEARS now. That isn't even including the FOUR years of medical school and FOUR (or more) years as an undergraduate. Most of these doctors aren't finished with their "formal" education until after 15 years of working crazy hours amount for peanuts (less than some new grad RNs, actually). On top of that, they make so many sacrifices, including family time and sleep. What is sleep to a physician, you ask? Rest is a unicorn in the MD's world; it doesn't exist!
And then they have to worry about being sued. Yes, nurses have had lawsuits, but that number is minuscule compared to the number of lawsuits that doctors face. And you think they are making the big bucks? A lot of their income goes to malpractice insurance. One year of malpractice insurance could buy a HOUSE in some places in the U.S.
I did think about med school eons ago, but then I realized that I wanted a life outside of my job. I want to be able to travel the world, spend time with my family, and dabble in other hobbies and pursuits. Doctors are married to their profession, and I have the utmost respect for them...but it is just not for me.
And if that isn't enough, APRNs and CRNAs can do a lot that MDs/anesthesiologists can, with less amount in loans, less time in school and arguably less stress. I have a clinical instructor who is an NP. He tells me that the surgeons value their NPs more than the (clueless) residents who are newbies on the job and aren't aware of the MD's expectations. Although it is technically a nurse, his job resembles that of a physician more so than a floor nurse in terms of responsibility.
In addition, nurses have more flexibility. If a doctor wants to change specialties, he/she would have to do more YEARS of schooling instead of on-the-job training/orientation like nurses. I remember hearing about a MD who got into a really bad accident that left him unable to practice in his field. The medical school tried to convince him to join Radiology, but that would add several more years of schooling and more debt.
He committed suicide instead.
If medical school is something you REALLY want to do, go for it. But don't do it because you think so "lowly" of your profession; do it because the field of medicine excites you.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I don't know. I feel like you just realize you did wrong by becoming an LPN once you saw your classmate. Honestly I think you ( unintentionally) let other people belittle you by their success. And that is never right. Who knows maybe if you become a physician then you'll meet the hospital CEO and wonder why couldn't that be you.
I think it's quite offensive to other LPNs to think of yourself as "so low" as you said it.
Anyhow good luck and I hope you find peace in whatever route you choose to follow.
Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com
She said it was how she felt. She didn't say "all LPNs are low." It was about her, not everyone else.
lemur00, BSN, RN
134 Posts
28 isn't that old--several of my classmates went to nursing school in their 40s (one was even in her 50s). You probably have at least some of the pre-reqs already, why not just ditch nursing school and get the rest of them now then switch to medical school? Like why waste time (and more money) getting an education you don't even want? If being a physician is really your dream, go for it.
However, like others, I wonder if the discontent isn't due to "grass is greener" syndrome. Envy is an interesting thing that, as Faulkner noted, we only bestow on people we think are our equals (or inferiors). That impulse comes into play when we think "I could have just as easily done that--that should be me". Yet I can guarantee the classmate sacrificed a tonne of things to be a physician that you have not had to sacrifice. If you really want to be a physician all the work will be worth it and you will, like your classmate, find ways around the obstacles. But it should be something you do for yourself rather than something you do to show others that you "rate".
And honestly it's not like you're doing the nursing profession any favours by making it the consolation prize for failures. There's nothing wrong with deciding you don't like it and moving on.