I think I rather go to nursing school instead of medical school.

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Hello Everyone,

Let me begin by saying that I am a 24, male, and am graduating with my degree in biology/sociology this December. I originally was pre-med but now am starting to think that I may not want to attend medical school anymore. I have worked as a PCT and I enjoyed the work. I have started to look into ABSN programs to work for some time and then maybe continue my education into NP, CRNA, Ph.D. or getting my MSN and becoming an educator. My freshman year, about 4.5 years ago, I was revved up for medicine and that's the only thing I wanted to do but now my mind has changed and I am starting to feel like what I wanted then is not what I want now. A few reasons I am doubting medical school is 1. The time that it would take to gain the MD, I am not sure if I will have a family around this time or if I will get married but unfortunately, after 4.5 years of undergrad, I do not think I would like to wait another 7 plus years before I begin working and enjoying life. 2. The money, it just seems too expensive to attend medical school and I understand that physicians will make a great amount of money after they finish residency but I do not think that I could handle having 200k plus loans over my head. If I were to become an NP or any other advanced practicing nurse (from what I know, please correct me if I am wrong) I can work part time while doing school, or my employer can pay for schooling, or I can work for a good amount of time as a BSN and save to pay for school out of pocket since it is not as costly as medical school. 3. Before when I was a freshman I used to give the reason that every pre-medical student says about wanting to go to medical school, we wanted to be the leader of the group and be in charge of the treatment plan for the patient, but now I am starting to think with my personality I may not want to be the end all be all. Yes, I am a leader and I take on leader roles but I do not think I would like to be the final decision in patient care and to not have a back up to help me for example such as if I were an NP I could speak to my over seeing physician if I am unsure of a treatment plan, if I were a physician it would all be on me and I don't think I can be put in that situation to make the decision to decide if someone dies because of my error. 4. This leads into the issue of liability and mal practice insurance. even though physicians make good money they are taxed much higher and they have so much overhead (please correct me if I am wrong). 5. Lifestyle, I feel that becoming any other form of healthcare professional would allow me to have somewhat of a resemblance of a balanced/normal lifestyle. I would like to come home and not have to continue working or to have to worry about my patients because if anything bad happens to them while I am gone it is all my responsibilities. I do understand nurses also think about their patients when they leave work but also nurses get to clock out and just go home. I know that there are specialties in medicine that are great for lifestyle balance but most are competitive residency and I do not know if it would be worth it to go to medical school with the risk of not getting into one of these specialties or any residency at all. 6. The lateral mobility, knowing myself I am an indecisive person and the idea that I could move into a different specialty without having to redo a residency sounds very pleasing to me. In conclusion, maybe I wanted to become a physician because I liked the idea of being an MD but now I am just starting to actually think about what comes with being an MD. I know that becoming a nurse or any other healthcare professional also has its struggles and no job is perfect but I think I am starting to wake up to how harsh medical training and practice can be. I have been pondering this decision for the past 3 months and I think I know what I want to decide but I am still constantly unsure because seeing all my pre med friends and the way they look at me because of my reasonings it makes me feel like I am crazy. Many of them say that everything I mentioned I used to say the opposite, did really mean what I said before or was I just ignorant to what it took to be an MD and now I am started to know myself better. Either way, thank you all for reading this and for any advice or just thoughts.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Please separate this into paragraphs- it is nearly impossible to read. You will get a better response that way.

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Please separate this into paragraphs- it is nearly impossible to read. You will get a better response that way.

I read it just fine. Impossible is a strong word, and quite the overstatement in this case.

dlhonorio,

You are the only one that can make this decision. Nursing is a great field, and if you do nursing as a second degree and then complete your masters you could still practice medicine without having to worry about a residency, fellowship, etc. You could also decide that you love being a floor nurse and stay happy for the rest of your life. It's a very adaptive field and you really can do just about anything with a degree in nursing. Informatics, patient care, management, etc.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
I read it just fine. Impossible is a strong word, and quite the overstatement in this case.

dlhonorio,

You are the only one that can make this decision. Nursing is a great field, and if you do nursing as a second degree and then complete your masters you could still practice medicine without having to worry about a residency, fellowship, etc. You could also decide that you love being a floor nurse and stay happy for the rest of your life. It's a very adaptive field and you really can do just about anything with a degree in nursing. Informatics, patient care, management, etc.

Which is why I said 'nearly impossible'.

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I read it just fine. Impossible is a strong word, and quite the overstatement in this case.

dlhonorio,

You are the only one that can make this decision. Nursing is a great field, and if you do nursing as a second degree and then complete your masters you could still practice medicine without having to worry about a residency, fellowship, etc. You could also decide that you love being a floor nurse and stay happy for the rest of your life. It's a very adaptive field and you really can do just about anything with a degree in nursing. Informatics, patient care, management, etc.

Advanced practice nurses do not "practice medicine."

And, yes, the OP is "nearly impossible" to read and make sense of.

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Advanced practice nurses do not "practice medicine."

And, yes, the OP is "nearly impossible" to read and make sense of.

I sincerely hope your use of quotations and italics makes you feel superior. The high horses are quite tall here. May I remind you that there are plenty of states where a nurse practitioner can indeed practice without the supervision of a physician.

Get over yourselves. If you have nothing useful to add to a post hit the back button and ignore it.

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OP, I totally understand what you're going through right now. If I had my way five years ago, I would be getting my MD right now. I really wanted to be a doctor when I was younger too. It seems like you definitely have a good sense of the differences between the fields and that is the biggest part of this decision. But I don't think your decision to become a doctor or a nurse should depend on money or how you feel about being the final say. I think you need to focus on the time, work-life balance, and lateral mobility. Money is not as important as people make it out to be as long as you have a roof over your head, nutritious food, and clothes on your back, and the whole point of medical school, residency, and fellowships is to become competent and confident enough to be a diagnostician and clinician. Your time is the one thing that you can't get back. I don't know all of the factors in your life but contacting some ABSN programs and medical schools takes only a little time and can help you come to a decision. If you haven't taken your MCAT, you should study for that regardless. Knowing that info can help in preparing for the ABSN program, too, so it won't be a complete waste, I promise. If you do well on your MCAT, maybe do a couple of applications for your #1 and #2 medical schools. If you're accepted, great! You don't have to accept that if you've made a decision to go to nursing school by then. Apply to a couple of ABSN programs if you have all of the pre-reqs completed, too. There are always options. And even if you finish nursing school and decide then that medical school is the ONE thing you want to do in life, do it! No regrets. :)

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You posted something similar almost two months ago - there must be some part of you that's holding on to the idea of being a doctor vs being a nurse.

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May I remind you that there are plenty of states where a nurse practitioner can indeed practice without the supervision of a physician.

I'm well aware of that -- and, in those states, those nurse practitioners are practicing nursing, not medicine.

My use of quotation marks was to indicate that I was quoting someone else (is that no longer a proper use of quotation marks?) and the italicized word was to indicate a modifier that you had apparently missed in your earlier response to MMJ, not to feel superior (I'm not putting that in quotation marks, since that seems to be a problem). My horse is no higher than anyone else's.

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Have you ever thought about becoming a PA?

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
Please separate this into paragraphs- it is nearly impossible to read. You will get a better response that way.

Totally agree with use of paragraphs to make a post easier to read. That big wall of words isn't impossible, it's just a pain in the azz to wade through.

I speed read, skip over stuff and don't have much respect for the writer of such a mess. Your thoughts aren't worth the work.

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OP, I was in nearly the exact same situation you describe when I got my first bachelors degree. I struggled with precisely the same internal debate.

You posted something similar almost two months ago - there must be some part of you that's holding on to the idea of being a doctor vs being a nurse.

I know this may sound strange, but for me the hardest part of moving forward was taking some time to accept that "I'd never be a doctor." I knew that nursing would be a better fit for my goals, but growing up I'd always envisioned myself in the physician role; in a sense, I really had to take some time to grieve the loss of that future identity I'd put so much stock into. I realized that the reason I had trouble 'letting go' of the medical track was because of my ego, not my interests. Once I recognized and accepted that, I was able to move forward.

I don't mean to offend anybody here or imply that medicine is somehow superior to nursing; at the time that I went through that personal transition I felt deeply ashamed for feeling that way, especially because I genuinely wanted to be a nurse. I think that there are so many societal assumptions tied up into the "doctor" identity that it takes on a life of it's own; again, moving on required that I put my ego in check.

I've personally counseled a handful of younger students who were trying to decide between medicine and nursing. Over and over again, I hear that they know that nursing is a better fit, but that the only thing holding them back is the disappointment that, "I won't be a doctor." I tell them that from my own experience, it's ok to acknowledge those feelings, give yourself permission to briefly grieve, and then let it go. Apparently that process has helped them, too.

Nursing has turned out to be a great fit for me, and I've never regretted my choice. I'm proud to be a nurse, and proud of the high-quality care that I provide. I love the flexibility, versatility, and opportunities for advancement. I definitely look back and think that I dodged a bullet by not applying to med school.

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