MD OR RN

[Easlyn12]

Hi everyone!

I know this may not be the topic most people like to talk about but I'm just reaching out for some help. I'm currently in a BSN program and only have 4 terms left, I went into nursing because I was drawn to it while I was a corpsman in the navy. But on the other hand I have always had a lurking want to become a doctor. The one big thing that has kept me from doing it is time it takes and the fact that I want a family soonish. I am 23 and married. My husband also wants kids soon and I know that wouldn't be easy in medical school. I'm am so torn though, being in nursing school hasn't taken away the desire to try medicine so now I'm wondering if I should drop out and finish my med school pre reqs. Or stick it out since I only have a year and a half left (our bsn program goes over summer as well) and then see if I want to attend medical School, we also have a decent amount of debt so that is another thing I'm worried about when it comes to attending medical school since my husband won't be graduating for two and a half years. If I finished my BSN I could have income while finishing pre reqs. Any experiences or advice is greatly appreciated.

[Easlyn12]

Thank you all for your help!

[HermioneG, BSN, RN]

I agree with a previous poster and check out Student Doctor Network! Either career would be a fantastic path to choose. With that being said, I don't think we know you and your life enough to give you fair advice on such an important topic. Your family and close friends would probably be best.

One thing I can say, though, is to weigh your chances of getting in very carefully. Be honest with yourself. Are you a good test taker? Are you comfortable spending full days studying? What is your academic stamina like? What classes did you take to get your high GPA? Were they nursing pre-req classes, or upper level science classes? I'm not trying to downplay the difficulty of the nursing pre-req classes at all because they are very hard, but the 400 level human anatomy, physiology, histology, neuroanatomy, cell biology, biochem, Calculus, year of ochem, year of physics, etc which you will encounter with a Biology degree will present with very different challenges than you encountered with your nursing pre-reqs. Again, I'm not downplaying the difficulty of the nursing pre-reqs AT ALL, but if you haven't taken the heavier science classes, at this point in time you might not have an accurate perspective on your chances yet. It might be helpful to test the waters a little bit before fully withdrawing from your BSN program. Maybe you can take a leave of absence from nursing school for one quarter and take a full load of upper division science classes at your local university and see how you do. So that means 12 units of 400 level Biology courses, or 12 units starting year sequences of Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, or starting the Calculus I, II, III sequences. That, in my personal opinion, would give you a much more accurate perspective on your chances for admission into MD or DO school than anything else. This does come with its drawbacks, however, because from what I've heard most medical schools don't want you to take your heavier science classes at a JC or Community College. So you would need to take these at a four year university, and that does mean more money. SDN would probably be able to help you more there.

Anyways, since you're already in nursing school and your question is not how to get into nursing school, I think SDN would be more helpful for your particular situation. They could probably help you evaluate your chances better.

Good luck with everything!! :)

[BostonFNP, APRN]

I went into nursing because I was drawn to it

But on the other hand I have always had a lurking want to become a doctor.

This is what you need to do some soul searching about prior to making a huge investment of your money, time, life, family etc.

It sounds like you were drawn to both nursing and medicine and you have gone down one path, what made you chose that path and why now are you considering changing? Consider if you stopped nursing school and changed that path now, what would you gain? What is going to make it worth it to you in the end? Remember the medicine route will take you 1-2 years or pre-reqs if you weren't premed, 4 years of medical school, and 3+ years of residency. If you have the GI bill and go to a state school you may actually be able to go for free which would be incredible, otherwise you will need to add 250-400K in debt to your list.

You need to be able to clearly answer to yourself what it is that you want.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

you can be an NP. MD is 7-9 years of school/residency after undergraduate.

[melissamabd, DNP, RN]

This question speaks to the very basic one: what do you want to do in life? If you want to be a physician, you want to diagnose and treat illness on a tertiary preventive basis. Nursing, on the other hand, is not at all like medicine. Nursing deals with primary prevention, teaching, and treatment of actual or potential human responses to illness. It is a holistic endeavor which could almost be likened to "medical social work," or advocacy for individuals' optimum physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, cultural, developmental, and vocational health. Although the two professions share situation in the realm of health vs. illness, they are VERY different. Be sure to understand the nature of each profession so you can make an optimally effective choice.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Finish your BSN and then you will have income while you get ready for med school and see if you get accepted. Otherwise you have already racked up debt for nothing. And remember all that debt combined with med school will stop you from being able to ever buy a home until your 90 most likely LOL. And if you are going to have kids soon you are going to want a home.

[SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN]

You are 23 years old. Go to medical school if you can. You will earn 2(+) times what a Nurse earns in a lifetime. I don't know about the rest of the Nurses in the World but the primary reason I go to work is to make money. If I lived to be a Nurse I'd volunteer all my off time to helping the unserved.... I don't.

[Julius Seizure]

OP, have you done any job shadowing? If not, I would recommend spending a day at minimum shadowing a doctor and then the same for a nurse. even with your background of military experience. Good luck with your decision, its a tough one.

[Easlyn12]

Yes I have done shadowing, with anesthesiologists and an OBGYN. I'm hoping to shadow a dermatologist as well. And thank you, it is tough and I definitely have some soul searching

[shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP]

You're young. If you want to be doctor, then go for it! I started nursing school at age 53. If I were even 10 years younger, I would have gone for the MD.

[lcgivz12]

I am a nurse and went back to school to finish up chemistry and physics requirements to get into medical school. I had a cumulative GPA of 3.84 so I was competitive. I wound up pregnant and because i am usually an all-or-nothing personality, I decided I wanted my "all" to be my baby and not medical school for 4 years and then a rigorous 3-year residency. So I changed to become a family nurse practitioner and never looked back. Best decision for my family and still a challenging, mind-stimulating career.