MD to RN?

The loans should scare you. With med school loans and nursing school loans, I find it hard to believe you'd be able to put a roof over your head while paying them back.

I'm sure your background could be of help, but you would have to keep yourself in check with the vast difference in scope of practice. And to remember you really don't know anything. At all. Experienced nurses worth their salt generally guide the interns, not the other way around.

It's very different. Make sure it is actually what you want, and that putting yourself into an even more massive financial hole won't leave you feeling dissatisfied and inadequate.

Nope.

Whatever happened that prevented you from getting a residency? Have you looked into some of the Federal programs that match residents with underserved areas? For example, the HIMA San Pablo Bayamón hospital here has residents from all over the country, many of whom don't speak any Spanish. Many of the nurses who work there I have spoken to snigger at them and call them washouts - which some may be - but the way I see it, nothing is worse than throwing in the towel before you exhaust every option. It is not a prestigious option, but it gets them the mandated hours.

I think it will be an asset, but why don't you look at direct entry NP? What were your step 1 scores? Not even an IM or FM residency was on the table?

Nursing is different than medicine, but I don't think its anything you can't handle.

I would do everything I can to get into a residency program at this point. Even if it means moving out of the country. If I could practice as an MD, I would not choose nursing.

I would do everything I can to get into a residency program at this point. Even if it means moving out of the country. If I could practice as an MD I would not choose nursing.[/quote']

I concur, even if your scores sucked you gave four years of dedication to achieve that degree. Don't give it up.

I concur, even if your scores sucked you gave four years of dedication to achieve that degree. Don't give it up.

Yep. This. Do what you have to do.

Before you consider nursing, try again for residency on the next round. Not everyone gets a residency right away; don't be too quick to give up.

I am an IMG who switched to nursing, and I will not advice this move before full understanding and acceptance of what is ahead. Your MD background will NOT be your advantage. I found too many nurses to be fiercely antiintellectual, prejudiced to people who happen to know more than they are and able to bully and sabotage colleagues only because of their superior knowledge and skills. I almost paid with my health and life itself for finding a bedside nursing job where I am accepted and do not have to cover up what I know and can do. This is not even mentioning the fact that nursing and "doctors" thinking and approach are quite cardinally different things. One needs to completely turn around thinking processes to do this. I can compare it with driving right and left steering wheel.

Either you will choose to shut up permanently and never, ever mention your MD past and pretty much downplay yourself, or you will have a good chance to face it all. If you have any opportunity to do that, go to direct-entry MSN and become nurse practitioner.

What about a transitional spot through your school? Teaching? Research fellowship?

As far as MD to RN's, I've worked with a few. Foreign educated, left medicine for child-rearing, etc. The latest two that come to mind were exceptionally bright, embraced their new roles and flourished. (One went on to CRNA).

I didn't witness any sour grapes from colleagues related to their former lives. We actually valued their A&P and patho knowledge.

Why on earth would you go from MD to RN? I agree with the previous poster that the loans should scare you unless you have rich parents that pay your stuff. Do yourself a favor and find a residency program. Even if you have to move across the country. Being an RN isn't easy and not because of what you have to know but because we are the one to basically deal with the BS after the doctor leave the room.

Thanks for all the responses.

Just a few things to clear up any questions about my background. I graduated from school with an MD degree. I was able to pass Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 2 CS. I haven't taken Step 3 yet as that exam is meant for first year residents.

As for why I wasn't able to get a residency:

This is something that those who have not been in my situation will never fully comprehend. There are more and more medical schools opening up each year. Yet the number of residency spots remains stagnant. Getting accepted into medical school was already a brutal challenge. I had no idea that just passing wouldn't be enough to secure a residency spot. During my time in medical school, the number of applicants skyrocketed. Last year, the numbers were 40k applicants for 20k spots. And the number of US grads who can't get a spot is increasing rapidly. There's ongoing discussion about this, but nothing will be done. To most of the medical field, we are the pariahs. Very few in the field are willing to advise or mentor us. My school has stopped communicating with me because I am no longer able to generate any revenue for them. Ever seen the movie Gattaca? I often feel like the main character – one who is genetically inferior competing amongst the elite (an exaggeration, of course – but you get the idea).

Anyway, the increase in the number of applicants vs spots available has caused an increase in the required score to pass each exam. I had to repeat some exams. I have always been an average student who just happened to be the most hard working (ie I was completely financially independent at 18). Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough to avoid struggling in med school. Add to that plenty of things out of my control, and you can sort of get an image of my background. These issues include things like family issues (with law enforcement involved) and my own health issues currently checkups with Oncology q 3 months (and it's just awesome having to stretch those out because I can't afford it). I apologize, but I don't feel comfortable sharing any more than that. And I am not looking for any pity. We've all faced problems. I'm sure some of you have had much worse.

To those who are saying to keep trying:

The chances are far too low to be worth the struggle. The cost of applications is one thing. For someone in my position, I'd have to apply to 150+ programs throughout the country. The application process is about $3k. Then I am responsible for all travel expenses. At the same time, it is very hard to find any decent employment. An MD without residency is worthless. Some believe that we can just go to research or the pharmaceutical industry. This is false. If you were in charge of a research project, would you rather have an MD who was not trained to do research? Or would you rather have a PhD grad whose entire grad education has been about research? If you were in charge of a pharmaceutical company, would you rather have an MD who has basic med school / first year residency level knowledge of medications? Or would you rather have a physician who has gone through residency and practiced and knows practical applications for the drugs in question?

Regarding the loans:

The only reason I am not as distressed about the loans is that I will not be responsible for them come 15 years. You may have heard of the pay as you earn program. With any federal loans (which covers all med school expenses), I just have to pay a certain percentage of my income for the next 15 years and then the loans will be wiped clean. For most successful grads who eventually become physicians, they'll have paid off their debt long before those 15 years. But for the rest of us who will not have that opportunity, we will become society's parasites. I hate what I have become, but I see no choice but to embrace it.

So that's where I am now – 1 year out of school and working a just-above-minimum-wage job in a local hospital. I supplement my income with manual labor outside of my regular work hours. I am friends with several nurses and nursing students. As I love teaching, I started helping some of my nursing student friends with the better understanding of some topics. They appreciate that I am going at the topics in a different direction. Ie. I showed them how to memorize the clotting cascade and all the major drugs related to it – from Heparin to Warfarin to direct factor 2 inhibitors to direct factor 10 inhibitors. Another of my prouder moments was helping them to comfortably understand Potassium and Sodium balance. Ie. know that Hyperkalemia is due to K out of cells (Beta Blockers, DKA / low Insulin, acidosis such as vomiting, or other cell busting events like tumor lysis, rhabdo, injury, etc) or K failing to leave the nephrons (CKD, decrease in Aldosterone production such as Addison's Disease, and anything that antagonizes Aldosterone like Type 4 RTA by Spironolactone, Lisinopril, Heparin, Phenytoin). I even prepared notes for them so they can review and memorize in the most efficient manner. My closest friend of the group told me that it would be a shame for me to just give up on medicine like that. He suggested that I should go into nursing so that I could still be of some use to the medical field.

Sorry if that was too much of a rant. And sorry for any typos or grammatical errors. I am typing all up all of this before my shift starts.

I strongly believe that I can succeed in nursing. I will not have problems with the academics, as I've cut every toxic thing out of my life (including the aforementioned family issues). I am just not sure if the application process will be as painful as getting into med school. And I am not sure what kind of discrimination (if any) I'll face prior to, during, and after nursing school. It's a shame that I can't find others like me. It seems like most of my fellow pariahs / parasites have removed themselves from medicine. One guy is struggling to run his own business. Another returned to his home country (not for medicine).

Thanks again for listening / reading.