Medical school after nursing school ?

verene, MSN · May 9, 2015

If you are really serious about med school look up programs, find out which ones you are interested in and figure out what you would need to do to get accepted - it's not that hard to look these things up. A simple Google search turns up basic med school requirements. They vary a bit from school to school but in general: 2 years of humanities/social science course work. (6 quarters), 2 years of Chemistry/Biology course work (6 quarters), combination of physics and calculus/linear algebra (2-4 quarters). Beyond that a strong GPA, solid MCAT scores, and some background experience with healthcare be it volunteering, multiple shadowings of healthcare professionals, or working in the field in some capacity. Traditionally med students have come from the hard sciences as the most common undergrad major, but it doesn't have to be that way so long as the student does complete the science pre-reqs requested. As a warning many med schools want the hard science pre-reqs to come from the specific science department (bio course work from the dept of biology) and may not accept the equivalent course if offered through a nursing or psych department which is something to consider in pursing nursing as your undergrad path.

I'm not sure working as a nurse during med school will be feasible. The med students I know do not have much time outside of school and clinical for work and none of the ones I know currently hold jobs. Also, at least at my local med school, clinical rotations take students around a multi-state area which could also make holding a regular job difficult. I also think it could be potentially confusing and mentally taxing to be jumping back and forth between nursing model of care and nursing assessments at work and then having to put on the medical model hat and medical assessments in school, but being neither nurse nor medical student I'm not in a good place to give advice on this.

That being said there are nurses who've gone on to pursue a medical degree and practice as physicians, it is certainly possible to do, and skills learned as a nurse are likely quite valuable in pursing further healthcare training.

You may want to check out a pre-med forum or medical student forum for better advice about how to get into med school, feasibility of working during med school, and how a BSN translates in terms of preparation for medical school coursework.

ThatBigGuy · May 9, 2015

I think you need to do a bit more research on what is required to be an MD. There aren't many, if any, situations in which being an RN will gain you an advantage on your way to becoming an MD. In fact, if you considered the time and money spent acquiring an essentially worthless degree, you might conclude that becoming an RN is actually a DISadvantage.

I'd hate for you to start down the already difficult MD road 4 years late and $50k bucks in debt. That's not a great way to get started. You need to call a few med schools and ask what they require, and ask if having your RN is in any way an advantage.

NGYSUN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 9, 2015

It's possible to work as a nurse during med school. A friend of mine did so. She worked agency. But, she was quite smart too. Now she is doing her residency in Arizona.

But I guess it depends on how resilient your are to the stress and smart too.

Good luck to you!

Dranger · May 9, 2015

Becoming a nurse is the absolute worst round about way to become a doctor. Furthermore, you are going to have a terrible time convincing med school admins why you jumped ship from nursing.

The requirements are generally:

2 sem Gen Bio (not nursing pre-req bio)

2 sem Gen Chem (not nursing chem)

2 sem Organic Chem

2 sem Physics

1 sem Calc

and other miscellaneous classes depending on school

Working while in med school? Lol working while doing the pre reqs was hard enough.

Psata · May 9, 2015

I disagree with the statement that pursuing a undergraduate degree in Nursing is "worst round about way to become a doctor". Many premed students do their undergraduate degree in one of the biological Sciences. Yet many also major in business, music, engineering, etc. I know I few who were Nursing Majors also. As long as you complete the Medical School prerequisites, graduate with a high GPA (>3.5 - 3.7) and have good MCAT Scores, you would likely be accepted into one or more medical school, irrespective of what your undergraduate degree was. I think, most Nursing students will have to spend a semester or two after the BSN degree, finishing up their Medical School prerequisites. It is my understanding that MED Schools frown on students who did their prerequisites at Community Cllleges or during the Summer Term.

The realities are, the vast majority of undergraduate predmed students do not end up getting into medical school and have to seek out other career paths after graduation. Having a Nursing Degree (& license) will negate having to pursuing another undergraduate or graduate degree in order to get a decent/high paying career. It is an excellent fallback position, which has zero cost associated with this approach. How many threads we have seen on this forum where pred-med students who majored in Biological Sciences and are now looking into Accelerated BSN or Generic BSN programs? IMHO, getting your BSN first is a Win-Win situation for a student wishing to pursue a Medical Degree.

thenightnurse456 · May 9, 2015

I knew someone who went to med school after nursing school.

Worked as a nurse casually while they studied. Seemed to work out well.

direw0lf, BSN · May 9, 2015

You definitely need to start talking to advisers! Diff med schools have slightly different pre-reqs, and cost!

One of my instructors (an RN) said her friend worked as a CNA the summer before med school. That gave him an advantage to get familiar with the hospital/staff.

Instead of thinking in terms of potential maybe think about what you want to do exactly..

The basic requirements for an RN will not be enough for med school, since most RN programs don't require gen chem 1&2, organic 1&2, biochem, neuro, calculus, calculus physics, etc.

Dranger · May 9, 2015

According to adcoms on the student doc forums, the people who run admissions, they say it is one of the worst ways to get in.

Are there nurses that go to med school? Sure but it is a very small minority.

There are a lot better direct routes. Most of your nursing classes do not for med school pre reqs

HelloWish, ADN, BSN · May 9, 2015

Are you familiar with nurse practitioners who practice much like a family doctor or CRNAs who function much like an anesthesiologist? Not the same, but they can prescribe and diagnose and do many procedures. I am not sure how much surgery a NP can do, but I know they can do some procedures. For me it makes much more sense if you are an RN to pursue this route, with much less cost and time.

direw0lf, BSN · May 9, 2015

edit:

oops posted wrong thread somehow!

IHeartPeds87 · May 9, 2015

to the OP: I would highly suggest talking to one of the career counselors at school. I understand the advantages...if you don't get into medical school for whatever reason, you will have a BSN that will give you lots of career options. However, keep in mind OP that a BSN undergraduate degree is going to be more difficult than most of the degrees your counterparts applying to medical schools have. I don't know if medical school admissions people give the BSN degree the "credit" it deserves.....meaning if you end up with say a 3.2 with a BSN degree instead of a 3.6 that you might have had in another degree, even if that is a decent BSN degree they may not see it that way.

Something to think about.