Medical school vs Nursing School

allnurses Guide · Jan 29, 2009

Because nursing and medicine are different professions that work side by side. I work directly with people, for extended periods of time.

Nursing is holistic, whole person centered, taking care of needs directly and indirectly, hands on, up close and personal.

Medicine is disease oriented, diagnosing the problem, brief(er) contact with people.

I chose nursing to take care of people directly.

Medical school is not just a year or two more, though. Did my BSN in 4 1/2 years. Med school would have been first the Bachelors, then the med school, then residency. I have great respect for (most) doctors, but we do very different things.

czyja, MSN, RN · Jan 29, 2009

Medicine and nursing are different professions made up of very different people.

The best way to understand the difference is to spend time in a hospital. I suggest volunteering - talk to nurses and physicians and ask them about their work.

Kiringat · Jan 29, 2009

I never had and interest in becoming a doctor. Can't really say why.

As a nurse I get to spend time with a group of 6-7 people every night and take care of them.

I would see if you could spend some time at your local hospital, either as a volunteer, or see if you could "shadow" on the floor for a few hours.

chicookie, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2009

That is too funny because I am going back to school for my BSN and my mother made the comment that I should have just gone to medical school. =D

The way I see it is this: DRs treat patients, nurses take care of patients. They are two very different things.

I wanted to be a dr but due to my inability to see ahead I went for nursing. (I was 16 when I started college. What does a 16 year old know?) But I am glad I did. I personally like taking care of someone rather then just coming into say you need to do this and this and move on to the next person. I want to help people not treat the body. That doesn't mean I don't admire docs though. They sure do have alot in their brains.....

liteskin_qtee · Jan 29, 2009

Medical school would take alot longer than a year or 2 longer....bsn is 4 yrs....medical under grad is 4yrs then 4yrs medical school then 4 more yrs residency and maybe a yr or 2 fellowship..for me I'm too old to go down that long road...nursing will give me that medical fix I desire and if I get my Msn as a NP I can treat pts with only another 2 yrs of school...

Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2009

For me all of the above reasons, plus I don't want to be on call and away from my family 24-7! Most docs work ridiculous hours (depending on their specialty), and in nursing there is so much flexibility. You can work 3 days a week and have 4 off, work nights only or weekends only, or work 7:40-3:10 like me and have every major holiday and all summer off (school nurse here :) )

woody436 · Jan 29, 2009

Doctors treat diseases...nurses treat patients. Nursing is a better fit..for me at least. For me it wasn't a decision that nursing is the "low" road versus medical school. I don't think a doctor is anymore higher or lower than a nurse in terms of status, society may think differently however.

Consider business. There are many jobs in a company that make the business go. Even in business school there is a wide array of choices one can specialize in. One may choose management, while another may choose accounting/finance. Two different paths of study..all leading to the same goal: running businesses. Nursing and medicine are similar in that they are all leading to the same goal: good patient care and good patient outcomes.

Besides with managed care getting more and more momentum, who the hell wants to be a doctor now anyway? Insurance companies, medicare, and medicaid are taking the autonomy away from doctors anyway. Before you know it, the practice of medicine will be nothing more than following a simple algorithm.

Including undergrad, you're looking at at least 8 years plus residency of 3-4 years...getting calls at all hours of the day and night "hi this is so-and-so, mrs. smith has a fever of 101.1..what would you like us to do?"...forgot it!

faraday68 · Jan 29, 2009

I just want to thank everybody for taking the time to reply. The information is really useful and thought-provoking. I've already got a bs in Communications. I'm 40 years old and have been out of school awhile. So I was thinking it would take 2-4 years for nursing school or 4 years for medical school. Maybe more because i would have to go back and take prerequisite sciences to apply to medical school and take the mcat and get recommendations. My dad and sister are doctors but at my age I need to determine if I'm ready for the commitment. i like the flexibility of nursing. There are a number of reasons I'm considering a career move, plus my husband is a disabled vet so a good percentage of the tuition will get picked up. So thank you again for giving me some feedback on this. It was very helpful.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2009

My earliest memories of what I wanted to be when I grew up was to be a doctor. But that was the mind of a 4, 5, 6 year old. It wasn't until years later when I was older and experienced the world more that I realized I wanted to help people feel better, I wanted to be able to use the power of touch, actually spend time with the person to help heal them. So it wasn't a doctor I wanted to be it was a nurse.

In my 4, 5, 6 year old mind a doctor would spend time with the patient, have direct patient care, etc. When older I realized doctors have very little direct patient care and spend little time with the patient.

So from then on, I wanted to be a nurse.

Winnie04 · Jan 29, 2009

Hi, I had almost finished med school pre-reqs when I realized that nursing was a better fit for my personal goals. I predicted myself being miserable during 4 years of med school and several more years of residency....the hours are horrible and I really value having time to see my family and have a life outside of work. For me, my ultimate goal is to provide primary care in a clinic setting, maybe do some teaching, and I still plan on doing that by getting a MSN. Meanwhile I am getting experience working as a RN in a hospital (most days I enjoy it although it is harder than I could have imagined!). Like some of the above posters said, RN's are the ones who (by far) have the most patient contact, and I like that aspect of it.

Hawaj · Jan 29, 2009

being a nurse is my dream since childhood

i liked the role of the nurse much more than that of the doctor