My I'm going to medical school

Published

Why I'm going to medical school. Ill keep this short and simple. How does this relate to everybody else? Read the entire thing and see, this explanation is not at all about me.

Overwhelming amount of masters level nursing programs. Never before besides law and maybe the MBA have I ever seen such a large amount of specific programs pop up. Every school in america seems to have a masters level nursing program in their academia. This includes the notorious for-profit schools that everybody excluding people who hold degrees from these institutions seem to loathe. Our credentialing bodies, by allowing all of these poorly regulated programs to pop up, have lowered them selves to the level of weaksause, bile-like vomitus.

decreasing job market. Again, with every soul in america for going an advanced practicing nursing degree, our job availability will decrease severely in the next few years. This has already began to take place, with many NPS across america, varying geographically of course, fighting for entry level jobs making substandard wages.

Low barrier to entry. This is where the nail gets hit on the head. Essentially, to keep enrollment high, higher level nursing programs (excluding a few from higher end schools) have DROPPED their admission standards, in fear that somebody will go to another program instead of their own. NO GRE, NO GPA, NO EXPERIENCE, NO INTERVIEW. I mean come on people, really??? Your so money hungry you will lower your admission standards just to get more applicants and provide more seats. At least in the medical world, schools keep it competitive, for which is mostly to make their school look better.

Role confusion. This is not prevalent everywhere, but even with all these nurses pushing for education of the np model to patients” a large amount of people still don't know what we are. PAGING DOCTOR NURSE, DOCTOR NURSE. I mean how ridiculous does that sound. DOCTOR NURSE??? while the DOCTOR NURSE complication may be DNP and PHD specific, there is much confusion to a nurse wearing a while coat, prescribing medication, etc (not anything wrong with it but it is confusing to patients)

Weaksause curriculum. I am sure there are very difficult schools out there that provide the MSN needed to obtain the overly sought nurse prackk” status, but many of these online programs at for-profit universities have really dumbed the requirements. I know of many schools that require no closed book tests, being the only one you take is your majorly feared BOARD EXAM, which was so notoriously easy i don't see how anybody can fail it. I think the hardest question I had was. SOMEBODY COMES IN WITH THAT BILE-LIKE- VOMUCKUS AND RIGHT QUADRANT UPPER PAIN IN THE ABDOMINALS AREA. WHAT LOLTEST DO YOU ORDER IMAGING WISE FIRST SO U CAN DIAGNOSE THIS PATIENT LIKE A 1337SAUSE NURSE PRACKK AND BE EPICLY LEET AND GET A LONGER WHYT KOAT. But anyway…. it is too easy, to short, and does not always prepare people for the level of knowledge required to do his or her job. If you disagree, then why do we aways get these ZOMG I CANT TAKE MY JOB ITS TOO HARD AND HARD AND I CANT FUNCTION, DIDNIT LERN ENUFF, HELP” posts on all nurses from these inadequate providers that went to the university of the FEENIX at western senator university and didn't even learn what lisinopril is? epic failure my fellow PRACKKS.

I could keep going but i will spare you all from my wonderfully notorious grammar and poor use of capitalization to go study the MCAT since medical school actually has requirements to get into it. By no means am I smarter or think I'm smarter than anyone else, but by taking this path I will have a much more rewarding career, more job options, and an overall better outlook than most (if not all) NURSE PRACKKS. None of this is due to any quality I possess besides the fact that I have been imbued with the knowledge that Low barrier to entry, overly easy schooling, hot popularity, and poor credentialing bodies will lead to a severely saturated market for current and future nurse practitioners, which I have chosen not to be a part of.

If anybody else wants to follow me through a more difficult and rewarding pathway than advance practice nursing can provide, you will reap the rewards of the hard labor you shall put forth, if not, enjoy the last few years of excellent salary guarantee (excluding excellent providers, which most people think they are but they are not even close) and wallow in your despair once your fighting for jobs that pay a couple grand more than RN positions.

Eat dirt you poorly managed nursing credentialing bodies, for imbuing all these poor people with high hopes and dreams which will burn in fumes faster than the dotcom bubble did.

THE PRACK BUBBLE WILL POP, ARE YOU READY?

#incoming hate

#pulverize the dead horse

#all of the people who cherish his or her APRN license will be super MADZLOL and be offended by this which is awesome

#hanging out under my bridge

#overly sensitive nursing population

Oh, and I also put down a 200k+ year job to do all this, for all you people who will be like "LOL YOUR BADZ AND NEED MORE SKOOL TO BE GOODS AND PROBABLY MADE LIKE 55K PER YEAR ROFL ROFL ROFL."

I totally agree with you. The market is overly saturated everyone is or a becoming nurse it's so much easier than it use to be because of the different routes. I, too, have considered medical school for the same reasons.

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I had my reasons for being an rn to np because i didnt want loans and I didnt want to be totally devoted to work as much as I love my patients. I worked hard for my rn, bsn, msn-fnp, and currently my dnp without any loan assistance. So it depends on individual preference and what you are looking for in life. Good luck with whatever you do.

I'm not trying to call you out because it sounds like your sentiments about the hours and shifts is a common reason many chose to be a NP however I believe this is also one of the reasons NPs won't be taken seriously as providers on par with physicians. Perhaps also one of the reasons our salaries are historically so much lower despite a very small difference in reimbursement. I have been told by two physicians I work with that I have the work ethic of a physician. Some of their experiences with NPs in the past haven't been positive. I don't think we can have it both ways, either we are heavy hitters or we want bankers hours. We are cementing our niche as mid level providers because of this, imo.

Lol somebody took this post personally. I'm glad I can elicit such great responses while only spending 1 minute of my life writing a post.

Specializes in BMT.

I was about to say, I immediately smelled a troll when I read this.

Lol somebody took this post personally. I'm glad I can elicit such great responses while only spending 1 minute of my life writing a post.

Funny I was just having this conversation with 2 other NP students. There are many NPs who say they wish they would've went the PA route because of all the theory and fluff in the NP programs. Many say that they do not feel the program prepared them for their jobs. Have you found a program? If so which is it if you don't mind? I'm interested in being well prepared to treat my patients so I'd like 2 weigh all my options. I've just started a NP program but am open to exploring other options.

The honest troll.

people don't like to be told the truth though if it runs antiparallel to their dreams.Thats okay, one day when they are seeing 50 patients per day making like 60k per year they will be like "dang that douche on the forum was right"

Most of the people who have bashed my post aren't even nurse practitioners yet, not quite sure how they know anything about the job market or medical school, but i guess being an RN makes you an expert at everything in life.

Ive been an NP for a few years, went to a brick and mortar school down in the south. It was an ok program since we got to use the sim labs at the medical school and stuff but it was still very NPish, in quality.

I also agree with what jules is saying, we get angry when we get called midlevel but if you look at the average NPs work ethic their reason for going back is to "have better hours, more pay, but I don't want to work as much as a physician"

You should totally put that on your resume, I am sure people would be fighting to hire somebody who "doesn't want to work as hard as a physician"

Sounds like a midlevel to me. Or in horrible grammar terms just for our grammar police

LOL I WANTZ TO B DOKTUR WIT DA KOAT WITH NO DEBTS BUT I DONT WANT 2 WERK AS HARD SO I BCUM AN ENN PEE SO I CAN WEAR KOAT AND BE LEETSAUSE AND FEEL GUD ABOUT MYSELF WHILE DIAGNOSING SINUSITIS WITH MY BIG SETHGODINOSCOPE.

Ive been an NP for a few years, went to a brick and mortar school down in the south. It was an ok program since we got to use the sim labs at the medical school and stuff but it was still very NPish, in quality.

Of course it was "very NPish, in quality" -- it was an NP program. Is that supposed to be a bad thing? I can at least respect that you are choosing to go to med school. That makes a lot more sense to me than all the people here who kvetch about how NP programs aren't as rigorous as medical school. If people want that rigorous an education, they should suck it up and put in the time and effort to get that rigorous an education (i.e., go to med school). Best wishes!

I'm not trying to call you out because it sounds like your sentiments about the hours and shifts is a common reason many chose to be a NP however I believe this is also one of the reasons NPs won't be taken seriously as providers on par with physicians. Perhaps also one of the reasons our salaries are historically so much lower despite a very small difference in reimbursement. I have been told by two physicians I work with that I have the work ethic of a physician. Some of their experiences with NPs in the past haven't been positive. I don't think we can have it both ways, either we are heavy hitters or we want bankers hours. We are cementing our niche as mid level providers because of this, imo.

Shoot, 30 yrs ago in my hospital-based diploma program, I remember some of the instructors commenting that nursing will never be taken seriously as a profession because so many nurses aren't willing to put in the time and effort to have a real "career" instead of a "job." They were particularly critical of what they referred to as "appliance RNs" -- women who had gone through school and gotten licensed, worked for a little while, and then stayed at home, being supported by their husbands, but kept their licenses active. When the family needed some extra money for a vacation or a new fridge or range, they would get a job for a few months, earn the extra money they wanted, and then quit again (hence the pejorative term, "appliance nurses"). I remember the instructors commenting to us basic student nurses that there are no physicians or attorneys (or engineers, or any other kind of serious professional) who just drop in and out of the profession when they feel like it to pick up some extra cash, and the large number of RNs not taking their careers seriously was hurting all of us. As the years have gone by, I've seen the same thing in nursing academia and advanced practice -- lots of nurses who want the regard and compensation that comes with being a serious professional, but not wanting to do the "heavy lifting" that goes along with that regard and compensation. You're right, we can't have it both ways.

Specializes in Urology.

This thread seems to be full of role confusion. If you think going to med school will make you better at diagnosing ear infections be my guest. Enjoy your second mortgage and effectively making less than you would as an NP for several years. I could have easily applied to medical school but the time spent in school (which in my opinion is absurd) combined with residency (which I mostly agree with time wise) just didnt fit into my plans for myself or my family. Judging by the world of warcraft style speak in the original post I'm assuming you have very little responsibility outside of work. For the rest of the world, we do. NP school is a lifestyle and so is becoming a doctor. Do you think doctors solely chose a specialty based on what it is they want to do? NO. Resident slots are limited and a lot of "doctors" don't even make it into the residency they want and some dont make it at all! All of the doctors I know chose the specialty based on lifestyle. Why do you think a Dermatology residency is so hard to get into? I'll give you a hint, its not because you love looking at moles all day.

Did you enter this career to help people or just make money? It sounds like the latter. While the money is nice, its not everything and at the end of the day the NP profession needs strong NP's that will work through the hard times to make a difference. I've always been up for a challenge and my plans to advocate for increased pay and autonomy wont stop. Best of luck in med school but dont criticize the rest of us for doing what we could manage. We too have chosen this route for this, that, and the other.

Wha..??

This doesn't even make sense.

Have fun in medical school? Maybe it won't make you any stranger. Rotten yellow boards, and all.

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