Need reasons why becoming a nurse first, then becoming a doctor, is a bad idea

[jeaux]

I am currently a nursing major, sophomore year of college, and applying to the nursing program this coming Spring. I am in this field because it's mostly my family that's forcing me to become a nurse and won't support me at all (in whatever support I need) if I change my path, which makes me feel horrible. I didn't mind at first, but now I've decided that I really want to be a physician (specifically, oncologist). They tell me that if I want to be a doctor, I should take nursing first, then go become a doctor.

I told them why that's not the smartest choice at all, despite the fact that some some people go that way, but those are usually people that wanted to be nurses first but changed their mind and wanted to go to medical school. I need more reasons why this isn't smart at all. I have that it'll be a waste of time and money to go back to school because you have to do med school pre-reqs. I told my parents this and they literally don't believe me.

What are some other reasons I could tell them, to convince them, to prove them wrong?

[sjalv]

TheCommuter said:

I have a hunch that the family is selecting the career path due to cultural reasons. I get the vibe that the OP's parents may or may not be immigrants.

My assumption was that they were the ones paying for it, but that is also a valid theory.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

ClaraRedheart said:

If they're paying for it, I'd say stick it out. Most hospitals will pay for an advanced degree (including Med School) if you're sure that you want to do that. Working as a nurse for 2 years, I have to say I do not, would NEVER want to be a doctor. They work too hard. I make enough money to be happy working 3 12's a week. I don't need or want that kind of stress in my life.

Man, I need to come work with you. My hospital only pays tuition reimbursement if it's for furthering my career on my current track. I could get money for NP or CRNA, but not for MD programs. Go figure.

[jeaux]

TheCommuter said:

I have a hunch that the family is selecting the career path due to cultural reasons. I get the vibe that the OP's parents may or may not be immigrants.

Yes, we are Americans, but we were immigrants. I feel like my mother is living her life through me, because she wanted to be a nurse and while she was young and in nursing back in our home country, some people teased her (these people dropped school when they were young) and said that they would test nursing students and lock them up with dead people, and she got freaked out and dropped the program. It's really stupid.

My mother is also very hypocritical, telling her friends that she wants her children to do whatever they want to do in life, whatever that makes them happy, I confronted her about and she got really upset with me.

I understand my parents wanting me to get a job and make money right after graduating, but a job right after graduation is not guaranteed, even in nursing.

[floatingribs]

Hey,

So I understand that point, my parents are soooo strict (immigrant family) and I do understand what they say 100%, they make sense, they want me to be financially stable, they are looking out for me in ways they think is best.

But at the same time I see my older sister who's doing computer science (it was basically comp sci or medicine for us LOL) and she's miserable. She wanted to be a linguistics major and she's super good at getting langs down. But now she's struggling through calc II with linear algebra soon which is wayyy harder.

I on the other had having a severe case of second child syndrome wanted to do architecture and structural engineering through and through, like my parents literally wouldn't talk to me after the arguments we'd get into. But I stuck to it even though my dad literally only cared about anything if it was me speaking highly of medicine. But I stood my ground, started working (unrealistic thinking min wage could pay for school haha), and applying for scholarships b/c I didn't want their money, I wanted to study something I was going to enjoy. Then I took physics and I was like LOL NAH, but I volunteered at the hospital and fell in love with helping ppl medically, like I knew this is what I wanted. And all those years of my parents berating me over reading fiction for fun instead of bio books, and how they only spoke about medicine meant nothing until I wanted to do it. And dude I'm literally a first semester nursing student, a freshman and literally ppl who are going for nursing for only the money do the worst, b/c they don't have the same exact drive for someone who is not only doing it for job security, but someone who actually is interested in the subject matter. And that's observations as a freshman and the nursing school only gets more tough.

And ppl saying do both to pay for it are really unrealistic. I was that unrealistic, you'll put twice as much money in in the rare even you actually finish pre med on time w/ your degree and be able to graduate in 4 yrs, only to yield very mediocre results at best. In any case pre med especially isn't just taking and passing. It's taking and passing with As and add a full load of nursing classes and not only does your overall GPA go down, but your science GPA.

Check out this topic...

It may help for reasons since a lot of tough love and harsh reality made me realize how unrealistic and stupid doing nursing and pre med at the same time. The point is you're going to have to make a choice. If you've got the grades it's not too late to switch to pre med a and a major that coincides w/ a lot of the classes. Yea you may have to take a gap year (literally everyone does though, the avg age for beginning med school is 24), yes you might be **** poor through med school and drowning in debt, and then your residency w/ little money. But at the end of it, if you got the grades and the drive you'll be able to pay that off when you're a doctor. Just don't spend money on a degree only for you to hate working for the rest of your life and thinking what if?

[AuDDoc]

That will be next to impossible to do. Medical school is one of the most demanding time sucks of any major. Nursing school can be done while working. Trust me I was doing it rather easily. Medical school or PA school? snow ball's chance in heck.

[klone, MSN, RN]

TheCommuter said:

I get the vibe that the OP's parents may or may not be immigrants.

Well, you're definitely right there! They either are, or they are not. ?

[klone, MSN, RN]

calivianya said:

Man, I need to come work with you. My hospital only pays tuition reimbursement if it's for furthering my career on my current track. I could get money for NP or CRNA, but not for MD programs. Go figure.

My facility will pay tuition reimbursement for any field that the facility offers for employment. So if I decided to go to law school, or get a degree in accounting or IT, they would reimburse me.