I have always wanted to be in the Healthcare field, it was always nursing or becoming a doctor. I was leaning more towards becoming an MD earlier on, and after my mother had a sub arachnoid hemmorage and was saved by a Neurosurgeon, I knew I had to become an MD, work my butt off, and earn a spot in the NS residency....
Fast forward to now, I have done a lot of research on Nursing as I have friends and family in the field, and I must say nursing practitioner looks like a competitor for a multitude of reasons, potential more time with the patient, ability to move to where I am needed, ability to be a 'mini doc' where I can go where I am needed. etc It is almost like a pulling of sorts, something in my gut telling me I need to do nursing...
Anywhoo, it all comes down to this, I LOVE helping others, if I make one persons life that much better, that makes me that much more happier; however; my ego comes into check where I want to be the best at what I do, so I can provide the best possible help. I am not saying NP is less that a physician, what I mean is, I want to know it all, and I am afraid that if I do not go the MD route, that I will regret it later, but at the same time, and I can't explain it, it's almost like I am getting 'called' into nursing. In the end, I think I am just afraid that if I became an NP, that the profession just stops there, I guess I want to be able to always continue to push my knowledge to better SERVE OTHERS.
Simply put, I am stuck, and after tons of soul searching, I need some objective advice. I know the responsibilities of an NP have GREATLY increased over the years, do you in the profession see it as something that will continue to grow, being able to gain the knowledge, to gain more responsibilities?
OP - I have been on the exact same soul-search. I graduated with a BA in 2007 in a completely non-applicable liberal arts field (though very interesting), and have done LOTS of stuff since then. One thing I did was become a massage therapist and when i sat in on my first anatomy course i was HOOKED. totally blown away.
So I started looking at ways to work with more pathology, more anatomy, more pathophys, etc. Eventually i decided on NP, DO, or DC. I'm still deciding, but I've basically ruled out DO/MD.
Why? Lifestyle, mostly. I love education - I love school and I love knowing EVERYTHING about what I study. But the MD/DO system means 4years of crazy med school followed by 3-5 years of 90 hours/week residency followed by a job that is usually 60-80 hours/week. I'm almost 27, I wouldn't be starting Med school til I was 29, then my residency when I'm 33 - and I hope to be starting a family some time in my early to mid thirties, so the timing doesn't make too much sense. Plus - I do other things in my life. I love to travel, I love to do art and acrobatics and other fun things that take time. I saw the MD/DO path as fulfilling some things in my life, but leaving others empty, and I'm choosing to have a more well-rounded life.
But it is HARD to give up that ego-centric idea. Trust me, I get it. I struggle with the thought every day as I make my way through pre reqs. I'm mostly worried about fluffy education instead of intense science-based courses which im so interested in. I think the key is finding a program that is known for being very rigorous. There are a lot of fluffy programs out there - but there are also ones that are very well respected and don't screw around. Seek those out.
I would have to agree that this is a very difficult decision. If you are young, then I would say, go the MD route, that way you will never regret your decision, wishing you had gone all the way and that you knew more. But then again, you can always learn more even as an NP, particularly if you choose to specialize. I work in EP at a major medical center affiliated with a teaching hospital and this place is all about learning. So I guess it depends on what you want to do in the long run, if you choose to specialize, how many years you want to be in training, and the kind of lifestyle you want to live. I hate to say, but I work with quite a few unhappy physicians who aren't too happy right now with their chosen profession, even young fellows who wished they have never gone to med school. I think it's mostly because of lifestyle. Docs now work long, exhausting hours and they just don't get the financial return they should mostly due to insurance companies trying to dictate to them how to practice medicine. For example, we saw a 45 yo woman in clinic who we recommended an ICD for and her insurance company denied it even though she is clinically indicated for one with a hx of documented VT. It's crazy. So MDs get very frustrated with the medical system.
I have to say I am very happy with the choice I have made. I know for a fact that I would not have been having in primary care so if I did go to med school, I would have had to specialize. I love my hours. I work 4, 10 hour days. no call, no weekends, no holidays. It's great. But there are days I do work late too. We work in a very busy department and so I put in my time, but definitely not like the docs do.
So, you just have to decide what's most important to you, what tops the list and the pros and cons of both and that way you can look back knowing why you chose what you did and hopefully have no regrets.
Would I like to have been a doc? Sure, but I didn't want the lifestyle and now I get the benefits of taking care of patients and still having a life.
thenewguy8
35 Posts
OP - I have been on the exact same soul-search. I graduated with a BA in 2007 in a completely non-applicable liberal arts field (though very interesting), and have done LOTS of stuff since then. One thing I did was become a massage therapist and when i sat in on my first anatomy course i was HOOKED. totally blown away.
So I started looking at ways to work with more pathology, more anatomy, more pathophys, etc. Eventually i decided on NP, DO, or DC. I'm still deciding, but I've basically ruled out DO/MD.
Why? Lifestyle, mostly. I love education - I love school and I love knowing EVERYTHING about what I study. But the MD/DO system means 4years of crazy med school followed by 3-5 years of 90 hours/week residency followed by a job that is usually 60-80 hours/week. I'm almost 27, I wouldn't be starting Med school til I was 29, then my residency when I'm 33 - and I hope to be starting a family some time in my early to mid thirties, so the timing doesn't make too much sense. Plus - I do other things in my life. I love to travel, I love to do art and acrobatics and other fun things that take time. I saw the MD/DO path as fulfilling some things in my life, but leaving others empty, and I'm choosing to have a more well-rounded life.
But it is HARD to give up that ego-centric idea. Trust me, I get it. I struggle with the thought every day as I make my way through pre reqs. I'm mostly worried about fluffy education instead of intense science-based courses which im so interested in. I think the key is finding a program that is known for being very rigorous. There are a lot of fluffy programs out there - but there are also ones that are very well respected and don't screw around. Seek those out.