NP to MD

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I have been a CNM/FNP for 7 years and "fell" into the role of and Oncology NP. I am loving it but am quickly seeing the invisible glass ceiling. I originally was going to go to Med School but became enamored with the NP role. Does anyone now of any reciprocity agreement with MD programs? Or anything about this possibility?

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Welcome to allnurses!

You are as welcome to apply to med school as anyone else is, but your nursing and NP education won't get you any shortcuts. Is that what you meant by "reciprocity"?

Your nursing background and experience may make some parts of med school easier for you than the "newbies," though.

There are some older threads here about nurses going to med school -- I'm sure you find them with the "search" button.

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Yes I quite realize it will be difficult. A friend of mine told me of an NP to MD program out of the country that would reduce some of the time spent in the classroom.

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Specializes in Behavioral health.

Sorry to be off topic. I'm curious, what do you mean by glass ceiling?

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I have been a CNM/FNP for 7 years and "fell" into the role of and Oncology NP. I am loving it but am quickly seeing the invisible glass ceiling. I originally was going to go to Med School but became enamored with the NP role. Does anyone now of any reciprocity agreement with MD programs? Or anything about this possibility?

No reciprocity that I know of. And according to many posts on here, there shouldn't be, as you do completely different things as an NP than you would as an MD. You see, NPs practice nursing, MDs practice medicine. Even when you do the same thing for the patient. It would be hard to argue that credit is due for learning/practicing nursing in an MD curriculum, when that is one of the main tenets of promotion of advanced nursing degrees-that they are an alternative to medicine.

Unfortunately, you will have to slog through medical education starting from scratch. It will take you 10 years of training to get back to what you are doing now (4 years med school, 3 years internal medicine residency, 3 years hem/onc fellowship). Assuming you get accepted right away. And you'll be ~150K in the hole.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

glass ceiling=

In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a qualified person within the hierarchy of an organization is stopped at a lower level because of some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism, but...

This situation is referred to as a "ceiling" as there is a limitation blocking upward advancement, and "glass" (transparent) because the limitation is not immediately apparent and is normally an unwritten and unofficial policy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling
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Specializes in Behavioral health.

Thanks sirI for responding:

I know what the term means, sorry if I was vague. I wanted to learn about why the OP felt they reached their glass ceiling (salary, duties, respect)? My goal is to be a NP. Wanted to know more about the issues that NP's face. What are your insights? Maybe we can start a new thread or PM me to discuss this more.

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Don't see where there would be a glass ceiling when medicine and nursing are two different professions with different viewpoints and approaches.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

To me, it seems like the OP wants to learn more, or do more for her pts, but is limited by her scope of practice (hence, 'glass ceiling').

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Specializes in CTICU.

I'd be very wary of the off-shore option - it is incredibly hard to get licensed and get a residency in the US if you graduate one of those programs.

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Specializes in ER; CCT.

There are a few off shore programs that may give you credit. One is Oceania. Steeped in history, they have been around since 2002. If you start now, you too could be in the graduating class of Thursday.

http://www.oceaniamed.org/graduateMD/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=89

If you are looking for a similar school that will give you credit for your NP that is a bit older than most of your shoes, check out Montserrat. They will surely give credit for previous experience, as well as a host of problems getting licensed in the US. I hear its a pretty stable government supporting medical education:

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000011/001155.htm

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Specializes in CTICU.

Tammy, you crack me up!

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