Nursing to med school.....anyone???

[JuneKJB]

Hello,

I am new to allnurses so i ask that you all bare with me as i figure this out, but i was wondering is anyone interested in going to med school or knows someone who has went to med school after completing their nursing degree, if so please share your story like where did you go and why, how was your experience any regrets?? Any suggestions??

Thanks

June

[CHATSDALE]

i have know several nurses who went this route - really rough but the ones that i knew were good doctors

[elkpark]

There are some older threads here that have discussed that -- you may want to do a search and look for them.

[RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

i was just told that i should be doing this. i will have to do a search also. i know an MD that did that, he is awesome!!!!!

-H-

[hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN]

I have a BS in biology, and as much as I love biology, the reason I initially went for the degree was because at the time, I fit into the stereotypical "gunner" pre-med mold.

However, in my sophomore year of college, parental financial support dried up and I had to start working full time in order to pay my way. I did this by working as an ER tech and other various roles in the local hospital (I became an EMT-B before college). I became friends with several of the physicians there and I saw how much their career affected their lives. In short, their career was their lives, and anything else got pushed to the backburner. I also saw how disillusioned many were- especially this one IM doc. She was a world class physician, but her net revenue for an entire day of seeing patients in her office barely equaled the amount pulled in by the local GI doc per endoscopy. She was on her on in her office, and by the time malpractice and office costs were subtracted, there were critical care nurses with less experience pulling in the same as her for less hours- as she typically didn't get home on any given day until 9 PM.

This was just one example out of many observations and stories that dissuaded me from continuing on to medical school. Some people might say to "follow your heart" or other similar idealistic sayings, but I'm a very pragmatic guy and "my heart" is set on securing financial stability while having time to enjoy my family and my life outside whatever career I choose.

To date, I don't regret my choice, however, I do find the knowledge provided in my nursing program lacking even compared to my upper level biology classes, so on that note I wish I considered medical school as a means to satiate my desire for knowledge.

However, medical knowledge isn't something that's somehow restricted to MD's. Nothing prevents me from purchasing textbooks and studying my orifice off in my free time if my goal is simply to advance my own knowledge. The knowledge will be useful considering I'm going straight into critical care upon graduation, and I hope to further apply it someday as an NP.

If my financial circumstances were to change, say, by winning the lottery, and money to support my family and working my orifice off until the day I die were no longer required, I would seriously consider medical school. It'd be my full time job, and the three years of residency would be tough, but I think setting my own pace as a boutique doc would be lovely (but I'd probably miss the hospital).

Of course, I hear you have to buy a ticket to win the lottery these days.

[amazon84]

I'm seriously considering going that route too, getting my BSN then going to Physician Assistant or Med school