Nursing to Med School

Kuriin, BSN, RN · Nov 11, 2013

LOL put that Dr. on your jacket and go around the hospital calling yourself Dr., see how that works out. I am sure physicians will love that. Also patient confusion to the umpteenth degree. You want to be a doctor or physician then go to med school.
DNP ≠ MD/DO...not even close. The DNP is a doctorate but in a clinical setting it is straight deceiving to go around calling yourself doctor, call yourself whatever you want in your free time.

Going to get your DNP because you want to be called doctor is just as bad as the guy who wants to wear the Ranger Tab in the Army just so people can call him a Ranger. It's all about yourself.

So, so wrong. As a DNP, you are allowed to cause yourself a Doctor because it is a Doctor of Nursing Practice. It is the same as calling a PhD a doctor even though that is more hilarious.

To stop confusing patients, just call say, "I am a doctor of nursing practice.".

srdavis6 · Nov 11, 2013

Seems to be a lot of negative reviews regarding going to med school after nursing.. I'm kinda surprised.. I work with a doctor who was previously an RN and she's doing just fine. And I think it's sort of odd the nurses do worse than other students in med school considering we would already have knowledge about the patho of certain diseases, knowing the "lingo" of the hospital and being familiar with the pharmacology, tests, and treatment for certain diseases. I would think working as a nurse in the field for at least a year or two before applying to med school would help with the transition and allow you to better see what doctor's do. I say go for it if you're really up for it!

And also, at least if you have an undergrad in nursing, you could easily find a job and make some money before going back to school.. not too much you can do with a basic undergrad in science

WinterSoldier · Nov 12, 2013

If you are still unsure after some careful thought, the pre-med path will cover the pre-reqs for nursing school. The science classes will be the higher level courses (i.e. 200/300 instead of 100) therefore more difficult than the "allied health" versions, so, you will probably have to work harder to get the A. And you will want the A's because even if you decide to go the nursing route you will need a competitive GPA, and the nursing programs don't care if the classes you took were more difficult than the classes required, and the majority of the people applying probably took the easier ones.

For example, say the nursing program requires courses in general chemistry and organic chemistry--the nursing level courses will look something like this:

CHEM 107- one semester of general chemistry for applied sciences

CHEM 108- one semester of organic chemistry for applied sciences

The pre-med chemistry courses will be more like this:

CHEM 111 + CHEM 112 = two semester (year-long sequence) of general chemistry

CHEM 240 + CHEM 340 = two semester (year-long sequence) of organic chemistry

... and I promise they will be more difficult. I know from experience.

Anatomy and Physiology will be the same.

In short, if you are feeling up to the challenge, go pre-med-- but spend some time shadowing doctors AND nurses. If you decide to go in to nursing, you'll be covered.

elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 12, 2013

So, so wrong. As a DNP, you are allowed to cause yourself a Doctor because it is a Doctor of Nursing Practice. It is the same as calling a PhD a doctor even though that is more hilarious.
To stop confusing patients, just call say, "I am a doctor of nursing practice.".

Stop...

Clearly anyone that agrees with this point of view has never been in a hospital setting and seen this in action.

One of my former instructors that oversaw one of our hs programs was a PhD, and she was told to refrain from calling herself Dr to pts and was also told to remove her white coat while in the clinical setting, as he did not want the patients to be confused with her on the floor.

It seemed pretty douchey from my point really, but they were both equally stubborn on the issue and she ended up leaving altogether.

My instructor has a doctorate degree but I never remember to pay attention to how she introduces herself, since she's also a nurse at that hospital. I had a hard time explaining to a pt who she was because I kept saying Dr. So and so...she's your nurse Lol. She was confused as to who was her nurse and who was her Doctor. I only added to that confusion

Anyway I find it ludicrous to get a doctoral degree in nursing just to be called Doctor. Esp since Dr has the connotation of physician in the hospital. It seems so fake and shallow. I personally wouldn't even consider it if I weren't some type of advanced practice nurse. But different strokes, folks.

Kuriin, BSN, RN · Nov 12, 2013

One of my friends got his DNP while working full time in a private practice setting. He was one of two NPs in the practice and there was one physician. The physician did not want him to even say "Doctor of Nursing Practice" because that might "confuse" the patients. Please note, my friend did not say "I am a Doctor," he specifically said, "I am a Doctor of Nursing Practice".

Depends on your clinical setting, then. Nursing leaders at Kaiser in California wear white coats.

elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 12, 2013

One of my friends got his DNP while working full time in a private practice setting. He was one of two NPs in the practice and there was one physician. The physician did not want him to even say "Doctor of Nursing Practice" because that might "confuse" the patients. Please note, my friend did not say "I am a Doctor," he specifically said, "I am a Doctor of Nursing Practice".
Depends on your clinical setting, then. Nursing leaders at Kaiser in California wear white coats.

Yeah people don't get just how anal and egotistical MDs can be, and I'd imagine its much worse at a private setting. I got reamed by a PA because a pt was asking about lidocaine and I responded before he did (but I only did that because she kept directing her questions to me, she was really frightened about a procedure and enjoyed my consoling her). When it comes to rank in healthcare, people higher up have no problem putting you in your place (understandably so)

But being called doctor in a clinical setting of any kind, without being a physician seems inappropriate to me. Call yourself doc anywhere else, at a bar, in a conference, whatever, but not in a clinical setting

Dranger · Nov 13, 2013

So, so wrong. As a DNP, you are allowed to cause yourself a Doctor because it is a Doctor of Nursing Practice. It is the same as calling a PhD a doctor even though that is more hilarious.
To stop confusing patients, just call say, "I am a doctor of nursing practice.".

Oh yeah you mean the doctorate I can get online with 500-700 more hours of clinicals? LOL. Such a tough doctorate. I am guessing you have never worked in a hospital.

Please go around calling yourself doctor and see what happens. Nothing was wrong with having a masters for ARNP the DNP was created as a ego/money booster for schools and nursing leadership nothing else.

Mandy0728 · Nov 13, 2013

So so wrong. As a DNP, you are allowed to cause yourself a Doctor because it is a Doctor of Nursing Practice. It is the same as calling a PhD a doctor even though that is more hilarious. To stop confusing patients, just call say, "I am a doctor of nursing practice.".[/quote']
My chem professor has her PHD and she prefers we call her Dr. Mock, instead of professor. Even though she's not an actual medical doctor, anyone with a doctorate degree can be called Dr.

ellaballet · Nov 13, 2013

At the hospital I work at we call the doctors Dr. whoever...the NPs Mike, Jamie, etc. But when they sign, they sign Dr. (their last name). I think more patients are becoming more aware of the role of NPs/PAs

elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 13, 2013

At the hospital I work at we call the doctors Dr. whoever...the NPs Mike, Jamie, etc. But when they sign, they sign Dr. (their last name). I think more patients are becoming more aware of the role of NPs/PAs

When you sign it, that's definitely OK. But make sure you sign as so

Dr. John Doe, Rn, DNP.

if youre an rn on the floor, you're an rn regardless of your credentials. If you're an rn by license working as a cna at an ltc, you don't walk around saying you're an rn, nor would you really even call yourself a Nurse while at work, regardless of your credentials.

Compassion_x · Nov 13, 2013

Most places wont let nurses work as CNAs, at least in my area. And if a nurse has a masters or doctorate for NP, they're working as an NP, not a floor nurse. Which is the point of getting a higher degree... Higher positions.

elijahvegas, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 13, 2013

Most places wont let nurses work as CNAs, at least in my area. And if a nurse has a masters or doctorate for NP, they're working as an NP, not a floor nurse. Which is the point of getting a higher degree... Higher positions.

If you're working at a place and CNT find a job at your level I doubt you'll get fired for completing school.

Never heard of a cna that went through rn or lpn school getting fired because they got licensed Lol