Nursing Student...Transfer French & Pre-Med

[EstherSN]

I am 21 and a current nursing student in the second year of a 4 year program. This is my first time in college and I have an overall GPA of 3.794, and in my last semester I got all A's...4.00! So i would say I'm doing very well in the program. But I have a dilemma, have always wanted to become a Doctor. When I tell people this I get the same question...then why did you go into nursing? And the answer always comes to it felt like the best choice, fast career, descent pay. I feel like that is not a good answer when it comes to Nursing as profession. Now that I'm going into the curriculum...Foundations of Nursing...I just don't feel like it's for me....and I don't feel like I'm going into nursing for the right reasons. It has been making me depressed. And now I'm constantly thinking of transferring and studying something that I enjoy (French) and during that take prerequisite for medical school.

Honestly It scares me because nursing has been such a huge investment in my time (and excluding the fact that all my credits will transfer) I feel like I've wasted that time for nothing. Truth is I enjoy my studies and my school but I just always wonder if there is more that I can learn....and If I'm going to regret not going for Medicine when I get older.

I may have already answer my own question and posting this may seem irrelevant but I would like to hear....what do you think?

And I understand that this a decision I have to make for myself.

Advice?

Has anyone had the same dilemma?

Do you enjoy your career as a nurse?

Were you a Nurse who went on to Medical School?

Are you a MD who would recommend the NP route?

Should I transfer?

Thank you so much for reading

Esther SN

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I am married to a med student. Please take a long and hard look at the med school application and admission process. It is a time-consuming, difficult, and expensive road, and some people apply for several cycles before they are accepted. It is only advisable if you feel strongly about medicine, so it would be good to consider what attracts you to each discipline.

Have you taken any of the required sciences? Organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, chemistry, etc.? Keep your GPA as high as you can — especially where your sciences are concerned. Foster relationships with professors who can write your required letters of recommendation. You will also need activities that make you stand out — volunteering, etc. The MCAT is challenging and requires a lot of preparation and study.

Why not change to be a Biology major? What on earth would you do with a French degree? That is not likely to get you to medical school, though some schools do like non-traditional students. Meanwhile you would be (presumably) incurring sizeable student loan debt before med school, where the real debt kicks in.

[direw0lf, BSN]

You could keep your options open and take the biology and math courses you'd need do well on the MCAT and get into med school, although you'd need a certain number of volunteer/experience hours too usually. I know someone (not a nursing major) who was accepted into a good med school with a B- average, but he was a medical scribe (worked very hard and a lot of hours including driving) so they look at the whole picture not just GPA. My nursing classmate is going to work as an RN for a year, then apply to med school in the Caribbean. One of my nursing teachers told us the true story about a nurse's aid who worked his way up to becoming a cardiologist.

I am a senior nursing student who majored in biology also and do not regret it, even though I am sticking with nursing. But I thought hard about med and PA schools, and taking the extra science/math classes kept those options more opened. My story was, when I entered my first nursing foundation class it was a major shift from the science classes to nursing so I thought. I thought nursing was all memorization and I missed the problem solving. It took me a little while to realize just how much critical thinking goes with nursing. Then when I worked in an internship (I could do everything the RN did, under the RN's supervision) I knew that there is so much more than what we get in clinicals and the classroom. I know I won't feel truly fulfilled in my career until I earn my NP, but coming from someone who also dreamed of being a physician, I love where I am at and where I'm headed after all.

What I'm trying to say by relating these stories/experiences is that you may not know what you want to do now, your path may change by the time you graduate in ways you'd never thought you wanted or could experience now, so my advice is stay where you are - finish this semester. There are many places it can take you, you are not "trapped" in nursing. If you feel the depression still or it's worsened after this semester, don't stick with nursing.

As for doing what you enjoy..well why not join a French club or you can learn on your own, but I don't think it would be in your best interest to add French onto your course load. If you are serious about med school, you'll need to start volunteering, working, studying for the MCATs, etc.

[shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP]

Maybe you should take a year off from school. It will help you to figure things out and also, if you volunteer for the Peace Corps or Americorps, it will look really good for future school applications, like med school or NP school. In addition, you should take a CNA course to get more hands on patient care experience. That will be valuable for nursing or medicine.

Why not take the pre reqs for both nursing and medicine? That way, your options are open.

If you like French, then keep studying! A foreign language is always an advantage in healthcare. It will also give you opportunities to work abroad. Medical schools are now looking for well-rounded students, not just science geeks. I was an East Asian Studies major and earned my ABSN and MSN from Johns Hopkins.

Good luck!