nursing vs medicine

[kcerwniart]

Hello all! I attended grad nursing school for one semester before attempting one semester of med school. I failed. I am debating going back to nursing or continuing my pursuit of medicine. This is my pro/con list and all thoughts are appreciated.

NURSING

- Guaranteed success; many stop points from RN à NP à DNP

- Full scholarship; less debt

- Embarrassed to wear letters

MEDICINE

- One single path to license; many roadblocks; steps; possible sucky or no residency

- Much debt

- Lots sweat; tears

- At least 7 year commitment to license from basic sciences --> clinicals --> residency

[Jolie, BSN]

What do you mean by "guaranteed success" and "embarrassed to wear letters"?

Do you believe that everyone who is accepted to a nursing programs graduates, passes boards and finds a job?

If you become licensed, would you be embarrassed to display your credentials as an RN?

Do you realize that there is a world of difference in the education, clinical focus and practice of a physician versus a nurse? Nursing is not "junior grade" medicine. And physicians do not "direct" nurses. They are entirely different professions, and it is a rare person who can succeed in both.

I suggest you seek career counseling to determine your your interests and abilities. Grad school is a very expensive way to find out that you are pursuing the wrong profession.

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

Ditto, Jolie~

[Kundera]

Yes, give yourself some time to figure out what it is you REALLY want!

If you will be embarrassed to say you are a nurse, then nursing is probably a poor choice for you. Does the idea of giving patient care or taking orders from an MD make you cringe? Will pursuing nursing make you feel like you accepted "second best.?" If either of these ring true for you, do NOT become a nurse!

From your post, I get the sense that you really want the MD, but you are afraid of the tremendous amount of work and commitment it requires (For the record, I am not saying that nursing does not require either of these :) ) Evaluating this is OK, and even smart. Wait until you know what you really want, and are ready to commit to your chosen path. Few things are worse than working at a job that you chose for the wrong reasons. You will end up miserable, and hating your life.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Embarrassed to wear letters? I have never met a single person that was not proud as can be to be a nurse. I seriously think you need to look at yourself and the profession more before you ever make a statement like that again.

[sammiesmom]

oh lord your not even in med school and you already look down on nursing. be an engineer

[Music in My Heart]

Did I misread your post? Didn't you say that you already failed out of med school (after one semester)? It sounds like the MD track is already lost to you.

oh lord your not even in med school and you already look down on nursing. be an engineer

As a former engineer let me just say, "HA!" It's just about the last field of study that one might want to undertake on a whim...

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Did I misread your post? Didn't you say that you already failed out of med school (after one semester)? It sounds like the MD track is already lost to you.

As a former engineer let me just say, "HA!" It's just about the last field of study that one might want to undertake on a whim...

EDIT: this was really mean and I deleted it. The OP just really angers me

And totally agree. All my friends from back home are aerospace engineers. School was not easy for them either.

[CuriousMe]

I'm also not sure how you attended one semester of nursing grad school if you don't have your RN.

I understand that there are direct entry programs, but understood that the grad school part of that doesn't start until after you've completed your undergrad licensure material.