Please Help RN to Med School Advice

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Hi,

Ok, I was hoping someone could give me some advice on becoming a registered nurse and then going to medical school but let me give a little background on my personal situation. It's a little long, but I really appreciate it if you read through it. If not, my questions could be found where it read "QUESTION"

I am a Senior in high school and I take care of my mother who is ill. Her hands do not function as well as they used to but she still does lightweight work at her jobs and she works because we need the money. While she can still manage personal hygiene, i do the things such as cooking, moving large things etc etc. I am there to translate for doctors, to do basically everything she can't because of her health.

I thought about going to a CalState locally and becoming an RN by earning a bachelor's in nursing first and then applying to med school. I would be able to be by her side and hopefully she would quit her job and I would work as an RN for a few years while we stabilize our finances. Then go on the med school hopefully

QUESTION

My questions is the road to RN to Med school difficult? I know that the prereqs for med school don't correlate within nursing but I know it is not impossible. I just wanna know how practical it is. My dream is to be a doctor and help many but nursing for me could be an opportunity to help others earlier while providing financial support for my family.

Please give me advice, Has anyone out there done this? Advice really appreciated!

P.S. I'm sorry. I know it was long and I'm sorry if I came across as if I'm doing nursing only for the money or using it as a stepping stone for medical school. In a way I am, but I hope you can understand my reasons why.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

If your dream is to be a doctor, skip nursing school. Get your undergrad degree in a field that will fulfill all your med school pre-reqs (e.g. Biomedical science, biology, etc.)

If your mom requires a lot of care, I want you to be realistic about something. Med school (and nursing school) will eat up ALL of your time. I'm not saying it's not do-able, but it is VERY stressful to add caring for an ill relative on top of it.

There is no realistic way you can work as an RN, financially support your family and still go to med school at the same time.

So, think long & hard about what appeals to you most. Do you want to be a nurse or a doctor? Because you don't want to say later in life "I wish I would have..."

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Yes, exactly what SopranoKris said.You will not be able to work as an RN while going to med school and caring for your Mom.Even nursing school is very demanding and if you are going to work during school you will have time for little else.Have you also considered wher the money for school is going to come from? Nursing can be expensive and med school is even more so.

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Hi! How are your grades? I know is a difficult decision to make. You said you translate to the docs? Do you speak other languages? If so. Find Medpep on Facebook. They can give you more advice than me. But definitely It's doable if your mom is not to ill. Best wishes

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Thank you all for your replies!

@SopranoKris If it is nearly impossible to do nursing and Med school then I think I will become a nurse. After all I want to go into healthcare field for caring for someone and not as a doctor, then a nurse is the next best thing, (no offense to nursing) Leaving my mother unattended and cared for is not an option and thank you for placing this situation in perspective.

@LoriAngel4 Financial Aid, Grants Scholarships. CalState Bakersfield where I live, offers some great scholarships for nursing. I also planned to work part time as a

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*part time CNA

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Specializes in CVICU.
Thank you all for your replies!

@SopranoKris If it is nearly impossible to do nursing and Med school then I think I will become a nurse. After all I want to go into healthcare field for caring for someone and not as a doctor, then a nurse is the next best thing, (no offense to nursing) Leaving my mother unattended and cared for is not an option and thank you for placing this situation in perspective.

@LoriAngel4 Financial Aid, Grants Scholarships. CalState Bakersfield where I live, offers some great scholarships for nursing. I also planned to work part time as a

Regardless of your "no offense to nursing", what you wrote is offensive to nurses.

Nursing and medicine are two completely different fields. The two fields use two different models of care in their practice. There's a common misconception that RNs are just people who could not get into med school. RNs rely on MDs and MDs rely on RNs. We could not do our jobs without each other. Becoming an RN opens up MANY doors to various advanced practice careers (Nurse Practitioner, Midwife, Nurse Anesthetist, Teaching, Clinical Nurse Specialist, and more).

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@Mali_santizo

my grades are good. Top 1%. Nd I rather be safe and take care of my moither through nursing and not risk doing Med school as well.

Thank you! I appreciate your comment :)

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@sjalv

I'm sorry! I really am, it was not my intention to offend nursing. Thank you for pointing out that i have wrong preconceptions about nursing. I'll be sure to do some research and sort them out.

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Don't go into nursing if deep down you will regret not going to medical school. You will be miserable as a nurse if you go this route.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

You will have to leave your mother unattended and cared for while you are in nursing school as well.

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@Loriangel14,

I know. I leave her unattended during high school classes but what can I do?

Although Nursing School would be local. The good thing is that she works nights and while I am school she is asleep.

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