Premed to prenursing?

Published

Hey everyone. I have wanted to be a doctor as long as I can remember but the more I get into premed classes and applying processes I continue to think of how much of a time committment it is. I was wondering if anyone else has switched from Premed to nursing? I want to have a family and have time to spend with them and all the doctors I work with don't have anytime with their families. I suppose I am just worried about the amount of sacrifices medical school is going to take, that I may not be willing to make.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Maternity, quality.

I made the switch... and quite a few people in my program did, too. But I think you have to be sure that you're making the choice for the right reason. I had some similar concerns as you, but more importantly when I thought about what I wanted my ideal job to look like I realized that I wanted more direct care of my patients. I wanted to know my patients more intimately than I would be able to as a physician.

So I would really encourage you to dig deeper about what you want out of your career. What would you find satisfying? Perhaps if medicine is really what you want to do but you don't want the time commitment you could look at becoming a PA. They are trained in the medical model, but their schooling only lasts two years. However, if nursing sounds more like what you want to be doing, then you've got a lot of options there, too.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have also considered that and since I think I want to work in pediatric oncology I really would like to be more involved with my patients. I have just always thought doctor, doctor, doctor and I never considered patient time and connection. Thanks for your comments I have given that a lot of consideration also. I just don't want to get 20 years down the road and think that I made the wrong decision...I don't know tough decisions I guess.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Maternity, quality.

They are tough decisions. And to be honest there are times now that I still think about medicine. I guess I haven't completely written off the idea that one day I may decide that I want to go that route. But for now I'm satisfied with my decision to pursue nursing. And I know that within nursing there are a lot of different directions I can take my career. That was a big selling point for me as I didn't feel that I would have as much of that with medicine.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was premed - and applied to medical school last year. I wanted to attend medical school more than ANYTHING - and I was wait-listed at the medical school here in NC. When I didn't get accepted, I started working on my application, and then it hit me... I would reapply summer 2007, graduate 2012, finish my internship in 2015. whooooa...

Was I willing to sacrifice the next 8 years of my life for an "MD" at the end of my name. Nursing is completely different from medical school - but it is a switch that I found easy - and now I am SOOO excited about going into nursing. If I get accepted this semester I will have a BSN next summer!!! I will be able to work in a hospital with real patients - 3 days a week. The rest of the time I can devote to my family.

It has to be a decision that you make for the right reasons, and you have to make sure you will be happy as a nurse. For me, I am grateful I didn't get into med school!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow its nice to see that there are more people that have made this switch. I thought I was having a quarter-life crisis. Thanks so much for your comments, everyone on this site is extremely nice. Thanks so much. I know this is a decision I will have to make for myself, I just feel a little ill everytime I try to think about it, because its the rest of my life. Thanks so much.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I was premed - and applied to medical school last year. I wanted to attend medical school more than ANYTHING - and I was wait-listed at the medical school here in NC. When I didn't get accepted, I started working on my application, and then it hit me... I would reapply summer 2007, graduate 2012, finish my internship in 2015. whooooa...

Was I willing to sacrifice the next 8 years of my life for an "MD" at the end of my name. Nursing is completely different from medical school - but it is a switch that I found easy - and now I am SOOO excited about going into nursing. If I get accepted this semester I will have a BSN next summer!!! I will be able to work in a hospital with real patients - 3 days a week. The rest of the time I can devote to my family.

It has to be a decision that you make for the right reasons, and you have to make sure you will be happy as a nurse. For me, I am grateful I didn't get into med school!

I made the same switch for these same reasons. I also have a little girl and I have heard about the 80 hour work week residents have to put up with. I would never get to see my daughter!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Maternity, quality.

Well... it may be a quarter-life crisis. I think that was about the time that I decided to go for nursing ;) But I just wanted to throw out one thought that made me realize that nursing was a better career choice for me: I realized that I wanted to go to medical school, that it sounded like an awesome experience, but that, at the end of it all, I didn't actually want to be a physician. I wanted to be a nurse. Or at the very least that I wanted the experience of being a nurse before I went into medicine. It basically got to what sort of relationship I wanted to have with my patients, what kind of care I wanted to offer them (holistic care), etc. The family factor was big for me, too. I had heard that it wasn't quantity of time that was important but quality of time, but I still just wasn't sure if, as a mom, I could leave my infant in someone else's care before I was really ready to go back to work. So at the very least, my med school plans have been pushed out to a point where my (hypothetical) children will be old enough for me to be comfortable with making that big of a career commitment.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Although not an easy route, do not completely put aside med school as an option for the future. One of the MDs who had residents in one of the LTC facilities that I worked at, was an RN before she went to med school. I have to state that she was the most involved, compassionate, and caring MD I have ever met. She actually would come into the facility, get the charge nurse, and go from patient to patient, doing real rounds on her pts. She would call to check on them, even on the weekend. Just a fantastic doctor.

Most of the other doctors would come at noc/day shift change on their way to work, grab the charts and write in the chart that they had been there. They wouldn't talk to the nurses about their pts, much less take the time to see the pts. The only way you knew they had been there (if you didn't see them fly in and out) was by the pile of charts that they wouldn't reshelve.

Another friend of mine, had the long term goal of med school, after becoming a nurse. I don't know if she was successful or not. At any rate, welcome to the world of nursing. There are so many directions you can take. You won't be disappointed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ok so I have another question. For those of you who have made the switch, I know that you sort of searched inside yourself and found out what you wanted in your life, but I was wondering if there were any books or literature on what it is like to be a nurse and to be a doctor? I feel like I can't make a completely informed decision because I'm not sure what it is I'm deciding between. Thanks so much everyone.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

How far into med school prereqs are you? What if you don't shut any doors just yet, go for a BSN, and be a premed student with a nursing major? Then you would have the option to goto med school at a later date if you so desired, or if you began to practice nursing and realized it wasn't for you? I'm sure it's tough to devise a more difficult undergrad program, but it's worth a thought, especially if you've already taken a lot of the premed curriculum.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Maternity, quality.

I didn't read any books, but I did do my research. For one I have friends who went both routes (med school and nursing school). So talking to them was valuable. I also participated on one particular pre-med web site where there were other people doing the same decision-making (physician vs. PA vs. NP vs. etc.). I talked to the people in my pre-med courses. I looked at the Occupational Outlook Handbook for their descriptions of the two fields.

It sounds like the most important thing for you right now is to find out what these different roles actually DO. Have you volunteered in a medical setting? Have you shadowed or interviewed any people in the fields you're interested in? Medical schools (and nursing schools and PA schools) want to know that you know what the field is like, so this would be beneficial for you whichever route you went. If you had the time and money, you could always take a CNA class... that would give you some hands-on exposure and interaction with nurses.

Also, to repeat another poster's question, how far along are you on the med school pre-reqs? It took me about two years after I decided to switch to nursing to get the pre-reqs out of the way, because, unlike medicine, the nursing pre-reqs can be incredibly variable depending on what schools you are looking at. So if you're already close to done or are done with the med school pre-reqs that's something to consider, especially on top of the fact that some areas of the country have long waitlists for their nursing programs. Also, do you already have a degree?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion