panamishe

I went to school in puerto Rico and learned everything in Spanish and a few of my classmates spoke English as a second language...learningext was enough for all of us!

Hey hey hey! what about female doctors? Does some handsome, burly, caring "murse" wanna marry one of them???

I truly don't remember how I did my personal statement but I'm currently writing one to apply for residencies. The advice I was given was to approach it in a chronological way. I would start with an introduction, how you got interested in medicine, an anecdote, a quote. Then do a paragraph on your past experiences, then one on your current experiences, and lastly one on your future plans. if you want more advice, i would suggest checking out Student Doctor Network Forums | An educational community for students and doctors spanning all the health professions. specifically the nontraditional student section. good luck!!

I feel like a few people in this discussion do not realize that MDs and DOs get literally 1000s of hours of training before they become independent practitioners. It's called residency and it consists of at least 80hrs per week, 49 weeks per year for at least 3 years! That's not even considering the 100s of hours logged during the last 2 years of med school. I can't speak for PAs but it is my understanding that they also must be trained for 100s of hours prior to graduating and they aren't even as independent as NPs are. No one on this forum seams to be trying to discourage the OP from becoming an NP...I think it's great that he/she wants to do it! All we are saying is that it is wiser and safer for the OP to get a few years of clinical experience before becoming the sole practitioner responsible for treating disease processes that he/she has never seen in person.

I preferred to pursue medicine rather than NP mainly because I wanted more options in what I could do after completing school. It ended up being the best decision for me because I've decided to become a surgeon and, of course, I can't do that as a nurse or PA. As for the caring and holistic approach to patient care, I'm not sure why nurses think that doctors aren't trained to think that way but we definitely are! As an ER nurse, I don't feel like the ER NPs are any more 'holistic' than the PAs or MDs. It all depends on the practioner to me.

I have ADD, and ER was the perfect fit for me.

I think that it is very unsafe for a NP to have had no previous acute care work experience. If doctors and PAs need experience before practicing, how much more does a NP need it?! OP, please please please do not become an NP before getting at least 2 years experience!! You are young and you have time!

I guess I would since it was just a stepping stone on my way to medicine. But if I wasn't going to do medicine then no way would I stay in nursing! So many others have stated what I would say now but I just wanted to add my vote to the 'hell no' corner. Do something where you can work for yourself, or at least set your own hours!

most med schools don't require calculus so i wouldnt recommend taking it and possibly dropping your gpa. as long as you have 2 college level math courses you should be alright. take inorganic and physics w/o calc 1 next semester then take the second part to each class over the summer (one each month), that way you only have organic chem to take next fall and you can start taking an mcat review course (i strongly recommend kaplan). you can then take your mcat while you are taking your 2nd semester of organic chem and you can be on the application trail as early as 2013!! if you have any other questions or don't understand this feel free to pm me.

Definitely. As long as its a 4yr college. Good luck!

There is a small advantage to having been a nurse first but not much of one. if anything, the real advantage comes into play during the clinical years (3rd and 4th year) when you are having actual patient interaction and as a nurse, you will be more comfortable. you need a year of biology (which you should already have as a nurse because of A&P as well as microbio), a year of physics w/lab (with or without calculus...hint hint, do without!), a year of inorganic chem w/lab, and a year of organic chem w/lab. some schools also require biochem but that's not very many although i would recommend it if you have time because i felt at a disadvantage 1st year for not having that class. your classes can only be but so old so be sure you know what the cutoff year is, although, my biology and chemistry classes where about 7yrs old when i started the application trail. if i were you (and i was :-) ), i would just enroll as a non degree seeking student at your nearest state university (that way you can avoid the stigma of taking courses at a community college while not having to worry about being "accepted" at a 4yr university) and take 1-2 classes a semester until you've gotten your classes out the way. go to the AMCAS and AAMC websites to figure out the application and interview timelines so that you don't waste any time. Also, I recommend taking an MCAT review class (I used Kaplan) because you'll know how to take the big test. Let me know if you have any more questions and good luck!!

nurses can be just as rude...it's not doctors who are rude, it's rude people who are rude!

i always wonder if there are two other professions that have as much competition and contention as nursing and medicine. can't we all just get along?! for the record, most people do not enter medicine to make money. as mentioned before, its almost a decade (sometimes more) of schooling/training with little compensation and debt. there are easier and less time consuming ways to make money. plus, once we are finally doctors, we will have to deal with just as much (if not more) of the legal and administrative crap that comes along with health care as nurses do. most med students are type A with OCD tendencies and therefore are attracted to medicine because of the autonomy and decision making responsibilities. also, many of us are attracted to the idea of treating many patients at a time as opposed to the 6 or so patients nurses can treat at a time. me personally, i want to be a surgeon so med school was my only option. anyways, thats my two cents. and by the way, med students and residents can have a life. sure its a lot of studying but we work hard and then play hard!

My heart goes out to her family...

I did both...so did many others...so can you!! It's not an either or problem. Finish your nursing degree then take two years to finish your premeds and MCAT then apply to med school. I can tell you from experience that it's great to be able to make nursing money while in med school! Good luck!