RN to MD or CRNA

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I am currently starting an RN position in New Mexico. I want to keep going with school, however, I have a two year service obligation to IHS and will be fulfilling that. With costs not an issue, what would the best route be to take?

I want to be a CRNA or get a Medical Degree with a specialty in Pediatrics. I am not sure how to approach either. I have a full ride scholarship to complete either.

With the CRNA route, I have to consider the "clinical hours" that I would need. A few questions I have include:

1. Can I do this while working full time? (I have to work full time for this service obligation to IHS)

2. How can I advance my career after becoming a CRNA? What options are there?

For Medical school, I will have to take the Pre-Med classes (biology, physics, chemistry, etc...). I will have to take those courses, take the MCAT, and then apply to medical school.

Questions I have:

1. Can medical school be done while working a full-time job?

2. I am not confident that I am smart enough to finish medical school. Is this a feeling that the majority of people have going into medical school?

3. I want to utilize the opportunity to go to med school for free. Is being a CRNA more beneficial (opportunites, advancement in career, pay, etc...) than becoming an MD?

4. What are the pros/cons of becoming an MD vs. a DO.

5. Does Med school work like an undergraduate program where you can go at your own pace? or is it fixed and you have to structure your schedule around the programs set schedule?

ANY opinions, experiences, advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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This is an allnurses forum, so I'm not sure if anyone can give you advice or opinions on becoming a medical doctor. As far as CRNA school, it requires your full attention and programs recommend you not work at all. I have a few nursing classmates and coworkers that went the CRNA route and they pretty much dedicated 2-3 years of their life to full time graduate study.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses. Pardon for any misspelled words, I blame it on auto-correct.

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Specializes in NICU, telemetry.

I haven't done either, so can't speak from personal experience, but...most CRNA programs advise you not to work, and I've heard the same of medical school. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that working full-time, while doing well in school and maintaining any form of sanity, would be really difficult for either path.

Secondly, they are two entirely different roles. Which do you see yourself in more?

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.

The question really is when do you want to be working? Most CRNA programs I have seen do not allow for working neither do medical school programs. Also, med school isn't a "go at your own pace" type of program. It's intense. It's 4 years. PLUS then you'll have boards, then you'll have to do a residency - where you may or may not be matched to your desired specialty. Residency programs vary from 2-8 years. Where are you working 80+ hour weeks for about $60k (at least from what I have heard).

If you aren't considering Anesthesia as an MD specialty, why do you want to go to CRNA school? Is it the money that you are after? Why not go into a Pediatric NP program if you want an advanced practice role with peds?

ETA: essentially no difference in MD vs DO. Methods of teaching are slightly different with DO focusing on more holistic care - but most DO's don't practice that way they end up practicing the same as the allopathic MD's

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Personally I think there are a couple of considerations... one is when you want to be "done" with school and working on your own and the other is how long you want to be paying back student loans. Being that CRNA and MD/DO schools very much prefer you not work at all (though it has been done), you'll be dependent upon savings or loans to get you through school (with all the requisite bills that still need to be paid). With Med School, you're looking at 4 years before you start earning a relatively small salary, and still yet more years before you begin earning your "regular" salary. With CRNA, you're looking at a couple years of study and clinical experience, so once you're certified, you're pretty much ready to go out and start earning a beginning wage as a CRNA.

In either case, once you're done with your education and you're working on your own, then you get to start paying back those loans. You might be able to get the loan monkey off your back a little sooner following CRNA school but your earning potential as an MD/DO will be higher, so you might be able to be out from under those loans reasonably soon too.

The biggest thing to consider is your own desire for a career. At least with CRNA you know you'll be a Nurse Anesthetist. As an MD/DO, you very well could "match" into a specialty that you don't really desire or you could match for a very desirable specialty or you could get the desired specialty but not a desired location.

In the end, once you decide what course you want to take with your career, go for it.

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I have a full ride scholarship to either one. I will not have loans. What would your take be in that case?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
I have a full ride scholarship to either one. I will not have loans. What would your take be in that case?

In that case, you need to answer 2 questions. How much time do you want to spend in school and do you want to be the one that holds an "unlimited" medical license to practice medicine?

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I don't think you could study CRNA or medicine whilst working full time in my opinion.

I'm an RN currently in medical school and I work part-time/per diem and it's quite intense trying to schedule everything.

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My brother went to med school. There was no time for a job; there was barely time to sleep some days.

Med school is not taking a few courses or going at your own pace, it is intense. It builds you up to residency where you will take on 80 hour workweeks.

The people who get into med school are not the people who are thinking about medicine; they have an unstoppable drive to become a doctor and are doing all they can. Go do some reading on the student doctor forum to get an idea.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

I guess I'm not understanding your post. I realize you have to work to fulfill your obligations for 2 years but can you not go to CRNA school or med school after that and still get your full scholarship? Do you have to do it right now? I know several people in CRNA school and they were only allowed to work (minimally) during the didactic portion of the program, and once in the latter clinical portion they were actually forbidden to work at all. Med school is not a part time deal. That's a full commitment except for maybe the first year. Is your scholarship available after you've completed the 2 year obligation? Have you fulfilled the criteria to apply to CRNA school? ICU experience, CCRN etc... You could always spend this time making up any outstanding pre reqs. Why such a hurry?

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

CRNA programs require RN experience, specifically in a fairly high-acuity ICU setting. Some will consider applicants with only 1 year of such experience; for others, more experience will be required in order to be a competitive candidate.

Neither nurse anesthesia programs nor medical school are self-paced -- the progression of didactic and clinical experiences is fixed. Some may offer a limited amount of flexibility in a "part-time" student framework.

See the following for information on nurse anesthesia and medical education.

Become a CRNA

Medical School?

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Those are very different career paths. I would spend some time talking to people who work in those careers. Being an MD offers endless specialties where as CRNA does not. You have to decide what you want. Neither is a part time gig. I cannot imaging working full time while doing either so it is likely you will still end up with student loan debt. If you cannot work you still need to be able to pay for a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and clothes. You'll be super busy so you won't have time for much else.

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