RN-MD doesn't make sense

[PeachPie]

Due to the view of backwards people that nurses are halfway doctors, I'm sometimes asked "When I'm going to complete things by becoming a doctor?" My response to that is, "Hmmm... Dr. Peachpie... wow, that has a nice ring to it, now I really want to get a Ph.D in nursing." There are a couple people in my ADN program who want to become MDs. Having seen the nursing and medical school prereqs and curriculia, I've realized how inconvenient a nursing degree would be if one strove to be an MD, timewise at least. Yes, the clinical experience would be great, and they'd probaly be very womderful and empathetic to the nurses, but it seems that it would be more efficient to major in something like biochemistry or pharmacology, which incorporates a lot of the pre-med curriculum.

My calculation of the times needed to go from RN to MD is based on my ADN program:

-1-2 years pre-nursing prereqs (some can be high school AP credits or CLEP. Since a bachelor's is needed for med school, core curriculum like math, history, polisci, etc are needed in addition to pre-nursing prereqs like A&P, micro, psych, etc)

-2-3 years nursing school (2 years ADN + 1 year RN-BSN or 2-3 years BSN)

-1-2 more years pre-med courses like general chem, organic chemistry, general bio, MEDICAL microbiology (not regular micro), physics, advanced biology (some can be AP credit/CLEP, and some might be able to transfer from pre-nursing)

-4 years of med school

Due to extreme competition of nursing and med school, wait lists are almost inevitable (the first choice sometimes going to people who have been waiting for years), which adds more years to the process.

Yes, I am aware that if you play your cards right, summer semester the hell out of yourself, have high school AP credits, etc, it can take just as much time as the regular 4 years undergrad plus 4 years med school, but it still doesn't make much sense to be a nurse in order to become an MD due to the fact that the curruculia are different and you'd have to go back to take extra courses and go on a totally separate track.

I'm not bashing nurses who decide to become doctors (as long as they don't see it as "moving up" or that nursing is a subset of medicine), I'm just commenting that contrary to popular belief, an MD is not an easy transition from an RN.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Agreed. I don't think that MD is an easy transition from anything. As you're asked about this more often, I think you'll also find that people can have this belief without being backwards. Some of them have just never looked very far into nursing and/or medicine.

[PeachPie]

Yeah, there's nothing easy about transitioning to MD, I guess smooth, continuous, "picking up where you left off" are better choices of what people think of nursing becoming MDs.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

I guess it depends on the program. Our BSN pre-reqs were the same as the pre-med, pre-pharm, pre-PA, pre-vet, pre-dental, etc. We didn't have seperate Micro, Bio, Chem, etc classes.

If I wanted to go to med school the only thing I would need would be Organic Chem 1 and 2, and Physics and BioChem. Thats it.

[jjjoy, LPN]

(copied from studentdoc.com) The commonly accepted coursework requirements for medical school include a minimum of 1 year of:

* General biology

* Physics with lab

* General chemistry (inorganic chemistry) with lab

* Organic chemistry with lab

* Calculus

* English

It IS definitely possible for RNs to become MDs but RN/BSNs aren't really "ahead of the game" educationally. A biology major, on the other hand, would have had to take all of the above courses to graduate. After five years, though, they'd be back to square one educationally as well, it seems.

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

NO way...I am so not going back to school, going through what those interns go through! No way!!!!!!!!

A wise nurse once told me "a Doctor is trained at long lengths how to treat diseases and conditions...but the nurse is trained as long lengths to treat PEOPLE". I like that phrase, and I really like treating people!

So I will stick to nursing thank you! LOL!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Well, it depends on the program and personal situation. It may not make sense to YOU, but it may to another person under differing circumstances. I have met a few RN-MDs in my career and they were excellent providers.