Second thoughts? Medicine calling me!

[FuturoEnfermera]

hello. i posted this in the pre-nursing student forum as well and realized that i wouldn't be reaching many rns by that route. if any nurses out there have any insight i would certainly appreciate it!

i am hoping that someone here has experienced or is experiencing something like what i am. i am in my last semester of pre-requisites for my bsn program. i applied in february (with two in progress) and will find out around may 16th. i have a 4.0 and got a surprising 95.9 on the teas. sounds great right? well at first yes, but now i'm seriously questioning everything that i've worked so hard for. since last semester i've been trying to decide if i have the strength and time for med school. i have two kids and am separated from my husband. we are working on things now, going to counseling etc, and things are really getting a lot better. point there is that i don't know if i'll have to support system i'd need to go through 9 years of school and residency.

anyone out there have any insight? anyone regret not going to med school when it was your passion. i don't think either profession is better than the other and i do not think nursing is settling, i just don't know if i would be satisfied?? i have a huge curiosity about diagnosing, decision making, and possibly being a surgeon. i'm honestly more into the science of life than actual bedside care taking. is there any nursing filed this would be compatible with?

this got long! i haven't really told many people that i'm having second thoughts. i feel like i'm failing in a way by not wanting to follow though with what i've already sacrificed so much for....

[HisHands, ASN, RN]

There aren't any physicians here, my dear. We are all either pre-nursing students, LPNs, RNs and some advance practice nurses. But, I hate to tell you none of us have gone through those 9 years of school and residency. Maybe someone can refer you to another webside.

[np_wannabe]

There is also a discussion board called Student Doctor Network. They have a forum for us "non-traditional" students...

maybe they could also give you an idea of what they have had to go through, and that will also help you in your decision???

[FuturoEnfermera]

Thanks. I've been spending a ton of time there too. =) Sorry if I wasn't clear... I'm wondering if anyone started out wanting to be a doctor but chose to be a nurse for family time, better hours, etc, and how they feel about their decision now.

[incublissRN, BSN, RN]

I thought about being a doctor. I chose to be a nurse because I wanted to finish school faster, get married, and have a family. Now that I'm working I'm really happy with my decision. I have no regrets and realize that I didn't want to be a doctor as much as I thought I did. I see how much time the surgeons and doctors put in and I wouldn't want their job for any amount of money in the world. I like working 3 days a week and being done when I leave.

If you think that you'll regret not going to med school for the rest of your life, then it's probably worthwhile for you to give it a try.

[np_wannabe]

I see how much time the surgeons and doctors put in and I wouldn't want their job for any amount of money in the world. I like working 3 days a week and being done when I leave.

My dad is a doctor, and this is exactly the reason I DIDN'T consider medical school. He always worked. He was up and out of the house first thing in the morning, and got home in time for a late dinner. I always knew that I wanted a different experience than that when i became a mother. Granted, not every doctor may work like that, but what if I got to med school and found that the kind of medicine I really loved required those kinds of hours? then what?

I know that if there was nothing else in the world that would make me happy, I would have given more thought to med school. What's the point in skipping out on a dream if you will feel unfulfilled and always wonder "what if." That's not the kind of mother I want to be either.

[FuturoEnfermera]

Yeah, it sure is a hard question. I'm sure women have been having this issue since before all of us were born. =) Thanks for the opinions and stories.

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

Have you thought about a Nurse Practitioner route?

[buddiage]

Finish what you started.

THEN, if you want to apply for med school, and decide you hate it, you have a great and reliable career to fall back on.

If I didn't have a daughter, I would consider going for it (I have a weird love/hate relationship with school). However, with their hours.... that would stink. Lots of money, lots of liability, and no life.

[FuturoEnfermera]

finish what you started.

then, if you want to apply for med school, and decide you hate it, you have a great and reliable career to fall back on.

that's kinda what i'm thinking. i really don't want to feel like i'm giving up on what i've worked so hard for. the first two semester of the bsn program are 6 and 8 units, to give room for the co-requisites. i've already done those so i'd have time to knock out some pre med classes. my other option is to get my bachelors in biological science (pre med) then if i didn't get in to med school i could do the one year accelerated bsn that requires a degree to get into. either way i'd be done in 3 years with nursing school.

much to ponder!

[jjjoy, LPN]

If you decide to continue with nursing, still consider finishing up all those pre-med science courses. It's probably easier to get them done now than to have to go back and take them later. However, sometimes there is a time out on the amount of time that has passed since such classes were taken and application to a program. No way to keep all doors open all the time...

I entered nursing school as a former bio/pre-med major thinking that it would be a good way to get hands on experience sooner and to see if I really wanted to invest in medical school as well as being a good career with lots of opportunities. I'm now glad I didn't pursue med school. I discovered that I like the science of medicine more than clinical practice and do wish I'd completed my degree in biology (though I still don't know exactly what I'd do with that career-wise). I also discovered that I really don't like bedside nursing and the bulk of demand is there as opposed to other areas of nursing. I'm making my way, but it's very different than I'd imagined. I guess whenever we make plans, we have to be ready to adjust as the experience unfolds itself to us.

Good luck with your decision!

[rgroyer1RNBSN, BSN, RN]

See alot of med schools wont admit you without a BS degree so get the BSN and work as a nurse why your getting the science pre-reqs done for med school thats what I and a couple of my friends are doing see we have our BSN and now where just working on our Science pre-reqs for med school but at least we have a good job/career why where going to med school. These friends of mine that are doing the same thing we planned this when we were in high school Ive always wanted to be a doc and so have they but were going to go to DO school instead of MD school. The DO schools seem to be nicer as in they dont have the snotty or cocky attitude which this is my last semester of pre-reqs and next year I will be going to either the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine or Des Moines University health Science center in Iowa since I got into those 2 DO programs most of my friends did to. The only reason we want to be DO's is we plan on working in a Rural town in Nebraska I used to live in. Most DO's to primary care, Emergency med, or gen surg., I wished though I could find an integrated internship and residency that integrates family practice and general surgery with maybe some OB experience, I know they have integrated internal med programs like IM/Ped, or FP/OB but I want to be just a good old GP in a small town with privelages at the small hospital and do a little of everything you know work er, maybe do an appendectomy or tonsillectomy, maybe deliver a baby or 2. :balloons: