Should I of gone to med school?

[FCMike11, BSN]

Please guys I know its long...but im really stressed and could use some help clearing my head.

Okay I graduated in may and passed my boards, got my RN, had worked the whole previous year as an LVN....anyways here I am with my ADN about to start online BSN courses, and I just feel depressed.....I am looking at my options Nurse Practicioner, PA & CRNA school. I currently work in ICU, and if I went NP/PA that's where my preferred field of work would be.

Love the idea of PA, practicing medicine and you will be trained by doctors(and the ease you can switch specialty with PA is very interesting)....but looking at research my salary will cap around 85,000-100,000 and I will ALWAYS be under an MD...ie I work for 10+ years and a brand new med graduate would have immediate superiority over me.

Nurse Practitioner is intriguing, is kinda frustrating that they have to specialize so specifically, but I could live with that.

CRNA clearly where the big $$ is, and with the rate they are replacing anesthesiologists MD's, its a secure job market, I still am undecided on how interested I am in surgery though.

So here I am with the dilemma and wishing I started pre-med 3 years ago! I would already be applying to MED school, I feel slightly depressed....question is why do I want MD so bad? Not sure if its the money, or the title...regardless of where I end up ill be helping people.

I need some advice? I appreciate anyone who reads this....im in a weird place right now.

[lesliel]

Wow, that is a tough place to be in!!

It's great that you have all these options available to you and are looking towards professional growth :)

IMHO, I think this is a personal decision that takes much thought and in spite of advice given here or anywhere, this is your decision to make! I think one thing that you need to considered is what will make you happy, as cheesy as that sounds. I have a colleague who graduated top of our class, took all the necessary requirements for medical school, again was top of the class and could have definitely been an MD (that was her prospective goal at that time). After our last year of consolidation, she decided that nursing is where she wants to be and eventually a nurse educator. Yes, money is great, but as they say "money isn't everything" and "money can't buy you happiness!"

As well, I think that a good thing to adopt is to start looking at the interdisciplinary team as a cohesive team, rather then someone being authoritative or "superior" to you. I know that in healthcare it's difficult to escape the "hierarchy," but feeling inferior is a personal decision! I worked with nurses from all different generations and some treat MDs very different from others. I am always respectful, but I will not be spoken down to and I speak to an MD the same way I would anyone else on the healthcare team. I digress and that is a whole other thread that could be started from that!

Be proud of the nurse title that you have worked very hard to earn!! Professional advancement whether it be as an NP, MD or CRNA is a great goal! I wish you the best of luck with whatever you make your goal! :)