Very confused Nursing or MD?

LeO13 · Apr 18, 2011

Trust me if you want money then do not choose the doctor route. There are way better options in making money than a doctor.

Jaime1990 · Apr 18, 2011

For me its either nursing or Md. but leaning more towards nursing.

bhanson · Apr 18, 2011

Nursing and Medicine are both terrible choices if one's concern is primarily money. People that go into Nursing or Medicine for the money tend to hate their jobs and it very much shows to everyone else. If your number 1 priority is money then go into investment banking or something because neither of these fields will be what you desire.

Nursing is something where you really have to have an innate desire to take care of someone, or else you will be miserable and likely make your co-workers and patients miserable as well.

My advice is to go work as a CNA for a year while continuing your Nursing courses. Everything you do as a CNA you will be expected to do as an RN so it will give you a very good idea if nursing is for you. You will not be making anything close to $130k outside of a few highly specialized doctorate level positions.

Medicine is an even worse choice unless you have an innate curiosity for the hard sciences. If your only calling to medicine is the money you will very much regret going down this path. The road to becoming a physician is VERY rigorous, LONG, and is a lifetime commitment.

Here is the path to medicine as copied from a post of mine in another thread:

Step 1: Undergrad (4 years)

Bachelors degree (in any subject) with 3.5+ GPA (overall and in pre-reqs listed below)

General Biology I, II; General Chemistry I, II; Organic Chemistry I, II; Physics I, II (many schools require more)

Shadowing (50 hours+ across multiple specialties, you must shadow a DO if you apply to osteopathic schools)

Volunteering (2+ years)

Research (having a publication is bonus)

Letters of recommendation

30+ score on the MCAT, one of the most difficult pre-professional standardized exams

To have a 50% chance at getting accepted to ANY school in the country (most people apply to 10-20 schools).

Here is a chart showing acceptance rates for US medical schools.

Acceptance rate for GPA 3.40-3.59 and MCAT of 30-32 is 55%. That means 45% of the people with these stats did not get accepted anywhere. 8.5% of the people with a 3.80-4.00 and a 39-45 did not get accepted anywhere (a 39 is a top 1% score).

Step 2: Medical School (4 years)

Most medical students accumulate $100-300k in student loans. Your tests will be rigorous and most people say the workload is the equivalent of about 30 undergrad credits.

After 2 years you will take the USMLE Step 1 which is similar to the MCAT but much more difficult. You only get one shot for this exam and your performance will dictate which specialty you will match into later.

After 4 years you will take the USMLE Step 2 which is of course progressively more difficult than Step 1.

Step 3: Residency (3-7 years)

Depending on how well you performed in Medical School will depend on where you match. Unlike in nursing, it is very hard to switch specialties in medicine and where you match for residency is likely where you will be forever. Every residency is competitive and you must perform exceptionally for many of the more popular residencies: rad, derm, surgery, neuro, etc. Almost anyone can match into primary care.

At this point you're an MD (or a DO), but until you finish your residency you're not worth anything. This period will last 3-7 years depending on which specialty you match into, during which you will only be making about $40-50k a year and working 80 hours a week. At this point you still don't really know anything.

Step 4: You made it!

After residency is where you will start to make some real money, at least 12 years later. But don't forget about your $200k in loans from medical school that's likely still looming around. At this point you're a real doctor and if you matched into a "lifestyle" residency you will be working about 50 hours a week, plus the time required for you to keep updated in your specialty (conferences, journals, research, etc.)

Some other specialties will have you perpetually on-call and a lot of attendings still work 80+ hour weeks routinely. Regardless of which specialty you will still be required to keep up to date with your continuing education as technology is progressing very quickly.

Summary: Nursing and Medicine are awful choices if the number 1 criterion is money.

supermotojen · Apr 18, 2011

Nursing and Medicine are both terrible choices if one's concern is primarily money. People that go into Nursing or Medicine for the money tend to hate their jobs and it very much shows to everyone else. If your number 1 priority is money then go into investment banking or something because neither of these fields will be what you desire.
Nursing is something where you really have to have an innate desire to take care of someone, or else you will be miserable and likely make your co-workers and patients miserable as well.
My advice is to go work as a CNA for a year while continuing your Nursing courses. Everything you do as a CNA you will be expected to do as an RN so it will give you a very good idea if nursing is for you. You will not be making anything close to $130k outside of a few highly specialized doctorate level positions.
Medicine is an even worse choice unless you have an innate curiosity for the hard sciences. If your only calling to medicine is the money you will very much regret going down this path. The road to becoming a physician is VERY rigorous, LONG, and is a lifetime commitment.
Here is the path to medicine as copied from a post of mine in another thread:
Step 1: Undergrad (4 years)
Bachelors degree (in any subject) with 3.5+ GPA (overall and in pre-reqs listed below)
General Biology I, II; General Chemistry I, II; Organic Chemistry I, II; Physics I, II (many schools require more)
Shadowing (50 hours+ across multiple specialties, you must shadow a DO if you apply to osteopathic schools)
Volunteering (2+ years)
Research (having a publication is bonus)
Letters of recommendation
30+ score on the MCAT, one of the most difficult pre-professional standardized exams
To have a 50% chance at getting accepted to ANY school in the country (most people apply to 10-20 schools).
Here is a chart showing acceptance rates for US medical schools.
Acceptance rate for GPA 3.40-3.59 and MCAT of 30-32 is 55%. That means 45% of the people with these stats did not get accepted anywhere. 8.5% of the people with a 3.80-4.00 and a 39-45 did not get accepted anywhere (a 39 is a top 1% score).
Step 2: Medical School (4 years)
Most medical students accumulate $100-300k in student loans. Your tests will be rigorous and most people say the workload is the equivalent of about 30 undergrad credits.
After 2 years you will take the USMLE Step 1 which is similar to the MCAT but much more difficult. You only get one shot for this exam and your performance will dictate which specialty you will match into later.
After 4 years you will take the USMLE Step 2 which is of course progressively more difficult than Step 1.
Step 3: Residency (3-7 years)
Depending on how well you performed in Medical School will depend on where you match. Unlike in nursing, it is very hard to switch specialties in medicine and where you match for residency is likely where you will be forever. Every residency is competitive and you must perform exceptionally for many of the more popular residencies: rad, derm, surgery, neuro, etc. Almost anyone can match into primary care.
At this point you're an MD (or a DO), but until you finish your residency you're not worth anything. This period will last 3-7 years depending on which specialty you match into, during which you will only be making about $40-50k a year and working 80 hours a week. At this point you still don't really know anything.
Step 4: You made it!
After residency is where you will start to make some real money, at least 12 years later. But don't forget about your $200k in loans from medical school that's likely still looming around. At this point you're a real doctor and if you matched into a "lifestyle" residency you will be working about 50 hours a week, plus the time required for you to keep updated in your specialty (conferences, journals, research, etc.)
Some other specialties will have you perpetually on-call and a lot of attendings still work 80+ hour weeks routinely. Regardless of which specialty you will still be required to keep up to date with your continuing education as technology is progressing very quickly.
Summary: Nursing and Medicine are awful choices if the number 1 criterion is money.

I couldn't have put that any better- it is a long, tough road but well worth it if your ultimate goal is to help cure people. You might want to check into business, investment, marketing, or other professions if your priority is money. If you have intentions to help people...I have heard from MDs that the schooling is a lifetime commitment (10+ years) and you will most likely have huge loans to pay back, if you can settle for around 80K go into nursing....but please don't do it just for the money-you will be miserable and probably make everyone you work with miserable. Best of luck to you.

Jaime1990 · Apr 18, 2011

Thank you for your help.. No i love helping people.. it is my passion i currenlty volunteer at a hospital. But i really have to have a good salary.

LeO13 · Apr 18, 2011

Thank you for your help.. No i love helping people.. it is my passion i currenlty volunteer at a hospital. But i really have to have a good salary.

Perhaps you should ask the doctors at the hospital for advice. I asked myself these questions before when I was younger, but when it comes down to it, money will be the least of your concerns. I would rather make 65-70k a year working 3 or 4 days a week than making 200k a year working 6 days a week with on call. I have family who are physicians and they envy nurses because they have so much free time and live an honest living. My uncle who is an interventional cardiologist brings home over $300k a year, but he is also divorced with 2 kids because he chose career over family.

Jaime1990 · Apr 18, 2011

Perhaps you should ask the doctors at the hospital for advice. I asked myself these questions before when I was younger, but when it comes down to it, money will be the least of your concerns. I would rather make 65-70k a year working 3 or 4 days a week than making 200k a year working 6 days a week with on call. I have family who are physicians and they envy nurses because they have so much free time and live an honest living. My uncle who is an interventional cardiologist brings home over $300k a year, but he is also divorced with 2 kids because he chose career over family.

Thank you. Yes i would rathher have a family then bring home that much money. I was also looking into the CERTIFIED REGISTERED NURSE ANESTHETISTS. I know they make pretty good money and they help people. Do you konw any other nurse specialty theat I might be interested in?

Mamba49 · Apr 18, 2011

nurse practitioner and nurse anesthetists require masters degrees, so you will have additional loans, but both of course help people (hello, it's nursing) and both receive 6 digit salaries.

xraytech · Apr 18, 2011

First of all, like others have said, you have to somewhat like what you do for a living in order to be successful and happy throughout life. Otherwise, you will get burnt out, and not be the best you can be in your profession. And if you don't like people, and don't like serving others, than it probably would be hurtful to society to go carelessly into the health care field in any profession.

We'd all be lying if we said we didn't need to know how much money we will be making in our careers. Some people want to make a certain amount of money to live a certain life style. And money pays the bills. So it is okay to be logical when weighing the cost of school vs. your future income.

Also, there are some opportunities in nursing that provide higher salaries, such as becoming a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist), who often make around $130,000+ when working full-time. You could also continue on to become an NP (nurse practitioner) who make an average of $80,000+ depending on where you live and what specialty you are in. For instance, some NP specialties like Psychiatric/Mental Health NPs can make well over $100,000+ / year.

When deciding MD vs. RN... you need to think what you like more... Are you interested in treating the patient holistically (RN). Or are you more a science buff, who mainly enjoys fact collecting, being concise, and treating the disease (MD). Nurses and MDs are taught by two different models. Research each to see which appeals to you more. Also consider that becoming and MD takes considerable more time and money, things in which some people are reluctant to sacrifice. For some, the nursing model is more appealing, it takes less time and money to earn the degree, and the job satisfaction is excellent. It's up to you.....

leenak · Apr 18, 2011

I'll give my advice as a 30 something in a high paying career. Money isn't everything :) I am looking to go into nursing (and eventually NP) but it'll come at a massive paycut. Go for what you think you'll like more. Visit some of the pre-med message boards (and let me tell you, there are some miserable people there), talk to current doctors and maybe even a career counselor at your school.

meltnpointofwax · May 2, 2011

i struggled with this decision too. i read in a random book at B&N that a person picked nursing because he wanted to treat people, not diseases. that's pretty much how i decided nursing was the one for me.

don't do anything for the money. yeah, sure, 6 figures is nice. but so is happiness.

as people already said, if you pick nursing you can be a nurse anesthetist and make the big bucks.