What would you do in my situation...?

Nurses General Nursing

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I went to a prestigious University, majoring in General Biology as a PreMed student, and was planning to go into their Medical School as a Grad student to become some sort of Doctor.

Now I am at a less academically challenging College majoring in Nursing becasue my parents think there is a more open job market, and my previous University didn't offer that major.

This new college is not as rigourous and research oriented as my previous University. For instance, if I was at my previous University, I would be required to take multiple level courses in Physics, Calculus, Humanities, Languages, Chemistry, etc. even though they don't relate to my major. And I also had to take over 50 units(about 15 classes) each year to graduate in 4 years. But at this current college, I was only required to take necessary Biology and Nursing courses, and typical, easy G.Es. Also, I only needed 24 units(about 8 classes) each year to graducate in 4 years.

But this doesn' t relieve much because I was always a studious student.

What I want to know is if I made the right decisions(did I lower my standards since I was capable of becoming a doctor?) and what would you have done if you were in my shoes?

All I know is that I always wanted to go into something related to the medical field and working in the hospital and currently, I'm indecisive so I'm going with my parents, and I don't think I prefer either professions over the other yet.

You only lowered your standards if you're doing something that you do not want to do. You need to find out what you want and not what your parents want. Easier or harder does not necessarily imply a better or worse profession or school. You need to ask yourself if you only switched because of your parents, and if the answer is yes than you probably made a mistake.

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Hi Nurse Ratchet,

I think you need to take a long look at what you want to do. Do you want to be a doctor or a nurse? There is a large market for nurses. You would have the opportunity to become a nurse practitioner, but that is as close to being a doctor as you are going to get unless you go back to school and get your degree in medicine. In my opinion doctors who were nurses make some of the best doctors.

I would tell you to consider how much time do you want to spend with a person/patient. Nurses get to spend much more time. How much autonomy do you need? While nurses have a lot of autonomy, doctors have more. How badly do you need a job when you graduate?

I also understand your fear of not getting a well rounded education. I have also felt this. I have finally come to the conclusion that this is not dumbing down, but focusing in. This would be especially important if your funds are limited. Don't forget you can always go back and take classes just for your own benefit on your time schedule. :o :)

I went to a prestigious University, majoring in General Biology as a PreMed student, and was planning to go into their Medical School as a Grad student to become some sort of Doctor.

Now I am at a less academically challenging College majoring in Nursing becasue my parents think there is a more open job market, and my previous University didn't offer that major.

This new college is not as rigourous and research oriented as my previous University. For instance, if I was at my previous University, I would be required to take multiple level courses in Physics, Calculus, Humanities, Languages, Chemistry, etc. even though they don't relate to my major. And I also had to take over 50 units(about 15 classes) each year to graduate in 4 years. But at this current college, I was only required to take necessary Biology and Nursing courses, and typical, easy G.Es. Also, I only needed 24 units(about 8 classes) each year to graducate in 4 years.

But this doesn' t relieve much because I was always a studious student.

What I want to know is if I made the right decisions(did I lower my standards since I was capable of becoming a doctor?) and what would you have done if you were in my shoes?

All I know is that I always wanted to go into something related to the medical field and working in the hospital and currently, I'm indecisive so I'm going with my parents, and I don't think I prefer either professions over the other yet.

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I see in your profile that you are only 19 years old...

At 19, you haven't had time to have had much of an academic career.

Were you passing at your "more prestigious" University? If not, perhaps that was your parents' reason for having you change schools.

It really sounds as if you ought to be having this chat with your parents rather than us, a bunch of strangers. Your indecision (your word) suggests that neither career is right for you. Both medicine and nursing require dedication and persistence.

That's a lot to expect at 19. Why not spend two years just taking the basics, and then see how you feel? Something will "ring your bell" and you'll have your answer. You might even become an art history professor.... you never know!

Good luck to you....

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Nurse Ratchet,

I don't think you lowered your standards at all. Being a doctor and being a nurse are both great careers. To a certain degree I can relate to your dilemma. Growing up I always knew that I wanted to work in the medical field, and like you I didn't know what exactly that was going to be until these past few years. Now I don't have any of the experience that all the other wonderful nurses out there do because I will be starting the nursing program this semester (I just got my acceptance letter a couple of weeks ago) however I did do some career shadowing and volunteering that helped tremendously with my decision to pursue nursing as a profession. I really recommend that you shadow a nurse or maybe even a few because there are so many different types of specialties out there with even more possibilities. As far as the predicament with your parents.... well, all I can say is go for what's in your heart! Don't compromise what you want no matter what, remember it's you who's going to be going through school and working in that profession. I still have many people in my family that say "I don't see you being a nurse, why don't you want to be a doctor, you have the potential." For me personally though I don't care what they all think; this is what I want and I want to be doing something that makes me happy and helps others at the same time. If you have any questions or need someone to talk to, feel free to e-mail or im me. My screen name and e-mail are the same as this one, just on aol. Good luck with finding and pursing you goals; I'm sure you'll do just great in whatever you decide is best for you.

~Tracy

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"Lowering my standards..."

Hmmm...

I had offers to study commerce, business, and economics at prestigious universities, but ended up going with my "safety net" of nursing because it was what I really wanted to do. Sure, it pays less, and I know for a fact that my education/skills/experience are dismissed by the majority as mediocre and peripheral to medicine, but I like what I do and my patients (mostly) appreciate it.

Are you the sort of person who cares about status? Are you going to be ashamed to turn up to your high school reunion and say "I'm a nurse"? Do you crave approval/acceptance from others? I say screw everyone else: you should just do whatever is going to make you happiest in the long term. Oh, and please, don't "lower your standards" -> medicine isn't that bad... ;)

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Read your note out loud and Listen to what you wrote, I think you find the obvious answer to your question. If not, please reconsider before you continue with your nursing studies.:uhoh3:

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Specializes in Critical care.

I am a person that will say never to cheapen your goals to make another person or family happy. At your age and if you are as good of student you say, you have the power to guide and lead your own life. It is difficult to look beyond the apron strings we grow up behind but at some point you have to live your life and venture out to achieve your dreams and ambitions. At 32 I am just now finishing up what I was born to be and that is a nurse. My first degree was an engineer and it was evident from day one it was wrong and I went through with it anyway and have regreted it since. You have 25-50 years ahead of you to work in a given field so make sure it is what you want. If your parents are paying for it and refuse to put you in the program you want to be in then it is a time to start applying for loans and put the burden on your shoulders and live up to the goals you aspire to not the goals another aspires for you. As a parent myself I can see where yours may be coming from but in the end you wear your own shoes and have to walk in them they do not. I urge you to use tact and maturity to prove to your parents your position on your educational goals. God gave you a brain and a heart use them and follow them and have no regrets. Good luck.:idea:

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I partly disagree with what your dean told you. If the type of research you want to do is within the discipline of medicine, then, you need to have a degree in medicine to do that. If you want to do basic science research in physiology, then you should get your PhD in physiology ... or cell biology ... or something like that.

However, there are also plenty of opportunities for nurses to do head research teams in nursing. Nursing is a broad field that encompasses many aspects of health care. If you are interested in doing research that falls under the scope of practice of nursing, then you should get your degree in nursing. One nice advantage of nursing is that you don't need to get a doctoral degree to be involved in research. It helps to have a PhD to be head of a large research project, but there are lots of small research grants in nursing available for smaller projects that go to novice researches with only Master's Degrees.

So ... it's just a matter of what discipline you want to focus on. They all offer research opportunities.

llg

All disciplines have opportunities available

I agree with llg. A PhD is a research-oriented degree, no matter what the field. A PhD in nursing or in medicine (and here I don't know but, I would guess that a PhD would be an advantage over a MD if you are interested in research as opposed to practice) certainly allows you to competitively apply for funding and conduct research in the particular field of practice for which you have the doctorate--and this is essentially required of professors at research-oriented universities (Research-I) for promotion and tenure.

The possibility of MS-level research sounds interesting. I know that some solicited NSF grants require a PhD to even apply (such as the coveted CAREER awards), though I'm not sure about unsolicited proposals. I imagine a MS would be at a significant disadvantage applying for grants as compared to a PhD, however, unless the MS had a quite strong prior research and publication record. Llg, what are some sources of funding for MS-level nursing researchers?

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Dixielee - from what you pointed out, I think that Nurse Ratchet is qualified for MD status!! LOL

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Go with what you will be happiest with. If you don't presently know what that is it may be easier to go to a 2 plus 2 nursing program. That way you have 2 years to decide what you want to do and you still have an RN and can work some while you go to med school.

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My opinion? Why go through years of agony in medical school, only to work more nights, weekends, holidays, and calltime than almost any other profession, and often times get paid proportionatly less? I had occasion to discuss this w/ one of our older docs who laughed about that very thing...getting one of the longest, highest levels of education in the world..and doing more work and having less time to live your own life than the average burger flipper.

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