I'm currently debating weather I should set a course to become an acute care nurse practitioner or a doctor. I just turned 18 and I'm heading off to college soon and I want to pursue an undergrad degree in nursing because it'll provide me with a stable income quickly and I love the nursing model and it's holostic appaorch.
However, I've been reading different opinions on the education of advance nursing and I've heard very good things and very bad things. I've also researched the curriculum. I love knowing how diseases work and I feel like I would appreciate a doctors in-depth education, but I don't want to stay in school for 11 years to achieve that knowledge because I want to practice as soon as possible and I also love the emerging field of the nurse practitioner and identify their future importance. I also don't want to put up with the complications and the hoops that doctors have to jump through and put up with. I also value the flexiablity and multiple options for nurses and also the lifestyle freedom. I want to handle difficult and complex patients and I want to be properly educated and knowledable to feel confident to manage those patients. I want intellectual rigor and I also want to work at the Mayo Clinic to be apart of rare cases. So I was just wondering if I could become a nurse practitioner and be able to adequately supplment my college education with more doctor like coursework/research and maybe even join a NP residency. Is this possible and the best choice or should I just change my thinking and consider becoming a doctor?
Specializes in Cardiology, Research, Family Practice.
If I had been thinking ahead at age 18 the way you seem to be, I would have wanted someone to encourage me to go to medical school. But if you're saying you don't want to work that hard....
Marcus, go to med school. I am halfway through a DNP FNP program and very much regret not putting in a little more time to finish my application to medical school.
Will being a "doctor", or physician, be enough for you is another way to phrase this question. I will preface this response by saying that I am a nurse through and through. The nursing model is a big part of my life. To my nursing colleagues encouraging someone to seek a career in medicine because of their own frustrations with their current situation....consider leaving nursing if you aren't passionate about it or regret your decision.
My advice, as an independent DNP prepared NP who owns their own practice and cares for 2000 of their own patients in NYC, don't hold one profession above another. If you want to earn money- both professions can bill and get near equal reimbursement. If you want to learn more about pathophysiology- open a textbook. If you want to focus on studying a disease-model and diagnose/treat human illness, become a physician. If you want to focus on studying a human illness-model and diagnose/treat the human response to diseases and conditions, become a nurse. I'm not afraid to mention that I earn as much as my physician colleagues in primary care. It wasn't easy. It wasn't handed to me on a silver platter the way a physician fresh out of residency can be offered a partner position in a practice. I had to earn it and still fight for it daily. However, I in no way feel "limited" in my practice. Trust me, being a health care provider in general is ENOUGH. Look within yourself and decide what you value- then make a decision. Don't rank one profession over another and decide which gets the gold medal in your opinion. At the end of the day patients are what matter. Choose how you want to care for them. All the best to you.
Thank you for your insight Tom! You're right I should change my perspective and not rank professions because it's not as simple and black/white. It's all about the patients and trying to help people. I'm happy to hear that NPs are not limited and can have the ability to run successful practices and thrive. I'm a natural self learner and I'll have no problem opening up many medical books to learn new information and I'm happy when I'm learning! I've also came to the conclusion to become a nurse practitioner ☺ï¸
GoodNP
208 Posts
If I had been thinking ahead at age 18 the way you seem to be, I would have wanted someone to encourage me to go to medical school. But if you're saying you don't want to work that hard....