Post # 1
Member
1670 posts
Bumble bee
I am a college junior slated to start nursing school next semester, but now I’m wondering if I should go to med school. I have always flipped flopped between the two and I am planning on becoming a nurse practitioner if I do become an RN but I really want to do research and I feel like the education of a doctor might be more what I’m looking for! However I have always had negative feelings about med school because of the length. I’m worried med school might effect my ability to have a family and have a home life? Any advice or real life experience?
Post # 3
Member
244 posts
Helper bee
@harperlynn: well, since you can’t go straight to med school. i suggest do the nursing school and use that as your premed. nursing is tough, but it’s good practice for med school if you choose to continue. it also gives you a great insight to what the nurses are going through. i find that the best doctors are those that understand and are helpful to the nurses. they always know more about their patients.
edit: oh oops, why did i read that as HS junior. well, if you don’t go to nursing school, what’s your major now?
Post # 4
Member
7289 posts
Busy Beekeeper
Have you thought about being a PA?
What exactly is it you want? The title? More automny? Pay?
I think Nurse Practicioners and PA’s make wonderful money in comparison to that of a DR and their schooling, well respected and can also obtain the work life balance.
But do make sure you get Experince in healthcare if you don’t already. Become a CNA, work at a dr’s office as a med assistant….you want to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into ..dream versus reality can be dissapointing 🙂
Post # 5
Member
1090 posts
Bumble bee
I am in med school right now, and I am struggling with all the issues you’re concerned about…honestly, if I could re-do it, I would NOT go to med school. had I pursued PA school, I would almost be finished instead of only barely started. The stress is killing me, and I want to have a baby now but that’s not exactly fitting in my schedule for another 6 years (although I will probably try before that and hear it from EVERYONE about how foolish I am having a baby During med school.) I hate med school and really wish I would have done something else, but I’m too invested financially, I couldn’t afford to not finish. I am in the worst part of it now (supposedly–1/2 way through 2nd year), but still, I am miserable and wish the end wasn’t so far away still.
Post # 6
Member
1670 posts
Bumble bee
@peterpotamus right now I am “pre nursing” but I continued with classes of a bio major because my admission to nursing school was delayed a semester. So I am in orgo 2, genetics, speech, physics 2, and labs. My only problem with go to nursing schoois first is that my school has me part time for 3 semesters which means I won’t graduate until Jan 2016 and med schools want nursing majors to have at least a year of experience before applying so that’s 2017. And by that point if I had graduated and gone to med school I would be in my 3rd year. So idk about that route…
Post # 7
Member
1670 posts
Bumble bee
@eva I was an EMT and I have worked has a tech on the ortho floor of a hospital. I also worked as a pharm lab tech and a research assistant. So I know it’s health field I also know I would never be a PA. I know lots of PAs who do all the dirty work of a doctor with no perks. At least with nursing, there is a community and your less likely to get treated badly.
Im think bout med school for many reasons.
1. I love research and idk if I can do that with nursing.
2. I’m not ready to end my education and begin career training. I love my orgo and genetics classes. Things not even required of nurses. I want a rich and varied education. I don’t want to learn about applyingknowledge yet. Even though nursing school is years crammed of learning, it’s a different kind.
3. I wanted to be a CRNA and have been working hard to get a kick ass resume but I spoke to a CRNA who said there are no jobs and he regretted not attending med school, which is joined of where this all began.
i just don’t know where to go with all this?!
Post # 8
Member
1670 posts
Bumble bee
@cowgirlace thanks for being honest! I’m sorry your struggling! This is exactly my fear. I’m at a catholic hospital so I do know girls in medschool who have had babies! It can be done but it is difficult for sure:( I hope it works out for yOu! I’m also hesistant because my SO is 27 with cardiomyopathy and some not so hot dietary habits. his meds aren’t working very well anymore and he is having symptoms of peripheral artery disease. So if I continued with med school I may not be able to take care of him should things go bad…it’s just so difficult!
Post # 9
Member
326 posts
Helper bee
I am in med school and I know it’s the right choice for me. My sister is studying nursing. They are not alike at all. She studies more practical things and skims a lot of detail where as we are required to know everything in detail even if we won’t neccessarily use it. I live in Ireland so I didn’t have to do an undergrad degree and will be qualified at 25. Don’t go to med school ust to help your SO. Often patients and the people they are close to will know more about their specific disease or condition than the average doctor. You do not need to go to med school to learn that. It’s not a great idea to be a doctor for someone that close to you anyway because it’s hard to be objective. Your family life would be easier as a nurse. I know that if I want children before I’m 30 I will have to just take a year out and have my SO support me. I will likely be working full time for most of my childrens childhood. I’m comfortable with that and know what I am getting into as my dad was a doctor and mum was a nurse.
Post # 10
Member
384 posts
Helper bee
PA school is 2 years long. Its hell but so worth it! It gives you the opportunity to practice medicine with out the length of time for med school. PAs dont just do the “dirty work” of the doctors. It is all dependent on where you work and who you work for. You can have your own panal of patients. Some state laws dont even require the doctor to be on site. They also dont have to check EVERY chart. Its all state dependent. PAs are getting utilized more and more. If you want the medical model vs the nursing model then being a PA may be desireable.
Post # 11
Hostess
2998 posts
Sugar bee
@harperlynn: I went to medical school and I always say if I could go back and do it all over I would go to PA (physician assistant) school or nurse practitioner school. You (basically) can do the same things with much shorter schooling and debt. That would be my suggestion!
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