RN to MD. Who's been down this road?

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RN2MD0730

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Hello all. This is my first time ever joining a student networking forum, so please, forgive me for any amateur-type questions I may have. Here's the deal. I am 27 years old, have a wife, two daughters (ages 1.5 & 2.5), and am currently an RN (and have been for almost two years). I have been staring at that nice patch of seemingly greener grass where the occupants have nice white coats. I feel, as I have seen by these threads that many others have been at this point, that I have a stronger calling than being an RN. I will have my BSN this fall, 2009, I have a 3.875 GPA, and an almost non-existent comprehension of time (an hour could go by and I would think it's only been 10 minutes or so :p). The problem I am having is with my pre-meds. I live very close to University of Florida and have been denied acceptance there for the pre-meds because I already have (well, I will in a couple of months) a bachelor’s degree in nursing and UF doesn't have any post bac options for aspiring med school students (especially us non-traditionals). I can't move because we just bought a house a year and a half ago...and there's a snowflake's chance in you know where that we'll be able to get what it's worth (or even paid for)! This leaves me with no other option than my local community college...which I have seen mixed reviews about as far as medical college acceptance goes! Does anyone think I have a good enough story to a committee? Any advice on my present situation, or strong words of encouragement? I am going to do this, but am just wanting some feedback from others that have possibly been in a similar situation, or had a friend of a friend in a similar situation?

I must also note that I love school, I love learning, and I love helping others...but nursing leaves me feeling at the mercy of others (doctors). I want more of that addictive feeling which comes from helping others improve their life...and I think being an MD can give me that fix!

I have my wife beside me and future ahead of me, all I need now is a little input about the road ahead from people who have been there and done that (or doing that right now)!

Thank you all for the great wealth of information I have found on these threads so far. I just wanted to try a little post of my own and get to physically interact with some other people going through the same experiences as I am.
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The great news is you have an excellent GPA. When I was going through this as a non-trad I was told from some schools that it would look better to take these classes at a university but "do what you have to do". Unfortunately, my work schedule did not allow for this so I did what I had to do and I took them at a CC. I too had a high GPA and everything worked out for me...they are going to let me be a physician:).

So my advice is to do what you have to do and if that means taking them at a CC then that's what you have to do. Be sure to make A's.

My wife also made the transition from BSN to Med School and not one day has she regretted it....Good luck.
 
I like your phrase" I have a stronger calling than being an RN." That's good. I suspect that it will go over well with the adcoms.
 
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da Vincis World said:
The great news is you have an excellent GPA. When I was going through this as a non-trad I was told from some schools that it would look better to take these classes at a university but "do what you have to do". Unfortunately, my work schedule did not allow for this so I did what I had to do and I took them at a CC. I too had a high GPA and everything worked out for me...they are going to let me be a physician:).

So my advice is to do what you have to do and if that means taking them at a CC then that's what you have to do. Be sure to make A's.

My wife also made the transition from BSN to Med School and not one day has she regretted it....Good luck.
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Wel, congrats to both of you. Just out of curiosity...would you mind sharing any MCAT scores? I am curious to see what real people are scoring.
 
Thanks. I have plenty more of a speech where that comes from...I just don't want the adcoms getting hung up on the whole "community College" gig, you know. I am just going to keep busting my butt and keep getting those A's! I figured if I keep a good GPA, get all A's on my community college pre-meds, do well on the MCAT, and am able to get an interview...I should be able to explain myself and the route I took to get to my goal. Life doesn't quite hand us GPS voice guided directions for our futures...but it sure would be nice! I think a non-trad would bring more to the table as a potential physician, wouldn't you agree? I have nothing against those incredibly ambitious students with the GPS voice guided directions...but I just feel all of our life experiences (outside of a college campus) would be advantageous to our pursuits as physicians.
 
RN2MD0730 said:
I live very close to University of Florida and have been denied acceptance there for the pre-meds because I already have (well, I will in a couple of months) a bachelor’s degree in nursing and UF doesn't have any post bac options for aspiring med school students (especially us non-traditionals).
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I agree with others on this thread that you do what you have to do. But, I've been told that it looks better when you do your pre-reqs at a 4-year university. However, I'm no expert on these matters so take that for what it's worth.

This seems so strange to me since you've already been accepted (and nearly completed) to another bachelor's program and have been successful. So, it's not as if you can't meet their entrance requirements. I can't understand why a university would not accept you (i.e. not accept your money).

Did specify intent to declare a major when you applied? Don't know if that would help or not. Just brainstorming.
 
RN2MD0730 said:
Wel, congrats to both of you. Just out of curiosity...would you mind sharing any MCAT scores? I am curious to see what real people are scoring.
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My wife's score was mid twenties and mine was low thirties. I know it seems like everyone on SDN scores a 35+ but you certainly do not need a score anywhere near that to go to medical school. We both had very high GPA's.

If there is a particular school that you are interested in be sure to make contacts there...it will be a big help when applying.
 
WhatsNext said:
I agree with others on this thread that you do what you have to do. But, I've been told that it looks better when you do your pre-reqs at a 4-year university. However, I'm no expert on these matters so take that for what it's worth.

This seems so strange to me since you've already been accepted (and nearly completed) to another bachelor's program and have been successful. So, it's not as if you can't meet their entrance requirements. I can't understand why a university would not accept you (i.e. not accept your money).

Did specify intent to declare a major when you applied? Don't know if that would help or not. Just brainstorming.
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Well, I spoke with a pre-health advisor at UF and he told me UF hasn't had a post bac pre-med program in nine years! He said I could do "Non-degree seeking" status for at most two classes...and that's only able to be done if there's room in the class for me to register since SO many undergrads need those same classes! I spoke with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UF to see if they could somehow hear my pitiful cries for mercy, but no such luck! The problem seems to be that since I have a bachelor's degree already, unless I am doing graduate studies they want nothing to do with me. Trust me, none of this is really making any sense, but the College of Medicine advisor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences advisor, the registrar, and enrollment services all said the same thing. Like I said, I have really tried, but there just seems like so much red tape and flaming hoops for me to go through to take my pre-meds at a 4-year university anywhere close to me. If I didn't have a house, I would move my family up to Jacksonville since there's a post-bac pre-med program up there.
 
What a bummer. I attend a smaller regional university that is very open to non-traditional students. I matriculated as a 2nd bachelor's degree seeking undergrad (which is its own classification at my school).

I guess UF doesn't provide that option. Sorry to hear that. I'm sure it will all work out for you, though. You've apparently excelled in nursing school (which I know is no easy task) and you have a very good rationale for doing pre-med at a CC. Best of luck to you.
 
da Vincis World said:
I know it seems like everyone on SDN scores a 35+ but you certainly do not need a score anywhere near that to go to medical school.
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Man, isn't that the truth? These forums are full of MCAT elitism.
 
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I am sort of in the same boat when it comes to career change. For you I think it's better because you have a lot of hands on experience in the medical field. I think you will do fine if you have good support from the wife. Having two young kids will defiantly be tough. When I started my premed a few years ago I just couldn't finish because I felt obligated to support my kids along the side of my wife and I had to work to support us instead of concentrating on school. This is the biggest reason I am waiting till they are close to graduating High School to get back into the race.

I also find it tough to find schools that accommodate night schooling and the only one that seem to do it are the CCs and online courses which I have not done much research to see if they will suffice for the Core Requirements. Anyways I think you will do fine, I figure for guys like us it really is a marathon and not so much a sprint. We obviously have many things on our plate and with that we need to take special care to put people in our lives ahead of everything else and then after that we can be successful in our careers. Good Luck to you
 
Well congratulations with regard to your decision.

I am a critical care RN in progress to med school. I have a few more years on you though. I think I had an issue of confidence and then loved critical care and the critical care peds so much, I think I stayed a bit too long at the fair and went through some burn out and some serious medical tragedies in my family. So, I just didn't push it as I wanted to and was encouraged to earlier. It's always been there, and it's always been present in my thinking and problem-solving in cc-nursing. Critical care can allow for the nurse to think a lot in medical terms and with regard to pathophysiology and troubleshooting--even if our nursing diagnoses must be different than the medical ones. We still have know what is going on clinicially. I have learned so much; but I also learned that, in general, I think more like a physician than a nurse. And many physicians have encouraged me in this, while other nurses often may only get annoyed by it. But there are those that do encourage you.

I responded on the community college thing on the other thread that talks about CC for science pre-reqs. Plus, in general, there are some good responses there.

Do what you have to do and then persevere.

The best to you and yours from a fellow nurse up north. :)
 
To the Op, do you work in a teaching hospital? Do you see residents doing 30hr shifts and being paged for stupid stuff? have u seen the fellow who was there at 1am when a patient was admitted because they thought they were going to do stat surgery, seen him leave around 2am because they changed their minds and as you leave through the garage at 7:30am, you see him driving in. if you've seen this and it makes you love medicine all the more, then go for it - don't even look back. I'm also a nurse, i started out college as a pre-med, transferred to a different university as a nursing major and got a BSN. My initial plan was to work a year as nurse but i just got my one year pin in august and i'm still working but i'm right on track studying for the exam.
Do you have the option on enrolling at UF as a 2nd bachelors degree seeking student? If you do, then go with that option, you don't have to complete the 2nd degree. Apply as a bio major or something and then get out once you're done with the pre-reqs. Personally, i like classes at universities cuz it's bigger classes and you don't have to do too much work, exams are multiple choice cuz the instructor isn't gonna have time to hand grade stuff. Some CC courses can be a lot of work due to smaller class sizes, depending on which school you go to. Either way, there're people who went to CC and got into med school. Excel in the courses and do good on the mcat. you have a good gpa to start with so try to maintain it.
Also, look in archives here on SDN, there are lot's of threads on nurses who've transitioned to medicine.
 
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mzblue said:
To the Op, do you work in a teaching hospital? Do you see residents doing 30hr shifts and being paged for stupid stuff? .
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How often does this happen to individual residents? Is this a weekly/monthly/yearly event. In my job as a software engineer this sort of thing happens to me every year or so - including the stupid pages. Is residency comparable to this?

If possible I would like to differentiate between horror stories that come from traditional students who've never really worked before and those stories that truly are horrible.
 
i only asked because i page these residents myself. I've tried to cut back on the pages but i see my co-workers who page q2 minutes for one thing or the other or to ask a question. I walked in wednesday night, i had a patient who'd worked the day nurse by getting them to switch the dilaudid from PO to IV. then i come in 30min after being given IV dilaudid he wants oxycontin. I page the resident and she dc's the dilaudid and writes oxycontin. Then pt states she wants dilaudid, calls resident who's nice enough to write dilaudid again. go back in with 10 of oxycontin and 2 of dilaudid at the same time, pt tells me he wants 30mg. I ask do you take any narcotics at home, he goes no but i want 30mg. Honestly, i wasn't gonna call the resident again. When the morning resident came in to see him, she changed it to 30. Did guy sleep good that night? Yes. Guy was a heroin addict admitted with a diagnosis of fever, he's a para with no sensation down. i wasn't gonna let him run my night. But this is nothing compared to the serious stupid pages these docs get. As a new nurse, i used to page like everyone else. One time i was going to page for something and an older nurse just said "such things you don't bother the doc with a page." So now i exercise good judgement. When i did an externship at upenn couple years back, i had a resident who came to a pt's room @ 11pm and was there till 3am. he started working from the hands and got to th legs then he went to the neck, trying to put in an iv. He wasn't able to do it. From what i know these days, i'd quit after 20minutes and say have iv therapy put in a PICC. Heck, i only stick a pt once and i'm out. if i can't get it, someone else tries. Oh, and that reminds me... on nurses who call docs to come put in iv when they can't get it. What do i do? i call someone in the ED or ICU, why waste the resident's time when these ED nurses can stick better than them. I think i'm a little sensitive because i know i'll be there someday and i'll definately hate being paged for stupid stuff.

Honestly, i think i'm venting cuz at my current hospital i see lots of stupid pages. I've been at other places where it's not this crazy. One thing i know for sure is that i wouldn't wanna do a residency here.
 
mzblue said:
Honestly, i think i'm venting cuz at my current hospital i see lots of stupid pages. I've been at other places where it's not this crazy. One thing i know for sure is that i wouldn't wanna do a residency here.
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Agreed. I am not a resident yet but I have done enough 28 hours shifts with residents to see them get paged for the silliest things. Not a slam on nurses, but people need to realize that residents don't do shift work (except ER); when they are on call, they work 28-30 hours straight, and they should only page them for VALID reasons at odd hours, not for things that can wait till the morning. But that is something that will probably never change. And if you are a surgical resident, you will be pulling these marathon shifts Q3 for 5 (i.e. every 3rd day for 5 years). Not as gruesome in other fields but I think you get the point.

You should definitely consider other options for nurses such as NP/CRNA. Their training hours are a piece of cake when compared to residents. But if being a mid-level will not satisfy you, then go for med school!:thumbup:
 
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gluon999 said:
Agreed. I am not a resident yet but I have done enough 28 hours shifts with residents to see them get paged for the silliest things. Not a slam on nurses, but people need to realize that residents don't do shift work (except ER); when they are on call, they work 28-30 hours straight, and they should only page them for VALID reasons at odd hours, not for things that can wait till the morning. But that is something that will probably never change. And if you are a surgical resident, you will be pulling these marathon shifts Q3 for 5 (i.e. every 3rd day for 5 years). Not as gruesome in other fields but I think you get the point.

You should definitely consider other options for nurses such as NP/CRNA. Their training hours are a piece of cake when compared to residents. But if being a mid-level will not satisfy you, then go for med school!:thumbup:
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agirl said:
Correct me if I'm wrong.
NP training is pretty easy if you have gone through BSN and survived.
for CRNA, the only easy thing about it is its shorter (which works well for some people). their two year program is pretty much the same as a residency, they do mostly the same work as anesthesiologist after all, hence the high salary.
its not my first hand experience though, I haven't been through any of those. however its the summed impression I got from conversations with NP friends.
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1) CRNA training is only 2 years? LOL, Anesthesiologists train for at least 8 years (not including undergrad/research/fellowships).
2) Do they (CRNA) even take call at all during training? Working an 8 hour day is not called residency.
3) They don't do a preliminary medicine/surgery year where interns take Q3-Q5 28 hour call.
4) Same above argument for NP training.

I am not going to engage in any further debates about MDs vs.CRNAs, I'll leave that to the Anesthesia forum.
 
RN2MD0730 said:
Well, I spoke with a pre-health advisor at UF and he told me UF hasn't had a post bac pre-med program in nine years! He said I could do "Non-degree seeking" status for at most two classes...and that's only able to be done if there's room in the class for me to register since SO many undergrads need those same classes! I spoke with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UF to see if they could somehow hear my pitiful cries for mercy, but no such luck! The problem seems to be that since I have a bachelor's degree already, unless I am doing graduate studies they want nothing to do with me. Trust me, none of this is really making any sense, but the College of Medicine advisor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences advisor, the registrar, and enrollment services all said the same thing. Like I said, I have really tried, but there just seems like so much red tape and flaming hoops for me to go through to take my pre-meds at a 4-year university anywhere close to me. If I didn't have a house, I would move my family up to Jacksonville since there's a post-bac pre-med program up there.
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Simple solution. Apply as a biology major. Once in take all your premed classes in the first two years. Then apply to medschool and once in drop out of college as you already have a bachelors degree. Them not accepting you is the biggest bunch of hogwash I've heard. Aren't colleges money hungry greedy enterprises? Hopefully they don't see thru this plan as you seem to have already talked to a lot of people in different departments. Good luck. I had no problems taking whatever classes I wanted to take at whatever colleges as long as I paid them my money and I went to a total of 5 community and university. And I'm also an RN to MD who did her first two years at community college. Good luck.
 
I applied majoring in biology in order to get into school, but i am not going to complete it, it just allowed me to take the necessary courses in order to apply - which im doing this year. Good luck!

Funny thing about the NP/MD debate... in one of my interviews i had to convince a medical student about the limitations of a NP career vs. MD... even so im not exactly sure if he really agreed with me, i think i spent over 15 minutes on this topic and in the end i was really really sweating bricks :scared: because this was my top choice school and i REALLY wanted to convince him that i had a stellar reasons for wanting to go to medical school. The faculty interview that happened right after on the other hand, I told him the same way i told the medical student and he nodded his head and voiced his agreement with me.... NP's are very limited in the acute care field and even more in acute care/clinical teaching/clinical research. And their abilities to practice autonomously really is state dependent. And i think it really sucks that you have to choose your specialty right at the begining FNP/Women's Health/ACNP/CRNA/geriatrics...
 
Heck, i only stick a pt once and i'm out. if i can't get it, someone else tries. Oh, and that reminds me... on nurses who call docs to come put in iv when they can't get it. What do i do? i call someone in the ED or ICU,
Thats being resourceful! We ER nurses love hard sticks- i think it is an ego thing =P so its a win win situation! :love:
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gluon999 said:
1) CRNA training is only 2 years? LOL, Anesthesiologists train for at least 8 years (not including undergrad/research/fellowships).
2) Do they (CRNA) even take call at all during training? Working an 8 hour day is not called residency.
3) They don't do a preliminary medicine/surgery year where interns take Q3-Q5 28 hour call.
4) Same above argument for NP training.

I am not going to engage in any further debates about MDs vs.CRNAs, I'll leave that to the Anesthesia forum.
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:thumbup:

zebalong said:
I applied majoring in biology in order to get into school, but i am not going to complete it, it just allowed me to take the necessary courses in order to apply - which im doing this year. Good luck!

Funny thing about the NP/MD debate... in one of my interviews i had to convince a medical student about the limitations of a NP career vs. MD... even so im not exactly sure if he really agreed with me, i think i spent over 15 minutes on this topic and in the end i was really really sweating bricks :scared: because this was my top choice school and i REALLY wanted to convince him that i had a stellar reasons for wanting to go to medical school. The faculty interview that happened right after on the other hand, I told him the same way i told the medical student and he nodded his head and voiced his agreement with me.... NP's are very limited in the acute care field and even more in acute care/clinical teaching/clinical research. And their abilities to practice autonomously really is state dependent. And i think it really sucks that you have to choose your specialty right at the begining FNP/Women's Health/ACNP/CRNA/geriatrics...
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Most nurse anesthetist programs are 2.5 or > though less than 3 usually. The money isn't at all bad--sometimes as much if not in some cases more than a fam practice physician. It depends on whether it is what you want.

If you want to be a part of another entirely different profession and have more autonomy, then CRNA is not what you want--and NP probably isn't either. I'm not knocking any of it, and I've ben a critical care RN for more years than I can to say.

I've done a lot in critical care. Bottom line, it is a totally different profession (I have my own views about that as a nurse but I will not expound upon that here.) and you will never have the autonomy that a physician has as a nurse--not even as an advanced practice nurse of some sort. CRNAs will still continue to practice under a DO/MD board certified anesthesiologist, period. Sure, there are some advanced practice nurses that make in-roads or have favor with docs and so they may have more autonomy, but at the end of the day, it's still a matter of them being nurses under the supervision of the physician, period.

There are points in certain areas where there is some cross-over, but by and large a physician is a physician and a nurse is a nurse; and I don't see that changing.

And it's not simply about who is in charge and stroking on that. It's about functioning more autonomously on the behalf of your patients. It's about taking on a role that will also allow you to do more rather than being side-tracked by soooooo many other things, that, while those other things are quite important--especially to the patient and family--they can't help but take you away from honing in on the core reason they are in need of care/treatment in the first place. A nurse, even in advanced care, etc, in many ways has to function as a jack-of-all-trades many times. It can get in the way of focus. I'm there for the patient and family, but I want to keep my focus on essentially what's going on with them that brought them to seek evaluation and treament in the first place. Trust me. There are just way too many things to side track you in nursing IMHO.
 
RN2MD0730 said:
I have been staring at that nice patch of seemingly greener grass where the occupants have nice white coats.
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:laugh::laugh::laugh:


You have a great GPA. I barely have experience with traditional pre med applications let alone nontrads,. but I wish you the best of luck! and I'm sure you'll be fine
 
Thanks for all of the input folks. I have been really looking into the other threads as well...especially about the CC issue. I think I will just do the pre-meds at the CC and keep that GPA up. I think I have a real good explaination as to why I am going down this path. If a school doesn't want to take my due to the pre-med coursework being accomplished at a CC, then to heck with them and move on :) I appreciate all your help.
 
RN2MD0730 said:
Thanks for all of the input folks. I have been really looking into the other threads as well...especially about the CC issue. I think I will just do the pre-meds at the CC and keep that GPA up. I think I have a real good explaination as to why I am going down this path. If a school doesn't want to take my due to the pre-med coursework being accomplished at a CC, then to heck with them and move on :) I appreciate all your help.
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Just a suggestion RN2MD. . .,

If you have to take a lot of your science prereqs at a community college, at least try to take some upper level science courses at a university. I've been part of this debate at other sites regarding quality of educ w/ CC versus universities, and the truth is it all depends and can vary--and mostly depends on the professor/instructor IMHO.

If you get a TA at some university b/c your prof is off fulfilling his research grant requirements or working on getting published, who is to say that TA is any better at teaching the essentials than the professor at a reputable CC.

I would check though to see if other universities would consider the particular CC sciences courses as transferrable/acceptable. And you also have to get the insight of the particular med schools you may be applying to.

I'd hedge my bet if money and availability and time were factors. I'd take the basic fully equivalent, transferable sciences at a CC where that is shown from other universities to be so, and then I'd take upper level sciences at the university--or at least take physics II and o chems at the university.

Good luck to you!
 
jl lin said:
you will never have the autonomy that a physician has as a nurse--not even as an advanced practice nurse of some sort.
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jil lin, I completely agree with you on this. I've been an RN for 4 years and am really tired of the lack of autonomy of nurses, this is one of the reasons why I want to be an MD. At my work, this gets really ridiculous, I can't even put an ice pack without an MD's order! This gets really frustrating that with every move that I make I need an MD behind me. :bang:
 
RN wants 2 B MD said:
jil lin, I completely agree with you on this. I've been an RN for 4 years and am really tired of the lack of autonomy of nurses, this is one of the reasons why I want to be an MD. At my work, this gets really ridiculous, I can't even put an ice pack without an MD's order! This gets really frustrating that with every move that I make I need an MD behind me. :bang:
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Hi. Sorry I just got back to this thead. Lost track of it.

Anyway, first I'd like to say that I don't think anyone ever has total autonomy--at least not all the time. There is always someone to go through or to answer to. Even when you get into a practice this can be an issue. Some docs from the past have gotten too heady and controlling about this kind of thing. I think the trend is and pretty much should be to work cooperatively with other docs, nurses, multidisciplines.

The docs that are there for the best reasons and are more humble just get so much more admiration and respect. It just makes sense.

Sure sometimes you might have to stand your ground; but I see how CT surgery will go this way and want control things with a kid, and they might get into craziness tug-of-war with the critical c. intensivist or vice versa. It can ugly at times; especially for the patient. I mean sometimes it's not reasonable to put a kid on ECMO when their pupils are blown out, and they are bleeding from every orifice and there's no getting them to clot. The patient should count more than M&Ms and the opportunity for learning how to more effectively run a code and set up for ECMO.





Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you have talked to other nurses that have been down this path and if they had any real issues or concerns with working as a RN during med school or during residency?

If you are working as a RN and say you are in your residency, what is the real potential for being held to a higher standard of practice--that of a physician--should something go wrong?

I find some fault with this argument, unless the nurse was practicing as an idiot. If you are not the patient's doctor and something goes wrong, you are going to do all within your power to correct it under the scope of practice as a RN or say, a critical care RN--since CCRNs can be held to a higher standard of practice than say RNs that work in other areas.

I know it could potentially get sticky, but mostly isn't this just going out there in terms of everyday reality? How many times would I be working in a unit as a RN and the patient develops a pneumothorax, and then there is no physician on staff that would come and deal with it on that level--like put in a chest tube or pneumo cath????

Believe it or not, I once worked in the OHS unit where we had to contact the CT surgeons at home after OR hours and after their pts were initiall admitted to us out of the OR for recovery. The way they ran things was foolish IMHO. At that place, there were no CT fellows or residents to cover the unit directly on off hours. But with most of the CT surgeons, it was fine; b/c you'd call them at home--and it better be serious (They had lots of standing protocol orders.) So often enough, if it was something serious enough not covered on the standing orders, they'd come in from home to eval the pt. But


However, there were two that would NOT come in, even when the patient was dumping 100-200 mls of blood per hour out their cts--or giving us an augmented pressure of 30 on the IABP.

For one pt that was dumping far above what was covered on the protoco orders, it was actually a pain to get the poor cardiology fellow covering the other units to come and give me more blood replacement orders and more labs and other things like IV DDAVP--w/ proper evaluation. This one CT surgeon I really wanted to kill when he told me he was not coming in and he was not taking the pt back to the OR. He stressed me so much, I have no idea what ridiculous level my BP was, but I couldn't worry about it; b/c my goal was to keep that poor pt from dying on me. (Interestingly enough this surgeon left surgery relatively young, and that's all I will say about that.)
Trust me, thankfully this is an atypical experience for me with CT surgery. . .thank you God.

And bless the wonderful cardiology fellow for coming up, evaluating the patient, and giving me orders for the pt--and helping me keep the pt alive--even though he was so swamped. I felt so bad for him; but he was truly a great person and a great doc. If it wasn't for him, my hands being tied, that pt, young as the pt was, stood the most probable chance of dying.

So I can see what could potentially go wrong. But usually in the better places I've worked, there are skilled and competent CT fellows or appropriate physicians covering.




At any rate, as CCRN then, even if I were a resident physician in said institution, I am covered to function under the standard of practice as a CCRN, period. I mean I know a number of things to do when patients run into trouble. It doesn't mean I can just do those things for God's sake. So in reality, what is the difference? I mean even if working as physician-resident in IM, I would not be trained/educated/experienced in taking a bleeding pt back to the OR, finding the bleed, and repairing it.

So if you use sound judgment, period, what is the problem in general in working somewhere else as a RN while you are a resident--I mean beyond the residency contract and state reg rules?
 
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RN2MD0730 said:
Thanks for all of the input folks. I have been really looking into the other threads as well...especially about the CC issue. I think I will just do the pre-meds at the CC and keep that GPA up. I think I have a real good explaination as to why I am going down this path. If a school doesn't want to take my due to the pre-med coursework being accomplished at a CC, then to heck with them and move on :) I appreciate all your help.
Click to expand...

very good luck to you! i'm a 3yr BSN myself and i had no problem getting into med school and your gpa is better than mine was so keep on keepin on. you'll enjoy med school and i'm sure you'll be a great MD!
 
RN2MD0730 said:
Hello all. This is my first time ever joining a student networking forum, so please, forgive me for any amateur-type questions I may have. Here's the deal. I am 27 years old, have a wife, two daughters (ages 1.5 & 2.5), and am currently an RN (and have been for almost two years). I have been staring at that nice patch of seemingly greener grass where the occupants have nice white coats. I feel, as I have seen by these threads that many others have been at this point, that I have a stronger calling than being an RN. I will have my BSN this fall, 2009, I have a 3.875 GPA, and an almost non-existent comprehension of time (an hour could go by and I would think it's only been 10 minutes or so :p). The problem I am having is with my pre-meds. I live very close to University of Florida and have been denied acceptance there for the pre-meds because I already have (well, I will in a couple of months) a bachelor’s degree in nursing and UF doesn't have any post bac options for aspiring med school students (especially us non-traditionals). I can't move because we just bought a house a year and a half ago...and there's a snowflake's chance in you know where that we'll be able to get what it's worth (or even paid for)! This leaves me with no other option than my local community college...which I have seen mixed reviews about as far as medical college acceptance goes! Does anyone think I have a good enough story to a committee? Any advice on my present situation, or strong words of encouragement? I am going to do this, but am just wanting some feedback from others that have possibly been in a similar situation, or had a friend of a friend in a similar situation?

I must also note that I love school, I love learning, and I love helping others...but nursing leaves me feeling at the mercy of others (doctors). I want more of that addictive feeling which comes from helping others improve their life...and I think being an MD can give me that fix!

I have my wife beside me and future ahead of me, all I need now is a little input about the road ahead from people who have been there and done that (or doing that right now)!

Thank you all for the great wealth of information I have found on these threads so far. I just wanted to try a little post of my own and get to physically interact with some other people going through the same experiences as I am.
Click to expand...

Well, the first question is why isn't nursing enough for you? That's not my question at all, but it's a question you will be asked down the road, and you need to have a great answer prepared. I worked in the medical field and I've been told that the "why not NP" question will be asked. I find it tricky, since NP's do ALMOST everything a physician does, but with a different flavor.

Back to your question, I wouldn't worry about what people here (or on other networks) say is "good enough." Community college classes can be more demanding than their equivalents at "respected four-year schools," in my experience. If you're in a situation where studying at a CC is your only option, I'd say that being able to assert that fact when applying to medical school will only work in your favor.

I need to know more, but telling med schools that you achieved your BSN but couldn't do med school pre-reqs at a four-year university will further sustantiate your decision to go to a CC.

When they ask you why you chose medicine over a career in nursing, make sure you have a great answer. If asked this now, how would you answer?
 
I must admit I haven't read all the responses in the thread because I'm lazy. :D

That being said, posters are right, you work with what you have. CC is not that bad of a thing. Regardless of whether it looks "better" to go University what your really looking for is an acceptance, not necessarily "looking better" (semantics I know, but it holds truth). I did nearly all of my pre-reqs at a CC some even while attending my University. Never got asked once in any interview, not once.

You do need to get A's, but just go with what you have and you do have a great explanation if asked anyway. I have 3 MD acceptances and so I can't say the CC thing look all that bad. You BSN and experience will overshadow the CC anyway. I think you have a great chance, go for it!!
 
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