- Joined
- Jan 22, 2008
- Messages
- 18
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Hi all. I am having a personal conflict right now and I figured getting some fresh new perspective on it from people that don't know me and thus won't have a bias would be helpful.
I currently work as a nurse practitioner in family practice. I have been accepted to a PhD in nursing program to start in the fall, which is great, but I am conflicted over if that is the route I'd want to take rather than completing the rest of my prerequisites and going to med school. I've only been an NP for a year, but I find myself with a strong desire to know more. I have multiple med school textbooks that I've bought and read as I've had many friends in med school and I found their texts engaging.
I guess what it boils down to is time to complete either, and potentially debt. I do have debt from my undergrad and graduate programs that are easily managed on my current salary. I've only completed two semesters of general biology as far as prerequisites go, so I'd have to do the chemistry and physics sequences as well (I've done calculus/statistics already). My graduate GPA was 3.8 or so, and my science GPA is about a 3.7, and I've taken graduate level biology classes and pharmacology.
If I go the med school route, I'd have to take my prerequisites at a community college here in Chicago as UIC does not offer night classes, and other schools are cost prohibitive (I am supporting myself and my partner on my salary). What do you all think? Would it be worth it to start finishing prereqs this summer and apply for 2016 or 2017? I feel like even if I go the PhD route and focus on a physiological area of research, it won't advance me clinically in any way or give me more responsibilities or greater autonomy in practice, and I find myself drawn to things such as surgery/transplant medicine which as an NP are fairly difficult to do. Thoughts?
I currently work as a nurse practitioner in family practice. I have been accepted to a PhD in nursing program to start in the fall, which is great, but I am conflicted over if that is the route I'd want to take rather than completing the rest of my prerequisites and going to med school. I've only been an NP for a year, but I find myself with a strong desire to know more. I have multiple med school textbooks that I've bought and read as I've had many friends in med school and I found their texts engaging.
I guess what it boils down to is time to complete either, and potentially debt. I do have debt from my undergrad and graduate programs that are easily managed on my current salary. I've only completed two semesters of general biology as far as prerequisites go, so I'd have to do the chemistry and physics sequences as well (I've done calculus/statistics already). My graduate GPA was 3.8 or so, and my science GPA is about a 3.7, and I've taken graduate level biology classes and pharmacology.
If I go the med school route, I'd have to take my prerequisites at a community college here in Chicago as UIC does not offer night classes, and other schools are cost prohibitive (I am supporting myself and my partner on my salary). What do you all think? Would it be worth it to start finishing prereqs this summer and apply for 2016 or 2017? I feel like even if I go the PhD route and focus on a physiological area of research, it won't advance me clinically in any way or give me more responsibilities or greater autonomy in practice, and I find myself drawn to things such as surgery/transplant medicine which as an NP are fairly difficult to do. Thoughts?