Neonatologist vs. Neonatal Nurse Practioner

[kkastell]

Hi Everyone,
I just graduated with a bachelor's degree in bio/pre-med and was accepted to medical school. I am supposed to start this fall but am having some anxiety about my situation. I am very interested in Neonatology but have shadowed a neonatologist and she said the job is very demanding and she can work up to 120 hours a week when she is on service so now I am debating if I should go to medical school or become a Neonatal Nurse Practioner? I am engaged and would eventually like to start a family but am in no rush. Just looking for some feedback...I would love to hear what you all think!
THanks!!!

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[oldbearprofessor]

Becoming a neonatologist requires 3 years of pediatric residency followed by a 3 year neonatology fellowship. Most but not all neonatologists will work nights throughout most of their career. This can be call from home in smaller NICUs or in-house at bigger ones.

There are neonatologists who work part-time, there are neonatologists who work 40-50 hours/wk full-time and there are neonatologists who work 120 hours/week. I've never actually met a neonatologist who worked 120 hours/week every week but I suppose they exist. The number of hours you work will depend on a lot of factors, not the least of which is academic vs private practice.

About 1/2 of neonatologists are women (compared to 70% of all pediatricians) and among those I know about, the overwhelming majority of the women have spouses and most of these have kids.

I would generally rank neonatology as one of the more challenging and time-intensive ways to be a pediatrician or pediatric specialist, but I don't really find the lifestyle that bad and I don't believe it is incompatible with a good family life.

Neonatal nurse practioners will also often work at night, but generally will be limited to 35-50 hours/week of working. They will make a good salary for nurses, but not nearly as much as a neonatologist. NNPs have a fairly high stress job as many do critical transports without physician accompanyment or are covering NICUs at night without attending physician in-house coverage.

Any F/U from me in the neonatology forum a more appropriate place to discuss this comparison.

 

[Psych1985]

Hi Everyone,
I just graduated with a bachelor's degree in bio/pre-med and was accepted to medical school. I am supposed to start this fall but am having some anxiety about my situation. I am very interested in Neonatology but have shadowed a neonatologist and she said the job is very demanding and she can work up to 120 hours a week when she is on service so now I am debating if I should go to medical school or become a Neonatal Nurse Practioner? I am engaged and would eventually like to start a family but am in no rush. Just looking for some feedback...I would love to hear what you all think!
THanks!!!

You'll need to think about many different things. First you are already accepted to medical school, you are on your way. 4 years of that and don't know much about the residency but probably 4-5 years? 8-9 years total. I assume if you are engaged you would have children during this time.

To become a CRNP you will first need to become an RN. Which means you can do an accelerated BSN program that will take about 15months. Then you will need to work as an RN for a while before most NP programs would take you (and the majority of them require you to work while studying). I highly doubt you would be able to jump right in to neonatology as a new NP and would need experience working first. I would guess this all would all take about 10 years maybe 9 depending on experience requirements for the NP program.

Are you 110% certain that you want neonatology? Probably not. If you were to go to medical school you might find something else that is equally interesting and rewarding to you that would be less demanding of your time.

Nursing is also a VERY different experience than being a doctor. It is extremely hands on. You need to be prepared to deal with people in a way that no doctor ever experiences and care for them in ways a doctor does not and can not.

You have spent your undergraduate career working towards becoming a physician, not a nurse. Be prepared to have possible feelings of regret if you choose the NP route.

No one can make this decision except for you. These are just a few things for you to think about in making your decision. Make sure you do extremely extensive research on BS-to-BSN programs and CRNP programs that you would be interested in as well. Take into account location and availability, amount of time to complete programs, your desire to actually work as a nurse, etc.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Neonatology is definitely one of the most time-intensive fields that I have seen. Even as a medical student, I hated the hours when on that service.

I have to agree with the above poster however that you don't know what field is for you until you do medical school. Before medical school, I was set on Emergency Medicine. Now, it isn't in the Top 3 on my list.

 

[kkastell]

Thank you all so much you have given me a lot to think about.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Just to reiterate the point of not knowing for sure what is best for you yet, maybe these feelings are that you should possibly consider other specialties rather than considering other neonatology routes. You will sort it out in medical school whether this is the specialty for you. If not, you will find one that fits you better. That's the beauty of medicine.

 

[MossPoh]

You will seriously change your mind a million times during med school. You might come full circle, but it will be a process to get there. Hell, every day I change my mind what I like and I'm only in anatomy.

 

[Dr 14220]

Im trying to make a similar decision. Im currently a PA student and absolutely love neonatology. I fully intend on finishing my PA program-but cant decide if it would be worth it to do med school + peds residency + neonatal fellowship afterwards, or just practice as a neonatal PA. Its not so much the time that i worry about, but the debt i would incur as well as the money lost by not working as a PA during that time. As a 23 year old, it wouldnt even be about the money either, except that I have a wife and daughter to worry about (although my "spouse" is a PICU nurse and makes a decent income). decisions, decisions.