Nurse practitioner to M.D. Advice?

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

I am currently a nurse practitioner student. I am about halfway through my program. I realize now that medicine is where I belong and feel unfulfilled in the nursing sector of patient care. I will not drop out of my current program. However, I do plan on taking some pre-reqs for medical school before I graduate. I am curious if anybody knows of any nurse practitioners who went to medical school? Also, I did take physics I and II and chemistry I back in 2007. I did not do well mainly because I did not study and I wasn't interested in school at 18 years old. Would it reflect poorly on me if I retake those classes?

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[Prncssbuttercup]

1, Why? Why do you want to be a doc instead of an NP
2, You will likely need to retake those classes for pre-reqs for med school, they are required pre-reqs and needed for the MCAT.

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

I feel I am doing myself a disservice if I do not at least try to become a doctor. When I started college, going to medical school was always in the back of my mind. I did not think I was good enough.
In more than a few of the classes I have taken in the nurse practitioner program I have asked questions about the material and the professors have responded "Oh, you don't have to know that. That is for the doctor to know. Nurse practitioners treat the horse, the zebra is for the doctor." I want the knowledge to treat those patients. I want the autonomy and the option to specialize.

 

[Goro]

My wife and I had a NP for our Primary Care provider for many years and loved her. I suggest that you stick with what you're doing, and you can pretty do what a doctor does, without a lot of the hassle and debt.

I am currently a nurse practitioner student. I am about halfway through my program. I realize now that medicine is where I belong and feel unfulfilled in the nursing sector of patient care. I will not drop out of my current program. However, I do plan on taking some pre-reqs for medical school before I graduate. I am curious if anybody knows of any nurse practitioners who went to medical school? Also, I did take physics I and II and chemistry I back in 2007. I did not do well mainly because I did not study and I wasn't interested in school at 18 years old. Would it reflect poorly on me if I retake those classes?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

My wife and I had a NP for our Primary Care provider for many years and loved her. I suggest that you stick with what you're doing, and you can pretty do what a doctor does, without a lot of the hassle and debt.

You can do many things that a doctor does, but you're not a doctor. It's not about the status or the title but instead the knowledge base and experience. I think if if he/she wants to go to medical school for the right reasons (more responsibility and greater knowledge), they should.

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

You can do many things that a doctor does, but you're not a doctor. It's not about the status or the title but instead the knowledge base and experience. I think if if he/she wants to go to medical school for the right reasons (more responsibility and greater knowledge), they should.

Exactly.

 

[ridethecliche]

Redoing classes is fine for DO. I'd concentrate on that. The bump is much more challenging in MD Apps.

 

[jl lin]

Exactly.

Goro's point: What you are on is the path of least resistance and least expense. I feel for you.

If you still want medicine, are you open to DO? Reason: They'll take your retakes and replace the better grades--and MCAT scores don't have to be quite as competitive as MD programs.
MD programs will average GPA and you need to try to get over a 30 or whatever the equivalent will be with the new MCAT. If you are stuck on MD, well, IDK, SMP or something similar (see PB forum). You have to do all A's and then, the enhancer programs are time-consuming, expensive, and risky--w/o anything close to a guarantee. Hate using the trite, but "It is what it is."

 

[Goro]

See buttercup's post then.

Exactly.

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

Goro's point: It's the path of least resistance and least expense.

If you still want medicine, are you open to DO?

I am definitely open to DO. My goal is to be an intensivist. I am open to which ever path will get me there.

 

[jl lin]

I am definitely open to DO. My goal is to be an intensivist. I am open to which ever path will get me there.

Cool, but as with pretty much the rest of us, either way, as the idiom goes, "the work is cut out for you." There is no easy, fast, or even totally painless path. And by painless, I include extreme expense, time, stress, loss of sleep, balancing social relationships, juggling a zillion things while jumping through a lot of hoops. I just think that the chances of admission to DO may be a little less painful in terms of entrance--and even that depends. After that, the pain really begins, regardless of which path you choose. The notion that the easiest part of becoming a physician is getting into MS is inaccurate.

Yes, it's hard no matter what. But after that, the pain progressively increases--kind of like labor. Then you get through labor, and you have the work of healing and taking great care of this individual while juggling a host of other things, which is quite exhausting.

But to continue with the analogy, I'll take the agony of non-analgesic labor and those last few minutes of searing pain of delivery, or the pain of healing after an emergent C-section and associated spinal fluid depletion--worse than the worst hangover EVER, or even staying up night after night with a sick child over adolescents--and I love teens. But I'm a little nuts, so. . . But, wow. Teens can be a whole other brand of pain--depending upon the kid. LOL

Point is, it goes on--it's not benign. It's not like getting into MS is a one and done kind of thing.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I think at least you should be an NP for a while before deciding to take on hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. You may like it more than you think, & it will give you the chance to save money.

 

[primadonna22274]

If you feel your education is lacking in comprehensiveness now, you will most definitely feel it in practice. I knew 3 mos after graduating PA school that I wanted more education and more opportunity as a physician. Life kept getting in the way and I practiced 11 years before going back to med school. I am grateful for that time because I learned so much that I use now, and in many ways my experience made med school and board exams easier. Practically and economically, though, the whole process would have been much cheaper if I had tried to go back earlier or had gone directly to med school. It's not all that difficult to be a 40-yo intern--I keep up with my peers pretty well overall. But it's not so much fun to be resident-poor after 15 years of making a nice living...if you really think you want to go back, live simply, avoid unnecessary consumer debt and go back sooner than later. Go ahead and take those prereqs but by ALL means finish your NP education and earn good grades. Make professional friends who will write you strong letters of recommendation when you need them. I wish you the best.

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

If you feel your education is lacking in comprehensiveness now, you will most definitely feel it in practice. I knew 3 mos after graduating PA school that I wanted more education and more opportunity as a physician. Life kept getting in the way and I practiced 11 years before going back to med school. I am grateful for that time because I learned so much that I use now, and in many ways my experience made med school and board exams easier. Practically and economically, though, the whole process would have been much cheaper if I had tried to go back earlier or had gone directly to med school. It's not all that difficult to be a 40-yo intern--I keep up with my peers pretty well overall. But it's not so much fun to be resident-poor after 15 years of making a nice living...if you really think you want to go back, live simply, avoid unnecessary consumer debt and go back sooner than later. Go ahead and take those prereqs but by ALL means finish your NP education and earn good grades. Make professional friends who will write you strong letters of recommendation when you need them. I wish you the best.

Thank you for your input. I will finish grad school and take pre-reqs when I can fit them in. I have no doubt that I want to be a physician. I wish I had the confidence to pursue this path when I was younger. I am now 26, with 9 years of college under my belt.

 

[primadonna22274]

26 is nothing. I was 26 when I graduated PA school. Godspeed!

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

Would it be better for me to wait to take pre-reqs until I complete my current program or take classes summer 2015/2016 prior to graduating?

 

[primadonna22274]

I would not take them until you are confident you will have the time to dedicate to doing well. You want strong grades--be patient.

 

[QofQuimica]

I think at least you should be an NP for a while before deciding to take on hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. You may like it more than you think, & it will give you the chance to save money.

Agree. Keep in mind too that the grass always looks greener on other people's lawns. I think a lot of premeds greatly overestimate how much knowledge and autonomy doctors really have. If you really love the intellectual aspects of medicine, you ought to be considering a PhD, not an MD. Coming from that background myself, I find the lack of intellectual curiosity among physicians to be rather astounding.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Agree. Keep in mind too that the grass always looks greener on other people's lawns. I think a lot of premeds greatly overestimate how much knowledge and autonomy doctors really have. If you really love the intellectual aspects of medicine, you ought to be considering a PhD, not an MD. Coming from that background myself, I find the lack of intellectual curiosity among physicians to be rather astounding.

I thought this was mainly just my classmates. That's sad to hear. I guess most of med school is geared toward memorizing champions.

 

[QofQuimica]

I thought this was mainly just my classmates. That's sad to hear. I guess most of med school is geared toward memorizing champions.

Correct. The laws of economics apply everywhere, including in medicine. People coming out of residency understandably care more about making money to pay off their debt and support their families, not learning for the sake of learning. More senior docs care about paying for their upper middle class lifestyle and retirement. Unfortunately, no one pays you more for being intellectually curious.

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

I would not take them until you are confident you will have the time to dedicate to doing well. You want strong grades--be patient.

I am curious, do you think it is a waste of time for me to finish my nurse practitioner degree or should I be focusing on pre-med classes?

 

[primadonna22274]

Nope. Please don't quit your NP degree unless you truly can't afford to finish it. Adcoms are likely to think you're flighty if you start something and don't finish it.

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

Nope. Please don't quit your NP degree unless you truly can't afford to finish it. Adcoms are likely to think you're flighty if you start something and don't finish it.

Okay, that's what I figured. I can afford it and I do not want to make myself look bad or flighty. Plus the classes are enjoyable and even though I am not learning the information to the depth I had hoped, I am learning. Also, I will get the opportunity to shadow physicians for 600+ hours.

 

[primadonna22274]

I hope you do a whole lot more than SHADOW!!! Eek!

 

[NursepractitionertoM.D.]

I hope you do a whole lot more than SHADOW!!! Eek!

Oh yes, we get hands on clinical experience. I shouldn't have said "shadowing."

 

[HopefulDoc16]

I am a practicing NP in the ED, now a soon to be med student. For me as well med school was my original goal but life got in the way. I understand completely where youre coming from. If youre anything like me, you will never be fulfilled until you at least try. I currently have 4 DO acceptances for next year and waiting to hear back from 2 well-known MD schools post-interview. I am non-trad with 2 young kids, EMT, RN and NP experience and the adcoms have been eating it up.. good luck, PM me for any advice.

 

[drea561]

I am a practicing NP in the ED, now a soon to be med student. For me as well med school was my original goal but life got in the way. I understand completely where youre coming from. If youre anything like me, you will never be fulfilled until you at least try. I currently have 4 DO acceptances for next year and waiting to hear back from 2 well-known MD schools post-interview. I am non-trad with 2 young kids, EMT, RN and NP experience and the adcoms have been eating it up.. good luck, PM me for any advice.

I am so happy to see this post. I'm 25 and just starting to go back to college, my first attempt didn't work out great I had a 2.1 gpa and was considering going to nursing school but I know in my gut that I want to be a doctor.

I figured that I'd work a few years as an run then do pre reqs for med school and apply after, then after agonizing over it for months I decided that I would be better just finishing my bachelor's and go Med school from there. I know there is a long road ahead of me but have made up my mind to just go for it.

 

[futuremdforme]

I am a practicing NP in the ED, now a soon to be med student. For me as well med school was my original goal but life got in the way. I understand completely where youre coming from. If youre anything like me, you will never be fulfilled until you at least try. I currently have 4 DO acceptances for next year and waiting to hear back from 2 well-known MD schools post-interview. I am non-trad with 2 young kids, EMT, RN and NP experience and the adcoms have been eating it up.. good luck, PM me for any advice.

Congrats!

 

[NYCGuy86]

Interesting reading this thread. I'm not even done with nursing school yet (2 more semesters) and I keep thinking about the possibility of medical school in the future. I did poorly in my first degree (pretty immature), redid Bio I and II, Chem I and II, A&P I and II, and got all As. Ended up going to nursing school, mostly because it was quicker, and I do have interest in nursing. I'm considering NP school in the future (after paying off some of this debt I have), but what I really want is the depth of knowledge that comes from med school and residency. I really want that deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc that doesn't come with nursing/NP school. And of course the complete autonomy is something I think about (I'm not interested in primary care).

I'm thinking if I take Orgo I and II, Physics I and II, Biochem I, and a couple other classes, maybe I could apply to DO schools by...age 35-6 (maybe sooner)? Was thinking I'd be too old, but now I'm reading about people in their 40s in med school, so I'm a little bit more open to at least trying. Finances are also a consideration though, not sure how it would be feasible, but I haven't really looked into it yet.

Anyway, great thread.

 

[Prettypuff1]

IDk why there is this idea that strong applicants can't come from different walks of life and have different life experiences..

Honestly if you want to be a doctor be a doctor. dont settle for anything less than that. I would consider how much time you have in your program and craft a plan from there.. For example, are there any medical schools in the area looking to hire NPs? consider picking up a position there and getting to know some faculty/MDs that can help you out with apps/ questions.

But yes i think it is doable
I would not get a PhD at all, not in the medical sciences, because ant the end of the day, its designed totally differently than medical school.