rn-md

[nathansackett@e]

Hey All,
So here is my situation. I am a new RN working at a large hospital in California. I was an anthropology undergrad with a very good gpa who went back to school to a masters entry program to be an NP. i have a lot of volunteerism under my belt locally andinternationally. but it has been seemingly more and more obvious that i need to go to medical school. this means 2 more years of school from a pre-med program. arg.
as a nurse, i was hoping to work and possible link up with a doctor and try to do some research with him/her in the next year while i did the premed program. i am volunteering at a needle exchange and hope to continue this as well. besides the obvious (good grades in the pre-med program, high MCAT scores) is there anything else i should be working on? how important is it that i do research? will the fact that i am an RN hinder my chances?
thanks,
school'in for life

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[Luck]

I would encourage you to look into osteopathic medical schools. They are very receptive to non-traditional types and accept people with a bit lower stats.

 

[Paws]

I have heard that nurses are sometimes predjudiced against in the application process but I would geuss that might come from their applications, not from just being a nurse. What I mean is, what kind of nusing is the person doing? are they in charge of the ER or an ICU? Do they have great experience and is the rest of their application strong?

Each person is so different and so are the schools in what they look for. If you truly like doing what you're doing for now, then that will show through as a natural progression in your application. I would not worry too much about whether schools will not like it - they love good applicants! - but just enjoy your experiences and let that come through when you apply.

 

[Termwean]

RN,
Don't worry, schools love people that have a background in medicine, and that are more mature. You will have a great app if you are JUST competitive with MCAT...apply to state schools, unless your official residence is cali....then apply to Vermont...

 

[Hopegirl]

I am looking at doing a Masters Entry Program at USD. I assume you went to SFSU? May I ask why you are thinking of switching from nursing to medicine? I am having thoughts of bypassing nursing altogether and going straight to med school.

TIA!-HG

Hey All,
So here is my situation. I am a new RN working at a large hospital in California. I was an anthropology undergrad with a very good gpa who went back to school to a masters entry program to be an NP. i have a lot of volunteerism under my belt locally andinternationally. but it has been seemingly more and more obvious that i need to go to medical school. this means 2 more years of school from a pre-med program. arg.
as a nurse, i was hoping to work and possible link up with a doctor and try to do some research with him/her in the next year while i did the premed program. i am volunteering at a needle exchange and hope to continue this as well. besides the obvious (good grades in the pre-med program, high MCAT scores) is there anything else i should be working on? how important is it that i do research? will the fact that i am an RN hinder my chances?
thanks,
school'in for life

 

[nathansackett@e]

I am looking at doing a Masters Entry Program at USD. I assume you went to SFSU? May I ask why you are thinking of switching from nursing to medicine? I am having thoughts of bypassing nursing altogether and going straight to med school.

TIA!-HG

i actually was at UCSF, and if you are thinking at all of medicine, do not do nursing. i think i chose nursing for the wrong reasons, because i was interested in medicine but didn't have the focus or the confidence. what needs to be understood about nursing is that it is very different than medicine. it looks at patients response to the treatment, symptom management, chronic illness and other like issues. it is a great field, don't get me wrong- but i think it is a dis-service to enter the field of nursing if you really want to be a doc, because it will become glaringly obvious quickly. enter nursing because you beleive in nursing goals.
e-mail me a personal e-mail if you want more so we can get off the forum.
good luck,
nathan

 

[bearpaw]

i think you'd be wasting alot of time going to medical school now, but whatever. I was interviewed by an RN at a med school (she was a fugly 1st year).

Research is not important for you. You have life experience, which is fine. Research is what people who want to do academics or have nothing else to do do.

Hey All,
So here is my situation. I am a new RN working at a large hospital in California. I was an anthropology undergrad with a very good gpa who went back to school to a masters entry program to be an NP. i have a lot of volunteerism under my belt locally andinternationally. but it has been seemingly more and more obvious that i need to go to medical school. this means 2 more years of school from a pre-med program. arg.
as a nurse, i was hoping to work and possible link up with a doctor and try to do some research with him/her in the next year while i did the premed program. i am volunteering at a needle exchange and hope to continue this as well. besides the obvious (good grades in the pre-med program, high MCAT scores) is there anything else i should be working on? how important is it that i do research? will the fact that i am an RN hinder my chances?
thanks,
school'in for life

 

[skypilot]

As long as you can get good numbers you will be golden. As a nurse you will be able to write a personal statement that will make the reader cry...... and admit you.

 

[LJoo83]

enter nursing because you beleive in nursing goals.
nathan

what are nursing goals vs. medicine goals?

 

[mamaMD]

I think you should do it

I spent the last 2 years completing my BSN pre-req's and applied for Nursing school for this fall. I revoked my application and continued on down the pre-med road and have not been happier. It is very true that Nursing is not Medicine and I think a lot of people (myself almost) go into nursing thinking it is the 'easy road into medicine'. Though they are both *equally* important they are also both very different fields, I don't think a lot of people realize that.

I am no expert but I think you would have a great application and ovioulsy you are in the health care field with lots of patient contact. My child's ped was an RN and then went into medicine and only applied to one school at the age of 37 and got accepted. She is the BEST doctor EVER because of her nursing background, she didn't have outstanding MCAT or GPA (3.5) or any research either.

Marilyn

 

[nathansackett@e]

what are nursing goals vs. medicine goals?

nursing is symptom management and looking at how the patient response to treatment, ie- cancer and chemo. nurses look at reactions to chemo, issues around not eating, loss of hair, change in family structure, issues from being in bed all day etc. very important stuff.

medicine goals are treatment of disease.
both very important and need to be addressed. too many people do not know the difference.
cheers,
nathan

 

[nathansackett@e]

I think you should do it

I spent the last 2 years completing my BSN pre-req's and applied for Nursing school for this fall. I revoked my application and continued on down the pre-med road and have not been happier. It is very true that Nursing is not Medicine and I think a lot of people (myself almost) go into nursing thinking it is the 'easy road into medicine'. Though they are both *equally* important they are also both very different fields, I don't think a lot of people realize that.

I am no expert but I think you would have a great application and ovioulsy you are in the health care field with lots of patient contact. My child's ped was an RN and then went into medicine and only applied to one school at the age of 37 and got accepted. She is the BEST doctor EVER because of her nursing background, she didn't have outstanding MCAT or GPA (3.5) or any research either.

Marilyn

thanks for the words of encouragement. best of luck to you and your goals!!
nathan

 

[nathansackett@e]

i think you'd be wasting alot of time going to medical school now, but whatever. I was interviewed by an RN at a med school (she was a fugly 1st year).

Research is not important for you. You have life experience, which is fine. Research is what people who want to do academics or have nothing else to do do.

why do you think i would be wasting alot of time by going to medical school?

 

[greggth]

will the fact that i am an RN hinder my chances?

The current Surgeon General of the United States is both an RN and an MD.

 

[Hopegirl]

The current Surgeon General of the United States is both an RN and an MD.

Interesting fact! Thanks!

 

[abeybaby]

I have never replied to any of these postings so I hope this ends up in the right place! I am also an RN applying to medical school for 2005. I think being a nurse will definately benefit you because you know first hand what it is like to work with patients as well as the roles a physician has in the hospital (but that is coming from me and not from an admissions staff member). I do know certain schools that "like" nurses such as GW and Upstate so maybe some research will help you choose schools that will appreciate the fact that you are a nurse. I think the main factor will be how you explain why you wanted to change from nursing to medicine which you can/should address in your personal statement (I am a little concerned about this because you definately cant say patient care!). Also, I had no problem finding research position as a nurse. You still will have taken the sciences that everyone else has had to take and have hands on medical experience to top it off. good luck with everything!