Seeking advice. Any thoughts?

[skatertudoroga]

Hey I am a med school applicant. I have the numbers to get in. But last cycle I failed to get in because I failed my interviews. A simple explanation would be that I can't put 2 words together. While some of my specific problems might be that I occasionally "hesitate" or look scared when I am not prepared for some question. I am working on this right now. But who knows. Anyway I just today found out about this career as CRNA. I mean I knew about this before but I thought you'd have to start from the beginning, take a couple of years to get BSN and then work as a regular nurse,etc. But in columbia they have guaranteed entry where it would look like this:
Year1: get BSN-cost 60k
Year2: work as ICU nurse-get paid 60k
Years3-4: anesthesia.
Year5: get a job anywhere in usa at $150k/yr and 40hrs/wk.

So I understand some of the advantages of M.D. anesthesia are the following:
1. Get paid 3x as much. Can work in australia or canada where also get paid just as much.
2. M.D. title. But really #2 is nothing without #1.
3.??

So how much better is m.d. anesthesia? Btw I must say that I've recently decided that the only medical specialties I have interest in are noninvasive cardiology and anesthesia.

As for disadvantages:
I can live at minimal wage for 4yrs. But med school loans+residency would mean 9years (I am older than a typical premed). I cannot live like that, I would like to start a family earlier than 9 years from now. hence I would do a navy hpsp, which would put me about 11yrs post med school before I am free before I can make that $$. In that case my lifestyle would be comparable to crna after year 5 but it would take until year 15 before I could actually make significantly more money. I never plan ahead 15yrs. So if I compare these careers 10yrs ahead it seems that financially they would be even.. Yet it takes so much more effort to get the m.d.+anesthesia. I can fail at any step along the way...

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[InductionAgent]

So I understand some of the advantages of M.D. anesthesia are the following:
1. Get paid 3x as much. Can work in australia or canada where also get paid just as much.
2. M.D. title. But really #2 is nothing without #1.
3.??

If that's the way you feel, don't go to med school. What I value is not as much the title of being a physician. It's knowing that physicians, in general, push themselves and make sacrifices to be as knowledgeable and as skilled as possible. Other healthcare professionals are willing to sacrifice knowledge and training in exchange for having more time away from work and study. But if I saw no value in being a physician other than increased income (for now), it would not have been worth it to me. I enjoyed residency, not because I believed I was going to make more money later, but because as a resident I was starting to truly practice medicine and develop skills. So it didn't matter that I had over $200K debt and was making less than $45K a year. I was happy in the moment. If you can get into a fast-track CRNA program, that sounds like a better fit for you.

 

[pgg]

But med school loans+residency would mean 9years (I am older than a typical premed). I cannot live like that, I would like to start a family earlier than 9 years from now. hence I would do a navy hpsp, which would put me about 11yrs post med school before I am free before I can make that $$.

I won't comment on your misconceptions about the field and the silly CRNA vs anesthesiologist stuff.

As for the bolded part ... do yourself and everyone else in the Navy a favor and don't take HPSP unless you want to be in the military. I know it sounds braindead-******edly-obvious, but don't join the military unless you want to be in the military.

Spend some time in the milmed forum and everyone (no kidding, everyone) will tell you that accepting an HPSP position solely for the money is a recipe for misery ... and here you are, counting the days until you're "free" before you've even started.

I never plan ahead 15yrs.

You may wish to reconsider that ... this anti-plan is how people wake up one day and notice that they're old and haven't done anything worthwhile with their lives.

Most stuff worth doing is hard.

 

[Idiopathic]

yeah i took the mcat with a 3 week old and went to med school with a kid and am graduating residency tomorrow with a 9 year old and a 4 year old and you know what: i made it. in significant debt but with a good job and good pay by most anyones standards. its worth it.

if you are having this conversation with yourself now, what will you be saying when, in 5 years you are wishing you had gone a different way but then it will really be too late.

 

[skatertudoroga]

Thank you!

 

[notinkansas]

IF you can't put 2 words together, and get scared during interviews, you may very well have the same problem interviewing for CRNA school. And talking to patients.

Please don't go to medical school. If you think CRNA and MD are equivalent, except for the pesky medical school interview, then medicine is not for you.

 

[IlDestriero]

If you think CRNA and MD are equivalent, except for the pesky medical school interview, then medicine is not for you.

Or maybe you're the future...
See y'all up North or Down Under.

 

[Sergio99]

... this anti-plan is how people wake up one day and notice that they're old and haven't done anything worthwhile with their lives.

Most stuff worth doing is hard.

Hello,

If you are wise, you will heed these words of truth.

Greetings

 

[DRJ37]

If the only reasons you can think of to become a physician are the title and money, maybe there is a reason you didn't get into med school.

 

[hoyden]

Hey I am a med school applicant. I have the numbers to get in. But last cycle I failed to get in because I failed my interviews. A simple explanation would be that I can't put 2 words together. While some of my specific problems might be that I occasionally "hesitate" or look scared when I am not prepared for some question. I am working on this right now. But who knows. Anyway I just today found out about this career as CRNA. I mean I knew about this before but I thought you'd have to start from the beginning, take a couple of years to get BSN and then work as a regular nurse,etc. But in columbia they have guaranteed entry where it would look like this:
Year1: get BSN-cost 60k
Year2: work as ICU nurse-get paid 60k
Years3-4: anesthesia.
Year5: get a job anywhere in usa at $150k/yr and 40hrs/wk.

So I understand some of the advantages of M.D. anesthesia are the following:
1. Get paid 3x as much. Can work in australia or canada where also get paid just as much.
2. M.D. title. But really #2 is nothing without #1.
3.??

So how much better is m.d. anesthesia? Btw I must say that I've recently decided that the only medical specialties I have interest in are noninvasive cardiology and anesthesia.

As for disadvantages:
I can live at minimal wage for 4yrs. But med school loans+residency would mean 9years (I am older than a typical premed). I cannot live like that, I would like to start a family earlier than 9 years from now. hence I would do a navy hpsp, which would put me about 11yrs post med school before I am free before I can make that $$. In that case my lifestyle would be comparable to crna after year 5 but it would take until year 15 before I could actually make significantly more money. I never plan ahead 15yrs. So if I compare these careers 10yrs ahead it seems that financially they would be even.. Yet it takes so much more effort to get the m.d.+anesthesia. I can fail at any step along the way...

Depends on your previous education in your previous life...and your previous life experiences as well.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

Hey I am a med school applicant. I have the numbers to get in. But last cycle I failed to get in because I failed my interviews. A simple explanation would be that I can't put 2 words together. While some of my specific problems might be that I occasionally "hesitate" or look scared when I am not prepared for some question. I am working on this right now. But who knows. Anyway I just today found out about this career as CRNA. I mean I knew about this before but I thought you'd have to start from the beginning, take a couple of years to get BSN and then work as a regular nurse,etc. But in columbia they have guaranteed entry where it would look like this:
Year1: get BSN-cost 60k
Year2: work as ICU nurse-get paid 60k
Years3-4: anesthesia.
Year5: get a job anywhere in usa at $150k/yr and 40hrs/wk.

So I understand some of the advantages of M.D. anesthesia are the following:
1. Get paid 3x as much. Can work in australia or canada where also get paid just as much.
2. M.D. title. But really #2 is nothing without #1.
3.??

So how much better is m.d. anesthesia? Btw I must say that I've recently decided that the only medical specialties I have interest in are noninvasive cardiology and anesthesia.

As for disadvantages:
I can live at minimal wage for 4yrs. But med school loans+residency would mean 9years (I am older than a typical premed). I cannot live like that, I would like to start a family earlier than 9 years from now. hence I would do a navy hpsp, which would put me about 11yrs post med school before I am free before I can make that $$. In that case my lifestyle would be comparable to crna after year 5 but it would take until year 15 before I could actually make significantly more money. I never plan ahead 15yrs. So if I compare these careers 10yrs ahead it seems that financially they would be even.. Yet it takes so much more effort to get the m.d.+anesthesia. I can fail at any step along the way...

I would say that if you want to practice medicine, go to medical school. The possibility of failure is a reality in anything you do. It shouldn't stop you from going to medical school if that's what you want to do.

If you just want to "do" anesthesia, then being a CRNA is faster and easier.