Ask a non-traditional student (RN) turned M2 anything

[allojay]

Seasons greeting everyone!

I'm an M2 currently on christmas break, with some time to kill after a long week of work. I was skimming through the non-traditional page and saw that there are a lot of RN's thinking of med school and such. Thought I could answer questions that some of you may have. Feel free to ask about anything from applications, interviews, to med school life and etc. I'll be on for a few days before I get back to the study grind.

Merry Xmas!

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[DrBelle]

Thank you!

LPN completing my undergrad with a BSN. How challenging is completing pre-reqs while in nursing school? If I use my summers wisely shouldn't this be doable?
Do you work as an RN while in med school? If you do, what kind of shifts and work do you take?
Notable differences between nursing school and medical school? Are you glad you went to med school?

I know, lots of questions. Answer whatever amount you feel like lol

Merry Christmas!

 

[Labrat07]

Were you suprised by how hard it's ? Did you have to adjust a lot the first semester? What would you have done differently coming in?

Happy holidays!!

 

[allojay]

Thank you!

LPN completing my undergrad with a BSN. How challenging is completing pre-reqs while in nursing school? If I use my summers wisely shouldn't this be doable?
Do you work as an RN while in med school? If you do, what kind of shifts and work do you take?
Notable differences between nursing school and medical school? Are you glad you went to med school?

I know, lots of questions. Answer whatever amount you feel like lol

Merry Christmas!

Hi there! Congrats on taking the leap from LPN to your BSN; It's tough but it's definitely worth it. Especially with the limited market for LPN jobs in hospital settings (at least in my region).

As far as the difficulty completing pre-reqs while in nursing school, it really worked out to my advantage. My nursing program had 2 or 3 electives that we were free to use for any courses, so I used those to take some pre-reqs. It was a bit tough, but manageable if you've got the right mindset. I think the main goal especially if you're thinking med school is to not rush the process. Focus on getting the best grades possible and don't overwhelm yourself. I can't state that enough. Throughout nursing school, I never took more than 21 credits, and my pre-reqs were no more than 4 credits per semester, while I was in my nursing program. You're in the nursing program and your main goal should be to dominate your nursing classes and do well.

If you have time during the summer to take prerequisites, then by all means, do. But keep in mind that if you're planning to work as an RN after you graduate, its crucial to do some sort of nurse externship to get your foot in the door for a job after you pass your boards. If you're not planning on working as an RN before medical school, then just take your pre-reqs over the summer. Again, don't rush it! Take the time to learn the material so you can do well on your MCAT.

I actually do work as an RN and I actually just started working at the start of my M2 year. It's been a pain at times but I've somehow made it work so far. Keep in mind that the job I do is by no means a hospital job, and doing this kind of work during med school would be taxing but its not impossible. I work the night the shift typically and its usually the friday after an exam or the friday after the first week of a block. My main priority is med school and I'm solely working this job to make some extra side money and to keep some of the clinical knowledge that I feel is important. I work no more than 16 hours every 2 weeks. I'm sure there are many RN turned med students that pull more hours, but my main focus is doing well in classes while making some spare money on the side.

The biggest difference between nursing school and medical school is the ambiance lol. I nursing school, my class had about 40 or so people. Like every class, 10 students were like really smart, 25 were about in the middle/ average, and then the last 5 weren't the brightest or going to fail out because they weren't serious about it. In medical school, lets say my class has 40 students, 34 of them would be really smart, 5 would be average, and 1 would fail out because of how tough the exams can be. So the point I'm making is that everything is so so much more competitive in medical school. It can be a cut throat environment where everyone is trying to be number one. People hiding resources from each other, playing teacher's pet, sucking up, talking behind each others back and so on. I've managed to distance myself away from the drama and its worked so far. My focus is doing well and not getting involved in HS drama lol. And nursing school was the same way for me so I'm used to it. My advice is to distance yourself from any med school drama the courses are enough drama by themselves. Medical school is much more detailed than nursing school as you've probably heard. The amount of depth we take into topics is mind blowing. For example, as a nursing student I learned that Aspirin was a blood thinner and it helps prevent clot. In medical school, I learned the specific mechanism of action of Aspirin(irreversible COX inhibitor) and we had to draw out the pathways where different blood thinners worked. It can be tedious at times, but it makes you appreciate everything we do in medicine. And for me, medical school has allowed me to reaffirm or re-address weaknesses I had in nursing school. I remember that I was great at cardio in nursing school But during our cardio block, I saw concepts that were never even mentioned in nursing school, so I had to really learn the physiology for a long time to really get it. It's great stuff. And the last thing is that you'd be surprised how many medical students have trouble with physical assessment skills and patient interactions. I'm so happy nursing school and my nursing experience taught me this. I know; how is something so simple, so hard for some medical students? But the thing is, that these skills take a long time to develop and a nursing program goes a long way to developing those interpersonal skills. As you pursue medical school, Don't abandon those skills! They will take you a very long way. Patient's notice and they will like you.

In the grand scheme of things, I love medical school. It's challenging and demands a lot of work but I have no regrets. But the thing I love the most is that I'm learning new things everyday. I'm taking my knowledge to another level, I'm expanding my mind and I'm making connections I've never made in my life. I know I sound nerdy and a bit odd, but its like a mental turn-on lol. I think that the workload is made unbearable on intention to feed into the 'medical school is hard' stereotype. But it's manageable if you're efficient and use the right resources. This part is SO hard, but once you find what works for you, medical school isn't too bad. The only thing I despise about medical school is that I don't have that bi-weekly pay check coming in like it used to. It makes me sad to see my account dwindling down rather than building up lol. Despite that, I think medical school isn't bad at all.

And please, don't worry! If you've got more questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

Happy holidays to you as well!

 

[allojay]

Were you suprised by how hard it's ? Did you have to adjust a lot the first semester? What would you have done differently coming in?

Happy holidays!!

Going into medical school, I knew it was going to be hard being a non-grad. I spent the past 2 years working full time on a crazy floor and I wasn't used to the hustle and bustle of an undergrad like schedule. I did do most of my pre-reqs while I worked as an RN, but the demands of a regular medical school schedule were nothing like undergrad. My mentality was that I had to come in and work harder than everyone else because a lot of my peers were fresh off the pre-reqs, and were ready to dominate the basic sciences. Where as, I was someone who was good at the clinical stuff but sucked at the basic sciences, so I had to bust my butt. Like I said in the previous post, It took me a long time to find they right resources but once I did, things were a lot smoother for me. But to answer your question, I had to adjust greatly after my first exam. Prior to my first exam, I was focused on working hard and listening to what my peers were using to study the material. Then after I barely passed my first exam, I took matters into my own hand, and really analyzed my study style and what would allow me to succeed. After I stopped listening to my peers, and found the resources that worked best for me, my grades skyrocketed. So I think a big lesson is to trust yourself and understand that what works for me, may not work for you, and only you know how you learn best. Lucky for me, I've found the best combination of resources to use, so I could still do well on exams and not watch lectures (but i still watch them for validation of what I know or should know). So after my first exam, I've made an effort to come to school before my peers. I'm usually in school by 6/630. During my M1 year, it was closer to 530/6AM. I just busted my butt and put in a lot of hours to do well. I sacrificed a lot and my grades clearly show that. But the biggest thing is consistency. If you're consistent in medical school, the results will show. But you have to be efficient. You can study for 24 hours straight but if its not efficient, then you're just wasting time. So I make the best use of every minute I put into studying.

If I could do it again, I think I would've taken a bunch of classes before matriculating. Biochemistry and immunology are probably the biggest ones for me. Because when we had out block on them, it was so fast paced that everything was all over the place. So much information in so little time. I thought my head would spin lol. And biochem was the second block coming off my not so epic first exam, so I was stressing a bit. So I literally had to teach myself biochemistry along side the class lectures. I actually remember studying for the exam. I literally was putting in 12-14 hours per day studying for it. So I would advise all my non-tradition and even traditional friends to take biochem. Because learning it over 14-16 weeks, will make your life so much easier come medical school. The thing is that they teach it to you again, but its taught so darn fast that if its your first time seeing it, you'll feel discouraged. And the same thing goes for immunology. There's a whole lot more to the immune system than white blood cells lol. But taking these courses before classes start will allow you to take your understanding to another level, especially when you learn the science and make clinical correlations.

Besides that, I think I wouldn't have rushed the whole MCAT thing. I would've prepped better for it and would have probably done a whole lot better on it. I did fairly well on it, but If I was a traditional student, not working a full time job, I know I could've come close to the 40 range on the old MCAT. But with being a non-traditional, its just stuff we have to deal with. It's part of the process. And also do your best to get a high GPA in your classes. Not just your pre-reqs. It goes a long way. A lot of ADCOMS have certain biases about us non-trads and with a solid MCAT, great GPA, and good letters, no school in the world should turn you down (logically). But in reality, there's so much that goes into the application process that its really out of your hands. So control what you can and let the rest take care of itself. Things will work out; just do your part first. The hardest part of this whole process is getting in to medical school. Once you do, its easily sailings (kind of lol) till boards time lol.

Hopefully this answered your question.

Thanks! Happy holidays to you as well.

 

[Gurby]

What specialties are you leaning towards?

Thoughts on working a clinical job vs getting involved in research? Seems like you wouldn't have time for both, and I gather that research is pretty important for residency matching?

 

[allojay]

What specialties are you leaning towards?

Good question! To be honest, this is the thing I've been thinking about for over the past year or so and it gets tougher and tougher as the time comes nearer to my M3 year. But so far, I have a lot of options in mind. I'm currently looking at the following in no specific order: Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Radiation Oncology, Emergency Medicine, Plastics, Cardio-thoracic, Trauma surgery, and I even considered Dermatology (but I don't fit the stereotype lol). Honestly speaking, I really won't be able to narrow down my list until I take the Step 1 next year. Once I get my results, I'll know what fields I'm competitive for. The thing I know is that as my years as an RN, I've come to respect the Internal Medicine physicians the most. The put in crazy hours and are there in the trenches with the nurses seeing patients on the floor. And they usually are the smartest docs in the hospital. If you think about it, they need to know everything, where as a lot of specialty docs have a great knowledge of only their respective field. It's sad that they're (IM docs) not compensated for the work they put in. With that being said, I couldn't pursue Internal medicine. I've always loved the surgical arena and I shadowed some neurosurgeons last year and its amazing the things they do. But we will see. What I end up choosing will depend on how well I do on my boards.


Thoughts on working a clinical job vs getting involved in research? Seems like you wouldn't have time for both, and I gather that research is pretty important for residency matching?

Another good question. As far as work versus research, I think that as time comes closer to prepping for my boards and starting my M3 year, I obviously won't have time to work as an RN. I've come to that realization and I'm fine with that. But at the moment (M1/Early M2 year), doing both is very possible. When it comes to the two, work always comes second. So I'd rather sacrifice money over research. My philosophy is that as long as my work doesn't interfere with my class preparation then I'm fine. And I work mostly friday nights, when most of my peers are partying or hanging out, so it's not much of a sacrifice (besides not having the chance to party lol). Research on the other hand isn't too bad. For example, I did some basic research this past summer and early in the fall semester and I would have to be in the lab for 2-3 days per week, for 2-4 hours. So what I would do once classes started, was wake up early on Monday and go to the lab at 5 or so and get an hour or two of work in, then go to team based learning stuff and finish up lab stuff after. It's not too bad, to be honest. If you can be efficient and plan well, anything is possible. As far as the clinical research; a lot of it is on the EMR's, so a lot of that work can be done from the comfort of one's home since It's all computer work. Even if you have to go in to the hospital to do it, there will always be time on your medical school schedule to do it. Maybe you have to wake up earlier than usual on one day of the week, but its worth it IMO. But as far my plan; I did one clinical research project in undergrad, one case report my M1 year, one basic research project the summer after M1 year (worked on 2 others as well in a limited fashion) and I already have one in the works for this fall after my boards. I'm positive that one will get published if I plan appropriately. And once I start on the wards, I have no doubt in my mind that I'll find a whole bunch of clinical research projects to do, in addition to a ton of case reports. M3 year is when a lot of students do their research projects and thats what I plan to do. It's tough for me, since I come from a not so research heavy institution, so a lot of the initiation has to be on my part.

But yeah, research is crucial, especially for the fields I hope to specialize in but the most important thing is the Step 1 score. You could have 50 publications, but with a subpar step 1 score, it would be hard to get into residency programs (without connections). My apologies for the crappy grammar.

 

[NoTownPreMed]

Ahhhh finally an RN turn med student Q&A thread. I have a question, during the interview process did your occupation as an RN ever come up to topic?

 

[allojay]

Ahhhh finally an RN turn med student Q&A thread. I have a question, during the interview process did your occupation as an RN ever come up to topic?

Lol. It's funny you said that bc it wasn't a very common thing to see an RN turn med student. But it's becoming more and more common.

To answer your question, yes, nursing always came up during my interviews. And the question that was always asked was 'why medicine? Why quit nursing to pursue medicine?' And I always had a great answer to my question. And my personal statement was centered around answering that question. And as long as you have a solid answer, you'll earn major brownie points. Using key words such as paramount patient care, patient safety, team work, and some other nice adjectives go a long way. I think as long as you have a genuine passion for the field, the interviewer will see it and appreciate the perks of having a nursing student in their program.

 

[popopopop]

How do other students view your background? Do you hide it? Do you have to do a skills lab on each other and able to impress everyone?

 

[allojay]

How do other students view your background?

If I can be honest, I think that a lot of them probably could care less about my background lol. But a good number of my peers and team based learning instructors have complimented me and said that my nursing background brings another dimension to our patient cases. A good number of my close friends in med school respect and understand my background and always ask me for tips or how to learn certain concepts or do physical exam stuff. A good example was when we were doing our cardio block and a bunch of classmates were freaking out on how to do the physical exam (as far as auscultation) and I showed them the All Patient Take Meds mnemonic that I learned from an RN while I was doing an externship. Let's say they S**t bricks lol. But For classmates willing to learn, I always bring my nursing perspective and help them understand that textbook medicine is a lot different than real life medicine. And nursing is the same way. On nursing exams, patients have symptoms A,B,C,D and E and you can easily figure out what they have. In the real world, you may only see symptoms A, and B and have to connect the dots. So a lot of my nursing background has helped me with the organ blocks and clinical portion of medical school so far. It's not necessarily easier, but it allows me to re-learn the same things in more depth. But all in all, my peers respect my background, but I don't think they adore me or anything lol. Only a person who has really worked in on a hospital floor for an extended period of time can really understand the daily grind of an RN. And even as a medical student, and a future physician, I can proudly say that the most important of the healthcare team is the RN. And when I'm on the wards next year, the RN's will be the people I strive to really work with because they're the ones that are really there 24/7 with the patients.


Do you hide it? Do you have to do a skills lab on each other and able to impress everyone?

I'm naturally a low key, humble guy so I don't brag about it. I try not to mention it, but it always comes up lol. When it comes to team based learning cases and I feel that my classmates are stuck or lost, then I'll chime in and contribute to speed up the patient case. I'm pretty sure most of my peers know about it, so I try not to do too much as far as show off my knowledge. Medical school is already filled with a good number of gunners and I don't want to add to it lol.

We do have a skills lab, where we practice on standardized patients and my classmates seem to be impressed with my physical exam skills. I don't think of it as much because I've been doing it for years. But it's amazing how something as simple as percussion can be difficult for a medical student. Again, I really don't try to impress anyone--I try to educate and give good teaching points when I can. For example, I always advise any one I'm working with to always rub their stethoscope on their hand prior to putting on the patient, so it's not cold for them. Yes, it seems like common sense, but its crazy how many students make this simple error innocently. So for me, It's more about teaching them to do the right thing than it is showing off.

 

[allojay]

How do other students view your background? Do you hide it? Do you have to do a skills lab on each other and able to impress everyone?

How do other students view your background?

If I can be honest, I think that a lot of them probably could care less about my background lol. But a good number of my peers and team based learning instructors have complimented me and said that my nursing background brings another dimension to our patient cases. A good number of my close friends in med school respect and understand my background and always ask me for tips or how to learn certain concepts or do physical exam stuff. A good example was when we were doing our cardio block and a bunch of classmates were freaking out on how to do the physical exam (as far as auscultation) and I showed them the All Patient Take Meds mnemonic that I learned from an RN while I was doing an externship. Let's say they S**t bricks lol. But For classmates willing to learn, I always bring my nursing perspective and help them understand that textbook medicine is a lot different than real life medicine. And nursing is the same way. On nursing exams, patients have symptoms A,B,C,D and E and you can easily figure out what they have. In the real world, you may only see symptoms A, and B and have to connect the dots. So a lot of my nursing background has helped me with the organ blocks and clinical portion of medical school so far. It's not necessarily easier, but it allows me to re-learn the same things in more depth. But all in all, my peers respect my background, but I don't think they adore me or anything lol. Only a person who has really worked in on a hospital floor for an extended period of time can really understand the daily grind of an RN. And even as a medical student, and a future physician, I can proudly say that the most important of the healthcare team is the RN. And when I'm on the wards next year, the RN's will be the people I strive to really work with because they're the ones that are really there 24/7 with the patients.


Do you hide it? Do you have to do a skills lab on each other and able to impress everyone?

I'm naturally a low key, humble guy so I don't brag about it. I try not to mention it, but it always comes up lol. When it comes to team based learning cases and I feel that my classmates are stuck or lost, then I'll chime in and contribute to speed up the patient case. I'm pretty sure most of my peers know about it, so I try not to do too much as far as show off my knowledge. Medical school is already filled with a good number of gunners and I don't want to add to it lol.

We do have a skills lab, where we practice on standardized patients and my classmates seem to be impressed with my physical exam skills. I don't think of it as much because I've been doing it for years. But it's amazing how something as simple as percussion can be difficult for a medical student. Again, I really don't try to impress anyone--I try to educate and give good teaching points when I can. For example, I always advise any one I'm working with to always rub their stethoscope on their hand prior to putting on the patient, so it's not cold for them. Yes, it seems like common sense, but its crazy how many students make this simple error innocently. So for me, It's more about teaching them to do the right thing than it is showing off.

 

[Scorpio59643]

I'm actually an RN turned pharmacist, I know this is about medical school but when I saw the question about "why medicine" come up if you were in nursing before, is always something I worry about answering. In my case its "why pharmacy" and I just want to make sure my answer is not negative toward nursing because truth to be told, after the year and nine months I was in the nursing I just started to feel like I wanted to be more "behind the scenes" and started leaning more toward the pharmacology part. Although I definitely won't mind the occasional patient interaction I'm sure I'll have during pharmacy school and in my career at times.

 

[ReformedLiberalArtist]

Seasons greeting everyone!

I'm an M2 currently on christmas break, with some time to kill after a long week of work. I was skimming through the non-traditional page and saw that there are a lot of RN's thinking of med school and such. Thought I could answer questions that some of you may have. Feel free to ask about anything from applications, interviews, to med school life and etc. I'll be on for a few days before I get back to the study grind.

Merry Xmas!

OP,
Who did you use for LORs?

 

[allojay]

I'm actually an RN turned pharmacist, I know this is about medical school but when I saw the question about "why medicine" come up if you were in nursing before, is always something I worry about answering. In my case its "why pharmacy" and I just want to make sure my answer is not negative toward nursing because truth to be told, after the year and nine months I was in the nursing I just started to feel like I wanted to be more "behind the scenes" and started leaning more toward the pharmacology part. Although I definitely won't mind the occasional patient interaction I'm sure I'll have during pharmacy school and in my career at times.

Congrats on making the jump to Pharmacy! Lord knows we need more qualified pharmacists and your nursing background definitely brings a great dimension to your work. I think your answer is justified, but I would stray away from using the 'behind the scenes' statement, if you're in an interview for pharmacy school. They may see it as a slap in the face. It's tough in your case, because there's no perfect answer. But you could sort of delve deeper on that idea of your interest in pharmacology and how you want to take that interest away from the bed side and use it to really learn the pharmacology so you could fully educate healthcare providers and members on the healthcare team to prevent medication errors and promote optimal patient care. Something like that. As long as you don't really offend any profession in the interview, I think you'll be good.

As for my response when I was asked about why I didn't want to be a nurse anymore; I was honest and I said that I felt that the 'scope of practice' of an RN was too restricting and didn't allow me to help my patients the way that I want to. I worked with countless docs who were smart and competent, but sometimes, didn't manage the patients in a way that would lead to great outcomes. So that motivated me to take my education to the next level so I could have a wider scope and provide top notched care to my patients without the limitations provided by an RN license. Some may then say why not pursue an NP certification? For me, I felt that I really needed to learn the details and basics of Medicine. NP school is great and all but the details of a medical school education is something thats unique in itself. My mother is a great NP so I can confirm that the education style is completely different. NP school seemed like Nursing school 2.0 where you learn things on a deeper level, but its more about management and what dose to prescribe and etc.

 

[allojay]

OP,
Who did you use for LORs?

I used my A&P professor from undergrad. She really liked me so I knew I'd get a good one from her. I got one from my chemistry professor. He wrote a great letter for me. I also had the director of the ICU at the hospital I shadowed at, write one for me. And also my speech (public speaking) professor from undergrad. And I think I had one from a DNP that was my professor and that I shadowed.

When it comes to letters, just have good relationships with professors. Get to know them, be a good student, and be a like-able person. Also, make sure to ask them at the end of the semester whether they'd want to be a letter writer and keep in contact with them over the years. You want them to remember you. Also be persistent when it comes time for them to write the letters. You'd be surprised how long it takes.

 

[Scorpio59643]

Congrats on making the jump to Pharmacy! Lord knows we need more qualified pharmacists and your nursing background definitely brings a great dimension to your work. I think your answer is justified, but I would stray away from using the 'behind the scenes' statement, if you're in an interview for pharmacy school. They may see it as a slap in the face. It's tough in your case, because there's no perfect answer. But you could sort of delve deeper on that idea of your interest in pharmacology and how you want to take that interest away from the bed side and use it to really learn the pharmacology so you could fully educate healthcare providers and members on the healthcare team to prevent medication errors and promote optimal patient care. Something like that. As long as you don't really offend any profession in the interview, I think you'll be good.

As for my response when I was asked about why I didn't want to be a nurse anymore; I was honest and I said that I felt that the 'scope of practice' of an RN was too restricting and didn't allow me to help my patients the way that I want to. I worked with countless docs who were smart and competent, but sometimes, didn't manage the patients in a way that would lead to great outcomes. So that motivated me to take my education to the next level so I could have a wider scope and provide top notched care to my patients without the limitations provided by an RN license. Some may then say why not pursue an NP certification? For me, I felt that I really needed to learn the details and basics of Medicine. NP school is great and all but the details of a medical school education is something thats unique in itself. My mother is a great NP so I can confirm that the education style is completely different. NP school seemed like Nursing school 2.0 where you learn things on a deeper level, but its more about management and what dose to prescribe and etc.

Thank you so much, that definitely helps a lot. Very good perspective!

 

[NoTownPreMed]

Another question, preparing for the MCAT the first time, did you do anything differently (studying technique/amount of time placed on studying) as compared to studying for the NCLEX? Also, what was your perception after taking the MCAT?

 

[allojay]

Another question, preparing for the MCAT the first time, did you do anything differently (studying technique/amount of time placed on studying) as compared to studying for the NCLEX? Also, what was your perception after taking the MCAT?

The NCLEX and MCAT are two extremely different exams. IMO, the NCLEX is a certification exam that is supposed to ensure the public (and world) that you have the skills needed to take care of the basic needs of a patient and maintain their health. The NCLEX is a test that ensures that you have the knowledge and aptitude to take good care of a patient and not kill them.

The MCAT is an exam (IMO) that is used to weed out the thousands of students that want to become doctors. The MCAT has no bearing on how good or bad of a doctor one will become. The MCAT does test certain concepts, and the ability to think and perform under a pressured environment. But when it comes to something like the MCAT, its such an iffy exam. I'll be honest and say that a lot of whats tested on the MCAT (old one at least) are not what we cover in medical school. Yes, we go over the material in the Biological science section, but the other MCAT sections seem kind of excessive. I have yet to do a physics problem in med school, though certain physiology concepts do come into play, when you look at certain systems such as the cardiovascular system. The MCAT is a just another hurdle to overcome on the way to medical school. The score really doesn't mean much IMO; It's just how ADCOMS truncate the crazy amount of applications they get on a yearly basis.

As far as preparation, I think the two are VERY different. When I prepared for the NCLEX, I approached it as an exam to test my ability to be a clinically reasonable clinician. So what I did was read over an NCLEX review book, in addition to using Qbanks and just focused on nailing down rationales for questions. For the NCLEX, I knew what my weaknesses were and I knew how to improve them. The NCLEX was a very straightforward test. It's either you knew it or you didn't. And if you didn't, you were SOL. So I prepped for a good 4 weeks. But in reality, it was something that all nursing students did throughout nursing school. My NCLEX felt like a rehash of nursing school. For the MCAT, I was lost lol. Working full time, taking classes, and dealing with personal stuff; it was just a huge cluster-f***. So I actually did some research on SDN and ended up using the Berkeley books. They worked quite well, but I regret rushing my pre-reqs and rushing to take the MCAT. I also had to use a huge number of other resources, such as the ExamKracker books, paying an online student with verbal section tips, and the TPR books for bio. So compared to the NCLEX, prepping for this exam was definitely a lot tougher, just because I didn't have a solid foundation in all the sections. The MCAT was a very tough exam. They tested some easy concepts, but it seemed like they were always trying to trick you with something. I did well on it, but I just felt that the test was unnecessary. Especially the verbal section; that was definitely something special lol.

I think the main difference is that if you studied efficiently for the NCLEX, you were almost certain to pass, regardless of if it took you 75 or 200+ questions. With the MCAT, you could study your butt off and still fail. Hence, why I'm not a big fan of the MCAT. People who do well on it are brilliant, but does that mean that only brilliant people should become docs? I personally don't think so.

But to answer your first question; I prepared for my MCAT's differently. It wasn't as straight forward as the NCLEX, so I found myself looking at like 5/6 resources to prep for the exam. I also worked full time nights, so my study sessions were usually after night shifts, which wasn't very optimal. I just didn't feel good preparing for the MCAT as I did with the NCLEX. And I think a lot of it had to do with the different topics on the exam. There was verbal, chemistry, physics, and biology, so there was just so much to cover in such little time. Where as with the NCLEX, it was just the body systems (patho, pathophys), pharmacology, patient safety things, and delegation. The NCLEX had a broad topic list, but it had clinically relevant content, and it actually tested my ability to think (in a real life context). The MCAT just tested a lot of hypotheticals. I may be biased in my response, but as you can see, I think the MCAT is a stupid test.

 

[NoTownPreMed]

What would be your top 3 RN matriculating to medical school advice?

 

[allojay]

What would be your top 3 RN matriculating to medical school advice?

Yikes! That's honestly a tough question. There are so many tips, but I guess I can consolidate them into three. First of all, you're an RN and there's no need to brag about it. I've noticed that my peers respect that I'm an RN and all, but they don't need the constant reminder that you were a nurse and know more than them. I can attest to the fact that my class also has an RN turned med student and her demeanor about being an RN is something that a lot of my peers don't like about her. I would use my experience as an RN to help empower and teach my peers, so they know how to become better clinicians.

Tip number two, work your a** off! Most if not of your classmates are fresh out of undergrad and are used to the hustle and bustle of a college like schedule. Most of us non-grad students, are not used to it. And Its a big transition from working full time hours in a job like setting to studying full time in a school like setting. Also, a lot of your traditional peers have a better grasp of the basic sciences (immunology, biochemistry, genetics, etc) and are a lot closer to it (as far as when they took the respective courses). So you as an RN turned med student or non-trad have to put in a significant amount of work, early on, to get on the level of your peers. At least, thats how I felt initially. But as we started the organ blocks, I've noticed that life is a whole lot easier for me, with my clinical background. As my fellow peers struggle with things such as acid base, and EKG's, I'm focusing my time on refreshing and re-learning high yield concepts for the boards. So a lot of the material are things that my peers are seeing for the first time, where as I'm seeing it for the second or third time, so I'm more likely to grasp the content quicker. So it definitely helps having that clinical experience to know what is important and whats not, as far as exams. But understand that you still have to work hard, in order to reaps the benefits of your experience.

Tip three, don't forget where you came from. Yeah, you're becoming a physician; yeah you're going to make more money, but don't ever forget the rigors of what it was like to be an RN. Respect your nurses, listen to them and work with them to have better patient outcomes. Don't ever forget the struggles of nursing, and do everything in your power to empower your nurses and acknowledge them.

And the last tip, just enjoy the experience. You're going to learn a lot and if you apply yourself, you can literally do anything as far as medical specialties. The nursing exams in undergrad and clinical experience have really paid off in medical school. I feel that anytime I read a question stem, Its like the answer jumps at me. I think nursing school has allowed me to jump into the mind of the test writer and I know what concept they're trying to test. Maybe its in my head lol but nursing school has definitely made medical school easier and allowed me to spend more time on learning my weaknesses.

 

[DrBelle]

I love this thread so much. OP thank you for being so generous with your insights!

 

[allojay]

I love this thread so much. OP thank you for being so generous with your insights!

No problem! It's the least I could do. Hopefully my insight encourages a lot of non-trads (especially RN's) that medical school is possible and your clinical experience will take you a long way if you decide to take the leap.

Happy New Year everyone! Now it's back to school stuff and prepping for my boards.

 

[@Hazel-rah]

Thank you for all those insights! Hope you're doing well!

 

[RNtoMD876]

Did you ever worry about taking out more loans ? I had to do loans for my RN degree and now I’m concerned I might be crushed by the debt.

 

[allojay]

Did you ever worry about taking out more loans ? I had to do loans for my RN degree and now I’m concerned I might be crushed by the debt.

Not really. Med school was an investment that I was willing to put money into and I knew that If I worked hard in med school, I'd have the opportunity to pursue a specialty that would make paying back my loans not as brutal as other fields may have it. I too took loans during nursing school and the debt is no joke lol. Make sure that if you can help it, go to medical school in state vs out of state, as many school s tend to have insane out of state tuitions.

 

[EpiServe]

This is an awesome thread. I'm an ICU nurse with a background in epidemiology and i'm planning on matriculation in the next 3 years. This is definitely motivating

 

[RNtoMD87]

Thanks for the wealth of good information!