Atlantic Bridge or nursing school??

[medschoolhopeful595]

Hello! I am a graduate from Queen's University in Biology. I finished with a low GPA (~3.5 on a 4.3 scale) and little volunteer experience. I've always thought about medicine but was never committed to it. After taking a year off, I've concluded that I would indeed like to pursue a career in healthcare... At this point it would take me YEARS to get into a Canadian medical school so I have begun the process of applying to medical school in Ireland via Atlantic Bridge.

I know family friends who have successfully matched from Ireland back to residencies in Canada or the US, however I know it's very stressful and there is a high risk of not matching. For this reason I've also considered beginning a 2-year accelerated nursing degree with plans to return to school to become a Nurse Practitioner.

Any advice for somebody weighing out these options?

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[MNurse2MD]

Take my advice..as someone who graduated nursing school..if your heart is in medicine..DO MEDICINE!.

The Atlantic bridge program is good, but honestly.. it's my opinion that caribbean schools are the way to go. Ireland doesnt have (unless requested and not guaranteed) Canadian or USA exposure..which is needed for getting a residency in north America. If your goal is to practice in North America, then going to Caribbean is a better option as it's cheaper, has an established track record (based on your school) and is modeled after us and canadian curriculum which means ur guaranteed us clinical exposure which is required in your residency applications.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

It’s actually better to just put in the work and go to school in Canada or the US. Will it take years? So be it. It is infinitely better than going abroad, especially to the Caribbean. Many people start med school later, hence the median age at matriculation being like 24 I think. I’m 34 now and will start school at 35. Even that old, I’ll still finish training with enough time to practice for a long time.

Don’t rush it. Med schools aren’t going anywhere.