Medical Becoming a Nurse before Med School for Financial Reasons?

[Raryn]

Hello all!

To give some background, I'm 22 and I have a B.A. in Criminology from the University of Maryland and my goal was to go to law school and become an attorney. However, I realized over time that I'm much better suited to a career in healthcare due to my interest in science and desire to work in more of a collaborative rather than adversarial work environment.

Since I do not have many of the prereqs for med school, a post bacc program for career changers is the best path forward. However, the cost of my first degree and the potential cost of a post bacc program have put me in a bit of a financial bind. Also my parents are planning to retire soon so I don't think they could support me for the next six years or so.

I have the opportunity to attend a state school and earn an accelerated BSN in one year for only about $20,000., Plus new RNs in New York make about $90,000 a year starting which would allow me to build up quite a bit of money for a couple of years.

My biggest fear at this point is that becoming a nurse will bar me from acceptance to medical school. I know there are plenty of nurses that go to med school, but I feel like the idea of me changing from law, to nursing, to medicine will make admission committees think I am uncommitted and therefore unsuited to the medical profession. Is this true? Although difficult, should I just try to find a way to go to med school directly?

I know a number of physicians who were nurses during prior careers, but you are correct that multiple career path changes look more suspicious. You'll need a good argument regarding why you want to be a doctor - and why you won't decide to be a pharmacist next year.

A post-bacc would probably be two years, plus the year you actually apply to med school - so three years total gap between starting the post-bacc and when you actually start school.

Is there any chance you can just get a job with the degree you have now to support yourself for these next few years? It (probably) won't pay $90k/year, but it also wouldn't have an opportunity cost of adding another few years to your path.

Alternatively, how certain are you that you do want to be a physician? Not everyone interested in healthcare ends up a doctor - and that's OK! I have the utmost respect for my nurse colleagues, and manytimes they can go back to school and become a Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anesthetist, or Nurse Midwife. If you're worried about the time/expense, I'd sit down and consider that sort of path as well.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

You becoming a nurse won't bar you from becoming a doctor, but you need to have a good reason including lots of shadowing and clinical experience that shows you know what you're getting into. People have different paths to medicine.

There is no possible way for you to do a post-bac? Have you looked into how much a DIY post-bac is? They are often much cheaper than a formal post-bac or SMP. I, personally, would not get a completely different degree (BSN for 20k) especially because you aren't going to be using it that long. If you can get a job as a scribe (or use the degree you have now to make some money) that would be good.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I will say flat-out that being a nurse will not stop you from getting accepted or becoming a physician, but you need to figure out your path relatively sooner than later. I see a lot of CNA's and RN's that submit applications to medical school, though there is no guarantee they get a better shot or any special consideration. Doing well in your science courses is key because the science rigor for your premed prerequisites is tougher than in your nursing courses.

 

[lord999]

You have not entered law yet, so I would not count that toward a "change" in profession if you interview.

There is a bias among some of the elder physicians against allied health professionals entering medicine later. Most of the younger post-1970s trained physicians do not usually have those prejudices though you occasionally find examples from physicians graduated from last year.

But, your burden is a bit higher. I do ask anyone who possesses a license in an allied health field why switch, and there is not a wrong answer to me except to not have one. I do hold it against an applicant if their license is not in good standing (even non-active is derogatory), and I would probably argue that the majority of us feel that way. So, if you do take nursing, you need to obtain the license in a reasonable timeframe and keep that license up and active through your application. Again, not having a clinical license in good standing if you are eligible for one raises all sorts of red flags and raises hard questions about professional commitment.

 

[AlteredScale]

Times have changed a lot. There are plenty of prior allied healthcare workers going into medicine. Obviously the big question is why? Why did you do nursing before? A bad answer would obviously be that it was "a segway to get into medical school". So really think about this career choice and whether you want to go into nursing.

Be aware too that I've also met RN's who, after being in the field for a few years, decided they did not want to go through the brutal process of taking the MCAT, taking prereqs, and being 300K in whole when they are currently making 100K+ as an RN and living comfortably. Additionally, many have had SO's and families at this time and the idea of moving potential cross country to attend med school and to do that AGAIN for residency is too much