Can I still get into medical school?

[BorderlineQueen]

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I'm going into my senior year of undergrad I'm a psychology major but I got into the nursing program at my school. At this point, I'm not sure if nursing is what I really want to do. My goal is to ultimately go into psychiatry and if I did go into nursing I would most likely become a psych NP. I'm just asking this question because I encountered some setbacks junior year of undergrad. For the first two years of UG I went to a community college where I have a 3.85 gpa. Then my junior year I transferred to a 4-year school. My junior year I suffered from severe depression which led me to perform poorly. I have around a 2.9-3.0 gpa right now by the time I graduate I can get it back up to a 3.4-3.6 depending on the grades I get. I still haven't done physics or organic chem. I am probably going to do SMP/ or post-bacc after undergrad. So can I get into medical school or should I just stick with nursing?

 

[BorderlineQueen]

@Goro

 

[Goro]

I'm going into my senior year of undergrad I'm a psychology major but I got into the nursing program at my school. At this point, I'm not sure if nursing is what I really want to do. My goal is to ultimately go into psychiatry and if I did go into nursing I would most likely become a psych NP. I'm just asking this question because I encountered some setbacks junior year of undergrad. For the first two years of UG I went to a community college where I have a 3.85 gpa. Then my junior year I transferred to a 4-year school. My junior year I suffered from severe depression which led me to perform poorly. I have around a 2.9-3.0 gpa right now by the time I graduate I can get it back up to a 3.4-3.6 depending on the grades I get. I still haven't done physics or organic chem. I am probably going to do SMP/ or post-bacc after undergrad. So can I get into medical school or should I just stick with nursing?

If you can get grades up to 3.5ish, MD is doable. 3.3+ and you're good for DO. No need for an SMP

 

[teatimepanda]

Psych NPs have great scopes of practice, depending on the state. Have you shadowed one? You might already be on track to operate as a near-independent clinician with a full caseload.

Getting to an MD or DO will be tough but do-able. The more important question is, will that be worth the trouble? Are you looking forward to years of more intense science classes, or does that sound horrible? I think that should be your deciding factor.

 

[ctvlf6]

I got my BS in nursing and then switched to pre-med as soon as I graduated. Nursing and pre-med/medical school are very, very different.

Nursing school is rigorous but if you have a love for science, you might be disappointed. I found myself very dissatisfied with how little we learned as far as the how and why of diseases and the human body. I describe it to people as more of a trade school type education. Absolutely nothing wrong with that of course, but it is all taught using the nursing academia framework which some (myself) do not find interesting or useful. You learn nursing assessments, nursing diagnoses, nursing interventions, etc.

From what I have read NP school is also not very rigorous or standardized, hence why I opted to pursue med school instead of working my way up the nursing ladder. Also some of my nursing lecture courses were taught by NP's and it was embarrassing how little they knew and how often they stated things that were just incorrect. One of them came to our pediatric rotation group meeting after the rotation, and the peds RN running the clinical had to correct that instructor numerous times on basic peds info. And the instructor was a pediatric NP. Granted this is N=1, however this was not an isolated incident and left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Shadow some NP's and physicians and see which one you really want. Or message me if you want more perspective on nursing vs. premed.

Edit: added more info

 

[BorderlineQueen]

If you can get grades up to 3.5ish, MD is doable. 3.3+ and you're good for DO. No need for an SMP

Okay thank you for the advice .

 

[BorderlineQueen]

Psych NPs have great scopes of practice, depending on the state. Have you shadowed one? You might already be on track to operate as a near-independent clinician with a full caseload.

Getting to an MD or DO will be tough but do-able. The more important question is, will that be worth the trouble? Are you looking forward to years of more intense science classes, or does that sound horrible? I think that should be your deciding factor.

No I haven’t shadowed a psych np yet. I think it will be worth the trouble . I mean I’m not looking forward to more science classes . But it’s a means to an end . Med school doesn’t last forever . I started contemplating med school again because so many people diss on midlevels. I don’t want to be a crappy clinician I want to do my best to help patients. Even though I know MD/DO doesn’t equal good clinician. I know a lot of crappy psychiatrists and only one good one .

 

[teatimepanda]

No I haven’t shadowed a psych np yet. I think it will be worth the trouble . I mean I’m not looking forward to more science classes . But it’s a means to an end . Med school doesn’t last forever . I started contemplating med school again because so many people diss on midlevels. I don’t want to be a crappy clinician I want to do my best to help patients. Even though I know MD/DO doesn’t equal good clinician. I know a lot of crappy psychiatrists and only one good one .

That makes sense, and there is something to be said for pursuing a terminal degree the first time around. So you should definitely go for MD/DO if you want to and you find it interesting. But I think in the real world of clinical practice people are (ideally, often) valued according to their skills and not just their degrees. Like you, I have met some really incredible mid-levels (who sometimes have more time with patients!) and some pretty sorry excuses for doctors.

It's a very personal choice, and one that I hope will not be decided by people dissing mid-levels. That kind of talk will always happen and is irritating because it denigrates very valuable members of healthcare teams.

You sound dedicated to your patients and that's a wonderful source of motivation. Wish you all the best.