ihearthealthcare
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- Jul 14, 2018
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Hello everyone!
I am currently an intern at a teaching hospital and am very conflicted as to whether I would enjoy being an MD or nurse more. Before I give the prospect of becoming an MD/DO any further thought, I want to know if I even have a chance. Unlike others, I currently do not have a strong upward (or downward) progression in my transcript-it is somewhat mixed.
Entering community college, I was already accustomed to large workloads, so I took on 18 units, and obtained a 4.0 GPA my first semester. However, starting that winter I began having many familial as well as personal issues. I wasn't getting along with my parents, who didn't appreciate or understand me skipping family events for homework - I am a first generation college student- I spent a lot of time outside of class visiting hospitalized relatives, I came into contact with my childhood sexual abuser (which brought on nightmares and feelings of guilt, disgust, and self-hate), and began a downward spiral of depression. I could not find the motivation to do more than the household responsibilities required of me, and the every other day hospital visits to a close great uncle in the ICU, and a family friend in dialysis. I even obtained a "D" on the extremely easy online class I was taking at the time, and when both of these important figures in my life passed away soon after, I continued a similar pattern my second semester and obtained a "C" letter grade in Japanese, contemporary health problems, and trigonometry, with an "A" in government and "B" in honors argumentative and critical writing ( I have no idea how I pulled those off). These are all classes I know I would have otherwise done very well in, as I previously had 4 years experience in Japanese, I tested out of trigonometry but was advised by a counselor to take it anyway, and I deeply enjoy learning about health issues.
Seeing a 2.5 term GPA for the first time in my life acted as a huge reality check, and I decided to take intro chemistry that summer and obtained an "A." Thereafter, I was not allowed to retake the classes I obtained "C's"s in, however I did continue to obtain "A's" on all of my general education classes. I failed as a biochemistry major by earning "B's" in my general chemistry classes , precalculus, and calculus 1- I picked up bad study habits during my slump and these grades were entirely due to my poor work ethic. To make it worse, I also obtained a "C" in calculus 2,calculus 3, and differential and linear equations.
Through the direct patient care experience I have obtained at my internship this past year, my motivation to turn everything around and improve myself has increased drastically. Last semester, I switched from biochemistry to pre-nursing, and obtained "A's" in 4 of the 5 classes I was taking, with the exception of a "B" in physics for science and engineering majors. I was able to bring my wrecked GPA up to a 3.162, and with anatomy, microbiology, and physiology up ahead, I am sure I can bring it up at least a point higher by the end of next semester. I am currently taking a short session summer anatomy class, as well as a computer class, and strongly believe I will achieve an "A" in both. Anatomy is awesome!
In the past 11 months or so, I have acquired over 300 hours of volunteer/ patient experience hours at my internship, and have become familiar with many of the roles necessary in a healthcare team. My internship usually involves: assisting nurses with turning, bathing, feeding, and discharging patients, as well as answering call lights, and obtaining items from central supplies. I have also assisted with bathing and readying diseased patients for the morgue a couple times. So far, my favorite experiences have been with the nurse anesthetists on labor and delivery, and the physiatrists and therapists on rehab. I am under the impression that I would deeply enjoy working in either of these fields, but am unsure if I will be able to fix the damage I have done to my transcript to apply for medical school.
After this summer, I will only be two classes away from applying to nursing school, and am already signed up for a CNA course to begin earning paid experience. For medical school however, I am still missing organic chemistry and the rest of the physics series, as well as enrollment in a 4 year institution. I decided not to attend the universities I was admitted to out of high school due to lack of financial aid and student loans, and attend community college instead. Due to the large amount of units required for biochemistry and a few setbacks, I unfortunately will be starting my 4th year at community college this fall, and have yet to apply for transfer. The silver lining is that I have taken enough classes for associate's degrees in mathematics and physical sciences. I also have experience as Vice-President for Science and Engineering club, and senate representative for the Biology, Anthropology, and Science and Engineering clubs at my school. Despite this I still lack hard research experience apart from what has been required in my honors courses.
I don't think I would mind working as a nurse anesthetist or physiatrist for the rest of my life, and understand they will require a lot of time, effort, grit, determination, and passion to obtain. Every nurse anesthetist I have spoken to has not been afraid to voice their fondness for the job, and I absolutely love the way physiatrists at the hospital I intern at are able to interact with their patients, and the rest of the also very important healthcare team.
After learning about part of my academic life, do I still have a shot as MD/DO at all? Do I even have a shot as a nurse anesthetist? Should I work to become an RN and decide whether to continue my education in either field after a few years of experience?
Thank you so much to those who were willing to take the time to read all of this and offer feedback. I greatly appreciate it!
I am currently an intern at a teaching hospital and am very conflicted as to whether I would enjoy being an MD or nurse more. Before I give the prospect of becoming an MD/DO any further thought, I want to know if I even have a chance. Unlike others, I currently do not have a strong upward (or downward) progression in my transcript-it is somewhat mixed.
Entering community college, I was already accustomed to large workloads, so I took on 18 units, and obtained a 4.0 GPA my first semester. However, starting that winter I began having many familial as well as personal issues. I wasn't getting along with my parents, who didn't appreciate or understand me skipping family events for homework - I am a first generation college student- I spent a lot of time outside of class visiting hospitalized relatives, I came into contact with my childhood sexual abuser (which brought on nightmares and feelings of guilt, disgust, and self-hate), and began a downward spiral of depression. I could not find the motivation to do more than the household responsibilities required of me, and the every other day hospital visits to a close great uncle in the ICU, and a family friend in dialysis. I even obtained a "D" on the extremely easy online class I was taking at the time, and when both of these important figures in my life passed away soon after, I continued a similar pattern my second semester and obtained a "C" letter grade in Japanese, contemporary health problems, and trigonometry, with an "A" in government and "B" in honors argumentative and critical writing ( I have no idea how I pulled those off). These are all classes I know I would have otherwise done very well in, as I previously had 4 years experience in Japanese, I tested out of trigonometry but was advised by a counselor to take it anyway, and I deeply enjoy learning about health issues.
Seeing a 2.5 term GPA for the first time in my life acted as a huge reality check, and I decided to take intro chemistry that summer and obtained an "A." Thereafter, I was not allowed to retake the classes I obtained "C's"s in, however I did continue to obtain "A's" on all of my general education classes. I failed as a biochemistry major by earning "B's" in my general chemistry classes , precalculus, and calculus 1- I picked up bad study habits during my slump and these grades were entirely due to my poor work ethic. To make it worse, I also obtained a "C" in calculus 2,calculus 3, and differential and linear equations.
Through the direct patient care experience I have obtained at my internship this past year, my motivation to turn everything around and improve myself has increased drastically. Last semester, I switched from biochemistry to pre-nursing, and obtained "A's" in 4 of the 5 classes I was taking, with the exception of a "B" in physics for science and engineering majors. I was able to bring my wrecked GPA up to a 3.162, and with anatomy, microbiology, and physiology up ahead, I am sure I can bring it up at least a point higher by the end of next semester. I am currently taking a short session summer anatomy class, as well as a computer class, and strongly believe I will achieve an "A" in both. Anatomy is awesome!
In the past 11 months or so, I have acquired over 300 hours of volunteer/ patient experience hours at my internship, and have become familiar with many of the roles necessary in a healthcare team. My internship usually involves: assisting nurses with turning, bathing, feeding, and discharging patients, as well as answering call lights, and obtaining items from central supplies. I have also assisted with bathing and readying diseased patients for the morgue a couple times. So far, my favorite experiences have been with the nurse anesthetists on labor and delivery, and the physiatrists and therapists on rehab. I am under the impression that I would deeply enjoy working in either of these fields, but am unsure if I will be able to fix the damage I have done to my transcript to apply for medical school.
After this summer, I will only be two classes away from applying to nursing school, and am already signed up for a CNA course to begin earning paid experience. For medical school however, I am still missing organic chemistry and the rest of the physics series, as well as enrollment in a 4 year institution. I decided not to attend the universities I was admitted to out of high school due to lack of financial aid and student loans, and attend community college instead. Due to the large amount of units required for biochemistry and a few setbacks, I unfortunately will be starting my 4th year at community college this fall, and have yet to apply for transfer. The silver lining is that I have taken enough classes for associate's degrees in mathematics and physical sciences. I also have experience as Vice-President for Science and Engineering club, and senate representative for the Biology, Anthropology, and Science and Engineering clubs at my school. Despite this I still lack hard research experience apart from what has been required in my honors courses.
I don't think I would mind working as a nurse anesthetist or physiatrist for the rest of my life, and understand they will require a lot of time, effort, grit, determination, and passion to obtain. Every nurse anesthetist I have spoken to has not been afraid to voice their fondness for the job, and I absolutely love the way physiatrists at the hospital I intern at are able to interact with their patients, and the rest of the also very important healthcare team.
After learning about part of my academic life, do I still have a shot as MD/DO at all? Do I even have a shot as a nurse anesthetist? Should I work to become an RN and decide whether to continue my education in either field after a few years of experience?
Thank you so much to those who were willing to take the time to read all of this and offer feedback. I greatly appreciate it!
