Never would I say nursing school is even half as competitive as medical school. It may be in your area, but definitely not in general. Also look more into the classes because health science microbio isn't the same (in the eyes of the adcoms) as general microbio, so I would to see you waste time. I thought about nursing and decided I couldn't take orders. I also think the hospital in my area takes advantage of the nurses so they don't have to hire PCTs or CNAs and I am not getting a BSN to be a CNA. And that is unfortunate. But that being said, understand they are very different. I think doctors work with patients, but if you really want one on one helping, a nurse is a better option. But I am a nobody.
In my area, Portland, OR, reputable BSN programs are highly competitive. If you don't have a 4.0 or at least a 3.75 you can pretty much forget about OHSU's program. The other two big ones (Linfield and University of Portland) are not as competitive but I have heard stories of people getting wait listed for several years. I do think they are a little more willing to factor in extra curricular and essays than medical school though. As far as the competitiveness and rigor of the school once you're in, I'm sure medical school is going to be more of both. I was just referring to actually getting into the program though. Regardless I am not set on staying in my area and would move if I had to to find a quality program that would accept me.
Have you thought about PA school? It might be a good fit for you: less of a time/life commitment than MD, but you'd get to do similar work.
Sorda, I guess I wasn't sure if they specialized in anything, but from other peoples reply's it looks like they do. I will definitely look into it throughly.
Would seem to make more sense to bridge to NP before the DNP requirements become official for advanced practice. PA is expensive and competitive, NP could be easier if mid-level is what the OP wants to do, which I don't believe is true.
I think by the time I'd be applying to NP school (after getting my BSN and working for at least a couple years to be competitive enough to get in and get a job as a NP) most of the schools would be DNP anyway. University of Portland has already started to offer a DNP (family nurse practitioner).
Do you mean that a NP is a mid level clinician? I am a little confused on the levels of care provided by a NP vs a PA vs a doc.
I guess you may want to shadow a Ped. Nurse Practitioner. He/she would do almost the same thing as the Ped. doc. Only under certain circumstances will a Ped. Nurse Practitioner do less than a Ped doc as far as I believe. Check it out, shadow a Ped. nurse practitioner and a Ped. doc. and ask questions. You shall find out for yourself.
Advantages of being a Ped Nurse Practitioner:
1/ shorter time length: 2 yrs of Nursing School for BSN and 2 years of Nursing school for Nurse Practitioner Master Degree. They may change to Nurse Practitioner Doctoral Degree. This may require 3-4 years for grad school.
2/ Cheaper: of course, cheaper than med school
3/ More - focused: if you already know that you literally all for peds, nursing school grad program has Ped Nurse Practitioner, and, you can literally focus on Ped, so you don't have to waste your time doing rotations on other things that you know you don't like.
Disadvantage:
You'll forever be labeled a nurse with all the stigmatas that a nurse doesn't know much. The good thing is that nursing is getting more respect by now.
Plus, you will have almost the same responsibility under most circumstances like a Ped. doc but you'll be paid a little less. because a nurse is a nurse 🙄. Yet, you'll save time for other things that are equally important and just as time-consuming. That is it!
Hope it helps.
You can also go to Nurse Anesthesia School to become a Nurse anesthetist with specialty in Ped. It only requires a BSN degree, 1 year of experience in ICU, and 2 years of school for Nurse Anesthesia. Quicker, more focused, and cheaper than Medical school. You'll earn a lot too. Even more than Family docs.
I think you, and others are right that I need to do several shadows.
Now I am thinking of at least three that I should shadow for 1 or 2 days each. A peds doc, a peds NP, and a peds PA (I'm assuming they have them).
I have thought about becoming a nurse anesthetist quite heavily before but I did a shadow with one for 2 days and found that it wasn't something I thought I'd like.
But I guess what I do like about nursing is that you have the freedom to navigate to different facets of healthcare. It seems that docs do not have that freedom, or it requires a lot more work to switch, I don't really know about a PA. I'm not really worried about he negative conotations that come with nurses. I'm already a male which puts me as a minority and have had the same line constantly repeated by nearsited individuals after I tell them I have a brother and sister in law that are docs: "why don't you just go to medical school." I'm far past what other people's views of me are.
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There are of course pros and cons to both professions and it's best to do a lot of research. What's right for one person may very well not be for the next. Nurses primary focus is the general well-being of the patient and nurses tend to have more time to interact with patients. Doctors have more limited interaction with patients as their primary focus is to diagnosis and treat the patient. However, this is a broad generalization. Doctors in rural clinics might interact more with patients than in your average city hospital for example.
Lots of good points there. I am not so worried about the money of either, I guess I'm just willing to bite the bullet when it comes to that. As far as time goes, I think they are both equal to the end destination. Most NP schools are not going to accept a new BSN grad unless your grades were completely perfect (not me), and so I'd have to work at least 2 to 5 years as an RN before returning to complete my NP/DNP.
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1) Shorter: No argument there. If you have a bachelors degree than you can become a pediatric NP in as little as two years (Boston College has a direct-entry program that can be completed in this timeframe).
2) Cheaper: Again, no arguments here (unless of course you compare LECOMs 3 yr program than the D.O might actually be cheaper). Direct NP programs are expensive, but not when compared to med school. You would likely graduate with 50-100k in debt out of a Direct entry NP program versus double that for medical schoool.
3) Focused: True to some degree, but nurses have to rotate through the various deparments (granted, their rotations are much shorter). However, you will still be placed into each department for some duration.
4) You'll have less responsibility than a ped. doc, know less than a ped. doc and be paid less. The average ped. NP is luck to make 100k at the peak of his/her career, while the average ped doc. starts out at around 125k. For my sister-in-law the combination of these three factors were what made her hate the field although she went in with a lot of enthusiasm. She said the only reason she still does it is because of the interaction with the kids.
1) Like I said before, I don't think most of you are considering the fact that it is going to be very hard to get into a NP/DNP program as a new BSN grad, let alone get a decent job as peds NP in the same regard.
2) It would be cheaper though, no doubt about that.
3)Probably, but they both vary, and I'd like to have some general experience anyways, so it's not that big of a deal if I have experience in other areas before peds.
4) I think depending on the situation you wouldn't necessarily have less responsibility, just more liability. In Oregon, NP's can prescribe meds for one. You are right, docs are going to have more responsibility and would know more, but is it relevant to their clinical job, one could argue it is not. And I really think the salary difference in NP's and peds are pretty negligible and extremely variable. Either way they're not that much more than a BSN that has a good job. I've met a RN that made 70k a year. I'm not really in it for the money, or I wouldn't be thinking of peds in the first place.
First, many programs require gen. microbiology w full lab. Just cause other programs do it differently does not mean this is so for all. It is tough to keep seeing this on this site...so much of such info is just plain false w/ re: to science prereqs. Gen. Bio = Gen Bio. Gen Chem, same, etc.
Second, your are certainly somebody. 🙂
Third, good luck w not taking orders...as a med student, resident, fellow, or even attending, you WILL definitely have to take orders and direction... And you will have to be open to it and learn how to function in a team.
Just sharing reality.
Just to clear things up, I am taking all my prereq classes as the normal full courses, not shortened/condensed courses for pre-health. They are all being taken from a university, not a community college.
I know exactly what you mean about taking orders and believe me I have realized that everyone takes orders from someone.
The reason I'm considering medical school or other routes besides nursing is the relationship you have with the patient.
Thank you all for your input. I really do appreciate it. From what you have all discussed I think the first course of action for me is to shadow a peds NP, peds PA, and a peds doc. Hopefully I can find one of each that is willing to let me shadow for a day or two. From there I will just have to see. Going into nursing I've always been thinking that eventually I would get my masters/doctorate and become a NP or CRNA. From the story about someones sister as a NP who hated it, I am a little less firm on that now, but I think the best thing is to shadow people. After all, anyone can be unhappy with their profession, whether they're a doc, nurse, NP, PA, whatever.
Further discussion is more than welcomed!
