encouragement needed

[rnnpmaybe]

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So I've decided to quit my nurse practitioner program and take pre-reqs for med school. (I've only done one semester with the np program). But I'm registered for spring and I need to withdraw. I'm scared to do it. I feel bad that I wasted their time and I'm scared because it's a finality, you know? Eeek! words of encouragement greatly appreciated.

 

[flip26]

So I've decided to quit my nurse practitioner program and take pre-reqs for med school. (I've only done one semester with the np program). But I'm registered for spring and I need to withdraw. I'm scared to do it. I feel bad that I wasted their time and I'm scared because it's a finality, you know? Eeek! words of encouragement greatly appreciated.

Hopefully you made excellent grades in your first semester.

If not, it could raise some eyebrows...

 

[rnnpmaybe]

I got straight As in the grad program, as well as a 3.95 undergrad. Not that worried about it raising eyebrows. Part of the reason I'm quitting is because it was too easy.

Hopefully you made excellent grades in your first semester.

If not, it could raise some eyebrows...

 

[wepio]

I've read on some other threads that Adcoms don't like it when you drop out of a graduate program. However, based on your reason, I would suspect that you can easily back-up your decision to "change" rather than "quit".

Anyways, GOOD ON YA for knowing what you want and going for it. By the time I realized I didn't like engineering, I was already in my late junior year and was too lazy to change majors. I'm sure you'll find plenty of support to help you navigate through this pre-med craziness! Ask away with any questions you may have, but take all advice with a grain of salt.

 

[sindadel]

Making any life-changing and challenging decision is always a bit terrifying. Try to imagine yourself in the middle of the semester still in the nursing program, or already taking pre-reqs for med school. Hang onto the feeling of happiness and excitement (hopefully) you would feel in situation B instead of A.

 

[QofQuimica]

I got straight As in the grad program, as well as a 3.95 undergrad. Not that worried about it raising eyebrows. Part of the reason I'm quitting is because it was too easy.

I have to say that I'm a bit skeptical about your rationale for changing careers. If you tell me that you have come to realize that NP doesn't give you the career options you want, or you have decided that you don't agree with the nursing philosophy, that is one thing. But you've completed one semester of the program and you want to drop it just because the first semester was too easy? Listen, I'm in the second semester of my third year of med school, and so far the easiest semester was the first semester of my first year, no contest. That's when they review the basics and lay the foundation so that everyone in the class is ready when they move on to the real med school stuff. If the first semester of any health career program was super intense, most people would drop out or flunk out because it was too hard. But after the beginning of first year, each semester was significantly harder than the last. In other words, I'd be very surprised if your program didn't get harder next semester and next year.

What I'm trying to say here is, think about where you want to be at the end of your schooling, and then you will know what you need to do to get yourself there. People don't go to med school just for the challenge of it, and if they do, they soon find themselves more challenged than they ever bargained for--physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. To wit, the only reason to go to medical school is because you want to be a physician, not because you think the first semester of NP school isn't challenging enough.

 

[rnnpmaybe]

I have to say that I'm a bit skeptical about your rationale for changing careers. If you tell me that you have come to realize that NP doesn't give you the career options you want, or you have decided that you don't agree with the nursing philosophy, that is one thing. But you've completed one semester of the program and you want to drop it just because the first semester was too easy? Listen, I'm in the second semester of my third year of med school, and so far the easiest semester was the first semester of my first year, no contest. That's when they review the basics and lay the foundation so that everyone in the class is ready when they move on to the real med school stuff. If the first semester of any health career program was super intense, most people would drop out or flunk out because it was too hard. But after the beginning of first year, each semester was significantly harder than the last. In other words, I'd be very surprised if your program didn't get harder next semester and next year.

What I'm trying to say here is, think about where you want to be at the end of your schooling, and then you will know what you need to do to get yourself there. People don't go to med school just for the challenge of it, and if they do, they soon find themselves more challenged than they ever bargained for--physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. To wit, the only reason to go to medical school is because you want to be a physician, not because you think the first semester of NP school isn't challenging enough.

I have to say that I have given this much, much deliberation. I don't feel the need to discuss my rationale.

 

[QofQuimica]

I have to say that I have given this much, much deliberation. I don't feel the need to discuss my rationale.

No one asked you to discuss it. The point I wanted to make was that when and if you choose to apply to med school, ideally you will tell the adcoms that you are making the change because you want to be a physician, rather than telling them that the first semester of NP school was just too easy. Best of luck to you.

 

[flip26]

I have to say that I have given this much, much deliberation. I don't feel the need to discuss my rationale.

Nobody here cares about your rationale, but having that attitude will sink you with med schools.

As somebody noted above, med schools do not look favorably on grad school dropouts for any reasons - especially allied health dropouts - and certainly not for the reasons you are giving.

Too bad you didn't give "much, much deliberation" to the decision to attend the program you are now bailing out of, because someone will question if you won't pull the same stunt in med school...go look on the allo threads at all the people talking about dropping out, because it happens...

 

[punkiedad]

So I've decided to quit my nurse practitioner program and take pre-reqs for med school. (I've only done one semester with the np program). But I'm registered for spring and I need to withdraw. I'm scared to do it. I feel bad that I wasted their time and I'm scared because it's a finality, you know? Eeek! words of encouragement greatly appreciated.

May help paint a better picture if you imagine yourself answering the question ".....So, tell me why you want to become a physician?"

 

[theraball]

I have to say that I have given this much, much deliberation. I don't feel the need to discuss my rationale.

Then why did you start a thread about yourself? Of course people are going to comment about this. It's the elephant in the room.

You asked for encouragement. I would say, if medicine is what you really want, absolutely you should go for it, but lose the flip attitude. (no pun intended, Flip26 🙂 )

 

[sindadel]

How on earth can we give you encouragement when you don't give us a good picture of WHY you are switching from nursing to pre-med? We don't know what your grades are, what your science background is, what your financial and family situations are. We know nothing about you from this post so how can we give you appropriate feedback. If you want uncritical encouragement, this is not the place.

 

[notdeadyet]

I have to say that I have given this much, much deliberation. I don't feel the need to discuss my rationale.

You'll have to at interviews. And folks will be a lot less supportive on the interview trail than they are here.

The biggest fear in medical school admissions is accepting someone who will not finish medical school.

Mostly they look to grades and MCAT to make sure you have the brainpower. If you are accepted and then can't hack it, they need to scramble to replace you. Schools have a much less attractive pool to draw from after the start of first year, so they want to choose wisely.

So any evidence of someone with a history of quitting academic programs is going to raise big red flags. "If rnnpmaybe walked away from his/her NP program in mid-stream, what's to guarantee s/he won't walk away from medical school?" If they can't give themselves a reassuring answer, they will toss your application immediately, regardless of your GPA/MCAT.

You're entitled to your privacy so if you don't want to discuss it, that's cool. But as a med school interviewer, if you were to try to pawn off your decision as "oh, NP wasn't challenging enough for me", that wouldn't cut it in my book. Without anything more compelling, I'd advise the school to not accept on that ground alone and most folks who look at your application will feel the same.

You don't need to resolve this here, but don't take it too lightly or it will sink you. Best of luck with your decision.

 

[rnnpmaybe]

You'll have to at interviews. And folks will be a lot less supportive on the interview trail than they are here.

The biggest fear in medical school admissions is accepting someone who will not finish medical school.

Mostly they look to grades and MCAT to make sure you have the brainpower. If you are accepted and then can't hack it, they need to scramble to replace you. Schools have a much less attractive pool to draw from after the start of first year, so they want to choose wisely.

So any evidence of someone with a history of quitting academic programs is going to raise big red flags. "If rnnpmaybe walked away from his/her NP program in mid-stream, what's to guarantee s/he won't walk away from medical school?" If they can't give themselves a reassuring answer, they will toss your application immediately, regardless of your GPA/MCAT.

You're entitled to your privacy so if you don't want to discuss it, that's cool. But as a med school interviewer, if you were to try to pawn off your decision as "oh, NP wasn't challenging enough for me", that wouldn't cut it in my book. Without anything more compelling, I'd advise the school to not accept on that ground alone and most folks who look at your application will feel the same.

You don't need to resolve this here, but don't take it too lightly or it will sink you. Best of luck with your decision.

Alright, I understand that I'll have to discuss it at interviews. The more I got into the nursing program, the more I realized that there is no way the program could prepare me to be a competent practitioner. I thought that the education would be more indepth than it was, but in reality, it was lighter in substance than my undergraduate program. The more I researched the nurse practitioner movement, I thought that in pursuing this avenue of advanced practice nursing, nurses are turning thier back on thier original purpose of directly caring for patients. I also disagree with many of the things nursing leadership has said/done. In high school, I had wanted to be an MD, but didn't think I could hack it. I went into a BSN program thinking I would take my pre-reqs along the way just in case. I was young and naive and that didn't happen. I feel like I was brainwashed in a way into thinking that the nurse practitioner route was the best way to go, so I applied right out of undergrad. During the np program, I realized that yes, I could hack it as a medical student, and around this time I began to feel that the nurse practitioner education is less than adequate. I cannot see myself pursuing anything but healthcare -I made a wrong turn with the NP program, but I realized it quickly, and I hope that ADCOMS will understand.

 

[dragonfly99]

rnnpmaybe,
I say go for it, and I don't think dropping out after 1 semester of the NP program would be the same to me as somebody quitting a master's or law school halfway through. I think your rationale (as you've explained it above) is O.K., you just have to be sure that when you explain it to the adcom, you don't sound like you are trashing your RN degree, or NP's. As a board certified internist, I actually agree with a lot of what you are saying about the NP movement. I actually don't have a problem with NP's per se, and I think there are a lot of things they can do well (health promotion/prevention, diabetic patient education, well woman care/gyn exams in healthy patients, etc.). However, I have concerns about them trying to practice primary care, at least without available supervision/help, just because the training is not really in depth enough to be able to reliably diagnose some of the complicated stuff they are going to come across. At least that is my opinion. Diagnosing patients and treating them is not easy - there's a reason med school + a residency was traditionally required to do that. It's HARD.

This is just an idea, but could you ask for a 1 year "leave of absence" from your NP program? That would give you the option of going back if for some reason you changed your mind in 6 months or something. You could just tell the nursing school that you aren't sure if the NP is for you at this point, and you just want to go work for a while. I wouldn't tell them that you're going to go take premed courses. If I were you, that is what I'd do, then I'd go work part time as an RN and start taking the required premed courses, say a couple per semester, and just go for it. Don't mess up your GPA because the one you have is good.

 

[rnnpmaybe]

rnnpmaybe,
I say go for it, and I don't think dropping out after 1 semester of the NP program would be the same to me as somebody quitting a master's or law school halfway through. I think your rationale (as you've explained it above) is O.K., you just have to be sure that when you explain it to the adcom, you don't sound like you are trashing your RN degree, or NP's. As a board certified internist, I actually agree with a lot of what you are saying about the NP movement. I actually don't have a problem with NP's per se, and I think there are a lot of things they can do well (health promotion/prevention, diabetic patient education, well woman care/gyn exams in healthy patients, etc.). However, I have concerns about them trying to practice primary care, at least without available supervision/help, just because the training is not really in depth enough to be able to reliably diagnose some of the complicated stuff they are going to come across. At least that is my opinion. Diagnosing patients and treating them is not easy - there's a reason med school + a residency was traditionally required to do that. It's HARD.

This is just an idea, but could you ask for a 1 year "leave of absence" from your NP program? That would give you the option of going back if for some reason you changed your mind in 6 months or something. You could just tell the nursing school that you aren't sure if the NP is for you at this point, and you just want to go work for a while. I wouldn't tell them that you're going to go take premed courses. If I were you, that is what I'd do, then I'd go work part time as an RN and start taking the required premed courses, say a couple per semester, and just go for it. Don't mess up your GPA because the one you have is good.

Thank you dragonfly. Just curious, does the way I've described my rationale above sound too harsh towards nurses? That's obviously not my intent.