They are BOTH very difficult. So was my 5.5 hour commute in the polar vortex , with no car, taking 4 buses and two trains to get to work, standing outside in the winter record-breaking low temps for up to 6 hours a day. So is digging ditches and working on roofs in 100+ degree summers with high humidity, and kneeling as a tile layer blue collar worker until your knees give out . Totally different kinds of difficult, but, having done both blue collar and white collar work, most say give me the latter anyday.
The people I know went to college full time while simultaneously working full time and slept about 3 hours a night, if that. No pressure there. Another cousin became a nurse after her father, a doctor himself, had her pay every penny for her education herself.
To get all the 'extra' assignments done (essays, plans, journals, extra book reading for class) I sometimes study and work 6 hours a night.
The nursing program crams a lot of info. into 2-4 years and you get one chance to pass the TEAS at my school . One. The nursing program at my school does require Chemistry. And anatomy, which I hear is difficult, but I enjoy it.
Much tougher? That is up for debate and depends largely on what practice you specialize in. Brain surgery, yes.. very likely tougher. So is rocket science, and my cousin was one of those. Boy, do I have the 1st cousins!
Surgery in general, yes. Beyond-imaginably difficult. But my grandma sewed people's open wounds with thread many decades ago and wanted to become a doctor. More guts than me!
Nurses make a lot less for doing an incredible amount of (often menial, very undesirable task) work with the long hours. They do not attend school anywhere near as long as M.D.'s. I had a doctor tell me 'your problem is you are too intelligent'. Is this a compliment?!
I don't think doctors have to bathe patients and toilet them. I know someone who still thinks nurses sit and do paperwork and answer phones all day long (that sounds like a secretary), and was amazed to discover LPN's often do toileting, bathe patients, do the heavy lifting, etc.
Nurses are doing much of the work now in clinical settings, and nurse practitioners. My last two appt's were worth NP's, not MD's. I told the nurse practitioner she should be a doctor.
Nursing Pre-Reqs that my school has me taking are the same mentioned here on the forums for pre-med coursework.
Thank you so much for posting! Seems to me that someone who is great in chem, biology, etc. can get through some of the difficult parts of med school, but what do I know? Very little. I only have my cousin-in-law (an M.D., internal medicine specializing in medical oncology and hematology) to consult.
Algebra, trig, and the Sciences are things analyzed and dissected further and further. Layers upon layers. It is great for people who love to analyze minutiae and are interested in how things work in the atmosphere around them. Math is abstract. You can sometimes, but not always, use common sense to figure it out. I do algebraic problems in my head and often find that a lot easier than writing the steps out.
I see you are pre-medical now? YAY!
I recall, before I switched my major, my non-medical-related-major advisor telling me I needed to get my GPA up when I was less than 1% away from the required GPA for the program. Lol. I am currently 3.5 GPA in pre-nursing coursework and will apply to med school down the road so at least I can say I applied, and gave it the best.