in need of advice...BSN senior... too late to be an MD?

[saw8268]

I know there are similar threads out there, but I'm looking for a little individual advice? I am going to be a senior in a BSN program and have always had that desire to be an MD. Even when deciding to enter the BSN program I knew I was destine for at least grad school (think PA or NP). And because I childishly listened to the advice my academic (nursing) advisor when she told me that becoming an MD was a bad choice and begain listing why it was not right for me, I settled for a major that didn't fulfill my desire. However, luckily, through college I grew up. With help from experience in my job (in a hospital) and my clinical experiences, I realized nursing, although a great profession, was just not what I had in mind for my career. Am i too late? I know people say ad coms practically refuse to accept nurses, but I want this more than anything. Now that I realize that this is the path I want to take, I am more than determined to get there. I plan on doing the post bacc certificate program at UMass Boston to get my all my sciences, but I was just wondering if anyone had advice or could share a similar experience? I would appreciate anything... Thanks!

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[scattun]

I don't think having a BSN will completely knock you out of the running for admission. You will just need to make it abundantly clear a. Why you started the BSN, b. Why you are leaving nursing, and c. You have no intentions of leaving medicine in the same fashion. I think b. will probably be your hardest sell, since it doesn't seem like you are planning to work for any period of time as a nurse, so an argument could be made that you don't know the profession well enough to know that it would not suit your desire. Also, although, I myself, am not a huge fan of shadowing, you are going to need to show adcoms, that this time you definitely know what your are getting yourself into. Best of luck, and fwiw I personally know multiple health care professionals that have attended medical school, so it is definitely possible.

 

[locus000]

I know a lot of DO schools dont mind that you are/was an RN. So if you really want to become a doctor there are alot of options if you feel MD school dont like RN applicant.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I don't think that your BSN degree will disqualify you; as always, adcoms always care much, much more about your GPA, MCAT, and ECs than your major. Assuming you've kept your GPA pretty high and you can get a good MCAT, you should be fine.

 

[PremedIowa]

Did you manage to do any of the premedical coursework during nursing school or will you have to go back for a couple of years?

Why would an adcom look down on nurses who do very well in the premedical stuff? That seems absurdly stupid and old-fashioned.

 

[AggieSean]

Did you manage to do any of the premedical coursework during nursing school or will you have to go back for a couple of years?

Why would an adcom look down on nurses who do very well in the premedical stuff? That seems absurdly stupid and old-fashioned.

It isn't so much the major itself, it's that there is a shortage of nurses and in the mind of adcoms it could look bad that this person took up a spot in a program that gets lots of applicants (you have to be accepted to BSN degrees at most universities and colleges and the process is somewhat competitive) and is now not going to use that degree. It could look like the person didn't think through well enough what they wanted to do and how can the adcom be sure that person won't abandon medicine once out of medical school? Just my $0.02.

 

[GoSpursGo]

It isn't so much the major itself, it's that there is a shortage of nurses and in the mind of adcoms it could look bad that this person took up a spot in a program that gets lots of applicants (you have to be accepted to BSN degrees at most universities and colleges and the process is somewhat competitive) and is now not going to use that degree. It could look like the person didn't think through well enough what they wanted to do and how can the adcom be sure that person won't abandon medicine once out of medical school? Just my $0.02.

I don't think it's uncommon for someone to "not think through well enough what they wanted" as an 18-year-old going into college; I doubt that any adcom would hold it very much against you. There's a shortage of doctors as well.

 

[AggieSean]

I don't think it's uncommon for someone to "not think through well enough what they wanted" as an 18-year-old going into college; I doubt that any adcom would hold it very much against you. There's a shortage of doctors as well.

Right, but it's arguably easier to get into a nursing school spot than medical school and it doesn't require nearly as much time. There are more "qualified" people to take a spot in nursing school and enter the work force in a much more rapid period of time than there are qualified persons for medical school.
As well, just because someone decides in undergrad to go pre-med doesn't mean they'll make it. But if you get accepted into a nursing program in college, provided you don't fail then you're golden and you have your "spot." I think what you have to justify to an adcom is why you took a spot away from someone who would actually become a nurse.
/thread hijack

 

[bruceleehiiiyaa]

wahts more important? a shortage of doctors or a shortage of nurses?

if you are qualified to be an MD / get into a med school, who cares what you did your bachelors in? if you have a great gpa and great mcat score, nothing will stop you from getting into an MD. besides, i would imagine the BSN would allow you to get a ****load of wonderful clinical experience.

why not spend a year working as a nurse? then you can spin it and say how being a nurse was limiting and blah blah and how you feel the MD will give you more freedom to make an impact in healthcare.