Interview tip for premed nurses...

[Signaq]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have a nursing background, and recently I had a mock interview at my local medical school. It went fine, but the subject of the "Doctor of Nursing" degree came up. There were definitely strong (negative) opinions on whether nurses should call themselves doctors and the legitimacy of such a degree in a clinical setting. I don't don't don't want to get into that debate here, but I would suggest that if you are interviewing anytime soon you might have your position either way well thought out and, if you think the Doctor of Nursing degree is fabulous, be able to defend it while on the hot seat in a very pro-medicine context.

Also, feedback I got regarding the whole nursing-background thing was more positive than I had anticipated. I have repeatedly heard that adcoms see nursing as no more than an interesting EC, that even nurses with decades of experience could never dream of understanding the complexities of medicine...always for me a negative and off-putting attitude. On the contrary, my interviewer was very encouraging and referred to my nursing background as a definite asset. We even shared clinical stories to help break the ice. However, I was able to articulate my reasons for leaving nursing and was clear that I see nursing and medicine as two distinct career paths which he seemed to like to hear.....

 

[bbfthegirl]

It is very nice to hear that having a Nursing background counts as a plus. I was very worried that it would count against me. Thanks for the good advice. Hey do you know if anyone continued to work at least part time while in med school?

 

[d0c12]

It's good to hear that you received positive feedback! A former co-worker of mine who is completing her first yr of med school said that she met several people who were nurses before becoming MDs during her interviews. That was very encouraging news to me! 🙂

 

[Signaq]

It is very nice to hear that having a Nursing background counts as a plus. I was very worried that it would count against me. Thanks for the good advice. Hey do you know if anyone continued to work at least part time while in med school?

From what I hear, working while in med school is not really possible. Too many academic pressures. I have heard of nurses and EMTs who keep their employee status active and pull an occasional shift in their old department, like working Christmas eve when the regular employees want time off. However, this scenario was the overwhelming exception according to the admissions folks I talked with, and loans and savings are the realistic way to support yourself. The revenue from a shift here or there when your schedule allows it would be insignificant in the total budget picture.

 

[Signaq]

It's good to hear that you received positive feedback! A former co-worker of mine who is completing her first yr of med school said that she met several people who were nurses before becoming MDs during her interviews. That was very encouraging news to me! 🙂

Yeah, to me it seems like a natural move for nurses who want a change. What I really like hearing is from nurses who work with docs who are former nurses. Those docs are usually nice on-call, make efforts with handwriting, and are receptive to nursing input. They know how hard nurses work and how the units would not operate without them. So glad to hear you're encouraged👍

 

[MSmentor018]

I had no trouble entering medicine with a nursing background, I've got a lot of posting regarding nurses that go into medicine. click on my name and postings. free free to PM if you've got any questions. good luck on your path to medicine, it's a long but worth while journey!