Is working as a CNA a good indicator of Medicine?

[PA_dud3]

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Hello all,

I wanted to share something that was kind of bugging me recently. I was a CNA Student for a while and worked for about 40 hours in a nursing home. I really did not enjoy much of the experience, but I still want to do medicine. I enjoyed being with the patients, but I didn't really enjoy the type of work Nurse Aides do. My instructors also did not really like me since I was sonewhat vocal about not eventually becoming an RN (the rest of my class was on an RN track). I am worried that this experience may mean I am not cut out for medicine. I have shadowed physicians before and thought it was the most fun and exciting thing ever, and even enjoyed being in the dialysis clinics. But this experience as a CNA student has me doubting myself, unfortunately.

I would appreciate some advice on this matter. Thank you for any help you can provide.

-Dd3.

 

[LizzyM]

Yuo do need to report the coursework and training if it was post-secondary (e.g. college or community college or trade school). You don't have an obligation to list every job you've ever held on your application (it goes in the section called "experience" and you curate the list which may not exceed 15 experiences). Just leave this part of the journey out of the story and move on.

As to the existential question as to whether someone who does not enjoy bagging dirty linens and wiping bottoms is cut out for a career in medicine, get some volunteer or paid experience in an outpatient or emergency setting or even in a NICU (holding babies) and observe what physicians do in those settings and see if you could see yourself going into training for 7 years or more to do what they do.

 

[PA_dud3]

Yuo do need to report the coursework and training if it was post-secondary (e.g. college or community college or trade school). You don't have an obligation to list every job you've ever held on your application (it goes in the section called "experience" and you curate the list which may not exceed 15 experiences). Just leave this part of the journey out of the story and move on.

As to the existential question as to whether someone who does not enjoy bagging dirty linens and wiping bottoms is cut out for a career in medicine, get some volunteer or paid experience in an outpatient or emergency setting or even in a NICU (holding babies) and observe what physicians do in those settings and see if you could see yourself going into training for 7 years or more to do what they do.

Thank you Lizzy!

I actually have orientation as a volunteer at a local hospital today, hopefully they will let me assist in the Emergency Room or some other setting close to Physicians. My Nephrologist friend is also setting up an internship back home for me.

 

[doc05]

Hello all,

I wanted to share something that was kind of bugging me recently. I was a CNA Student for a while and worked for about 40 hours in a nursing home. I really did not enjoy much of the experience, but I still want to do medicine. I enjoyed being with the patients, but I didn't really enjoy the type of work Nurse Aides do. My instructors also did not really like me since I was sonewhat vocal about not eventually becoming an RN (the rest of my class was on an RN track). I am worried that this experience may mean I am not cut out for medicine. I have shadowed physicians before and thought it was the most fun and exciting thing ever, and even enjoyed being in the dialysis clinics. But this experience as a CNA student has me doubting myself, unfortunately.

I would appreciate some advice on this matter. Thank you for any help you can provide.

-Dd3.

No, CNA work is not medicine.

But medicine is not the “most fun and exciting thing ever.”

Get more exposure, good luck.

 

[raiderette]

Being a CNA is hard work. It is nursing, not medicine. Most people don't like the job. It can be better in a hospital, but the job is hard. I learned a lot about patients (and patience), but you can also learn that by scribing.

 

[Mike Bagwell]

I don't think you can every know 100% if medicine is for you until you have completed medical school and practiced it for some time and then decide if pursuing it was worth it or not.

I personally think shadowing is overrated beyond a week or two and then clinical work experience is either hit or miss. CNA experience is obviously more "hands-on" than some pre-med who is just observing but the CNA and the nurse for that matter are not making medical DECISIONS. That right there means those experiences are of questionable value when you are deciding if you would like to pursue a career in medicine or not because that experience is not medicine; it's essentially just healthcare experience with some type of an exposure to medicine.

The best you can do is get good grades and test scores, get genuine volunteer and clinical experience because you want to do those things, and then have a genuine desire to do good and help others. If you cover all your bases, then medicine becomes an option and you will probably be happy with it if your motivation was truly genuine and not motivated by money, prestige, or status.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

I worked as a cna for 2 summers in college. It is hard work, I was the only Male on the floor so any additional lifting was part of my day. I also found it gratifying to help the patients with their activities of daily living, bathing and dressing them helped them feel better.Who doesnt feel better with a bath and clean clothes? If you dont get satisfaction from that, I would definitely have a long talk with myself and re evaluate why medicine appeals to me
Helping people feel better was a big motivator for me.

 

[965978]

Yuo do need to report the coursework and training if it was post-secondary (e.g. college or community college or trade school).

Many of them give CEU credit though, don't they?

 

[ciestar]

I didn’t make it through nursing school. It never meant i wasn’t cut out for medicine, it just meant I wasn’t cut out for nursing.

Do you enjoy working with patients? Yes? Then, you’re good. If you loathe the patients/residents you’re caring for, you’ve got a bigger problem.

 

[LizzyM]

Many of them give CEU credit though, don't they?

I have no idea what CEU credit means in this context. If you attended a post secondary school you must report that on the AMCAS and provide a transcript.

 

[yobo9345]

"My instructors also did not really like me since I was sonewhat vocal about not eventually becoming an RN (the rest of my class was on an RN track)."



Dude, why would you be vocal about this? This is annoying. No wonder your instructors didn't really like you. Don't be that guy who can't shut up about how s/he's going into medicine when surrounded by a bunch of CNAs. You tend to come off as someone who thinks they're better than everyone else. They don't care! Just take the class and learn the stuff you need to learn!!

There's a proverb that goes something like "if you want to succeed, don't tell anyone"--basically keep it to yourself and stay humble.

 

[RNtoMD87]

I have no idea what CEU credit means in this context. If you attended a post secondary school you must report that on the AMCAS and provide a transcript.

CEU is a continuing education unit. Nurses are required to attain an amount of hours a year.



CNA is a good indicator of whether you can tolerate the hospital setting. It is a poor indicator of whether you'll make a good nurse, let alone doctor. But if you can handle sh*tty (literal) situations as a CNA working long hours for several days a week, I feel its a strong indicator that you can handle any of the non academic side that med school will throw your way.

 

[PA_dud3]

"My instructors also did not really like me since I was sonewhat vocal about not eventually becoming an RN (the rest of my class was on an RN track)."



Dude, why would you be vocal about this? This is annoying. No wonder your instructors didn't really like you. Don't be that guy who can't shut up about how s/he's going into medicine when surrounded by a bunch of CNAs. You tend to come off as someone who thinks they're better than everyone else. They don't care! Just take the class and learn the stuff you need to learn!!

There's a proverb that goes something like "if you want to succeed, don't tell anyone"--basically keep it to yourself and stay humble.

You misunderstand me, I never said I was going into medicine. I just said, whenever someone asked me, that I wouldnt be going into nursing. I was actually going into pharmacy back then. No one cared, but the instructors asked me if I wasnt going into nursing why I was taking the class. I dont go about yelling that Im Pre-Med, though.

 

[LizzyM]

CEU is a continuing education unit. Nurses are required to attain an amount of hours a year.



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I get that but I don't know how that is relevant to the point that coursework taken to become a CNA needs to be reported and transcripts provided but the fact that one worked for 40 hours as a CNA before throwing in the towel need not be included in the application. I don't see where CEU is relevant in the least to the discussion of someone who trained as a CNA but did not work for very long in the field.

 

[PA_dud3]

I get that but I don't know how that is relevant to the point that coursework taken to become a CNA needs to be reported and transcripts provided but the fact that one worked for 40 hours as a CNA before throwing in the towel need not be included in the application. I don't see where CEU is relevant in the least to the discussion of someone who trained as a CNA but did not work for very long in the field.

It was in high school, so I doubt I will disclose it.

 

[LizzyM]

It was in high school, so I doubt I will disclose it.

Just be aware that if this was taken for college credit, even if you had not yet graduated HS, it must be included in your AMCAS. To fail to do so could be considered a falsification of your record.

 

[PA_dud3]

Just be aware that if this was taken for college credit, even if you had not yet graduated HS, it must be included in your AMCAS. To fail to do so could be considered a falsification of your record.

It was a class in my high school and is on my HS transcript. I think it was technically a college level class but As far as I know it was just a class at my HS.

I do have a fine art credit from a CC but I will submit the transcript for that eventually.

 

[RNtoMD87]

I get that but I don't know how that is relevant to the point that coursework taken to become a CNA needs to be reported and transcripts provided but the fact that one worked for 40 hours as a CNA before throwing in the towel need not be included in the application. I don't see where CEU is relevant in the least to the discussion of someone who trained as a CNA but did not work for very long in the field.

I doubt it has any use outside of nursing. Just like our Army Continuing education was about useless outside of the military (except a few being worth a few college general credit hours)