Majoring in nursing and being pre-med at UCLA

[tupacsdaughter]

Hi, I'm a freshman in high-school, and though rather early, I've been seriously looking into what colleges I want to go to.

For years I've known I've wanted to be a midwife or OB/GYN. The only thing that holds me back from *definitely* going to medical school is how truly rigorous it's going to be, and that I'd work so hard in the program and it just wouldn't be enough. With that being said, I've always planned to major in nursing just in case I DO decide I'm not going to be going to med school.

However, if I do get into a UCLA, I feel like it'd be overwhelming at that particular school. Classes are already rigorous, pre-med competition is cutthroat, and I'm sure nursing is pretty competitive too. It would probably make more sense to go to a less competitive university where I can get the gpa that I need to get into med school, instead of a 3.5 like I might (and probably will get) at UCLA. Not to mention I definitely want to play soccer (probably club) when i go to college. Having time to socialize, be in clubs etc. is crucial to me.

What do you all think? Is it possible to major in nursing and be pre med and still maintain a GPA good enough for medical school?

If UCLA doesn't work out, Florida State University, University of Florida, Penn State and University of Washington are also on my list. Advice for those will also be appreciated.

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[WedgeDawg]

aaaaaaaand moving to hSDN

 

[tupacsdaughter]

Wouldn't it make more sense here? You guys would be more informed on the subject.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Wouldn't it make more sense here? You guys would be more informed on the subject.

SDN's thread creation policy is for users to create threads in the section that is closest to their current "status". This is made possible because users from all levels visit the "lower level" forums and the higher level forums can be kept relevant to the specific topics that are discussed there without a lot of other clutter (such as a high school student posting in neurosurgery saying they want to be a neurosurgeon, how do they do that). If you look at other threads here, you'll see that many premeds, medical students, residents, and attendings post here rather frequently, so you'll still get the attention that you are seeking.

 

[ZedsDed]

What do you all think? Is it possible to major in nursing and be pre med and still maintain a GPA good enough for medical school?

You are way too young to even begin to gauge whether or not you can handle X or Y in college. You need a few years of high school under your belt if you want to get an understanding of where your academic strengths and weaknesses lie.

 

[PassThePropofol]

I am particularly qualified to answer this question because I am a nurse who is headed to medical school. Just from an experience standpoint I love that I have the nursing degree because it gave me more direct contact with the patient than the average pre med experiences. I was able to have interaction that included taking histories, dispensing medications, performing procedures, interacting with doctors and other medical professionals as a part of the decision making team. No other pre med major gets this type of experience. Having said that, make sure you take the pre med classes and not just the ones required for nursing which may be a more condensed version of the subject. Because I decided to go to med school during nursing school I had to go back after graduation and take the pre med version of organic and biochemistry in addition to human anatomy lab with cadavers and micro lab. Feel free to ask more questions.

 

[tupacsdaughter]

I am particularly qualified to answer this question because I am a nurse who is headed to medical school. Just from an experience standpoint I love that I have the nursing degree because it gave me more direct contact with the patient than the average pre med experiences. I was able to have interaction that included taking histories, dispensing medications, performing procedures, interacting with doctors and other medical professionals as a part of the decision making team. No other pre med major gets this type of experience. Having said that, make sure you take the pre med classes and not just the ones required for nursing which may be a more condensed version of the subject. Because I decided to go to med school during nursing school I had to go back after graduation and take the pre med version of organic and biochemistry in addition to human anatomy lab with cadavers and micro lab. Feel free to ask more questions.

Do you think the coarse load of majoring in nursing and taking pre med classes is bearable? I'm afraid I'd get myself into something I can't handle and go insane

 

[VagabondKing]

Do you think the coarse load of majoring in nursing and taking pre med classes is bearable? I'm afraid I'd get myself into something I can't handle and go insane

You just finished middle school, you have no idea what you will or will not be capable of doing down the line. Take these next few years to grow and challenge yourself whenever you can. Now is the time to set good habits for the future if you ever want to find yourself in the medical profession.

 

[Hillo]

Yes, you have your entire life to do whatever you want.

 

[Chanze3]

do ur best in high school. That's all i can say.

I screwed up my freshman year so badly i'm scared i can't make it to good colleges. you may develop another passion. i used to love music but now i've discovered maths and engineering. things change. just focus on ur gpa and do what u love, not what people tell you to do.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

As others have said, you have a long time to figure out what you want to do. Although there are certainly nurses who go back and become doctors, they are still a minority. Nobody gets an RN/BSN as preparation for medical school. If you want to be a doctor, take pre-med classes. If you want to be a nurse, take nursing classes.

You're certainly allowed to change your mind after starting one path or the other, I'm just letting you know that your current plan is not really sensible.

 

[PassThePropofol]

As others have said, you have a long time to figure out what you want to do. Although there are certainly nurses who go back and become doctors, they are still a minority. Nobody gets an RN/BSN as preparation for medical school. If you want to be a doctor, take pre-med classes. If you want to be a nurse, take nursing classes.

You're certainly allowed to change your mind after starting one path or the other, I'm just letting you know that your current plan is not really sensible.

While I agree that getting a nursing degree is not the traditional path to med school, now that I have done it I would not discount it. In fact, I would encourage it. With a nursing degree you have an edge clinically. You actually do rotations in every specialty that a doc will do and are actual member of a healthcare team, learning how to deal with various patients, nurses, doctors, etc. Most premeds are CNA's (nurse's assistants) or scribes. This experience is inferior to being a nursing student. By the time I finished, I had 600 hours of one on one patient interaction. I administered meds, gave injections, drew blood, started IV's, assisted with hand surgery, saw a baby born and then an episiotomy being stitched, saw a thoracentesis, spent a day in interventional radiology, did a longitudinal elderly study (required in med school), worked with refugee families in their homes, public school students in their school. I am hard pressed to think that any one experience a premed traditional student has incorporated all these things. Being a nurse is a great premed major. Just make sure your pre reqs are the traditional med school ones which may be at a higher level than nursing ones.

 

[PassThePropofol]

I think the people who would say that nursing is a not a great pre med major would tend to be male who see nurses as inferior to doctors but run to be nurse's assistants or scribes. It's illogical. They have no idea what nurses are taught in school or what they do in the hospital. They may think nurses are pretty much glorified CNA's. If they truly understood they would be clamoring for the same experience. They would probably encourage something like an English major or art major over something like nursing. This is just plain ignorance.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

I think the people who would say that nursing is a not a great pre med major would tend to be male who see nurses as inferior to doctors but run to be nurse's assistants or scribes. It's illogical. They have no idea what nurses are taught in school or what they do in the hospital. They may think nurses are pretty much glorified CNA's. If they truly understood they would be clamoring for the same experience. They would probably encourage something like an English major or art major over something like nursing. This is just plain ignorance.

My father and uncle are both nurses, and I have a ton of respect for the nursing profession, so it's not that. I'm sure it's a great experience, and it will give you a leg up initially, but I can also tell you that those advantages will disappear relatively quickly.

The problem is that you're then limiting yourself in undergrad. I can't imagine that if you're taking nursing classes, plus extra pre-med classes, that you can then take even more classes on the side. What if you're actually interested in English or art? My wife was a philosophy major. Many of my classmates had other careers (military, business, etc) and other degrees.

So if you want to go to nursing school because you're interested in nursing, by all means, go for it. Just don't use nursing school as a warmup or practice for medical school.

 

[PassThePropofol]

My father and uncle are both nurses, and I have a ton of respect for the nursing profession, so it's not that. I'm sure it's a great experience, and it will give you a leg up initially, but I can also tell you that those advantages will disappear relatively quickly.

The problem is that you're then limiting yourself in undergrad. I can't imagine that if you're taking nursing classes, plus extra pre-med classes, that you can then take even more classes on the side. What if you're actually interested in English or art? My wife was a philosophy major. Many of my classmates had other careers (military, business, etc) and other degrees.

So if you want to go to nursing school because you're interested in nursing, by all means, go for it. Just don't use nursing school as a warmup or practice for medical school.

Nursing is not a warm up for med school. Nursing is the best premed clinical experience that exists. It trumps CNA, scribe, EMT and volunteer. Do you disagree? As far as courses are concerned many overlap with pre med ones so your thought about not being able to take anything else is moot.

Your respect for the nursing profession seems only familial and not truly respectful of the knowledge, experience and what it can offer an aspiring doc.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

You don't know me, my family, or where my respect for the nursing profession comes from, so don't try to act qualified to judge it. I'm not sure why you're being so argumentative about this, especially since I'm trying to dissuade students from disrespecting nurses and nursing school by using it as a stepping stone to medical school if they're not really interested in being nurses. I'd love to offer my psycho-analysis, but that's not my specialty so I won't.

I will definitely disagree with your argument that nursing is the best premed clinical experience that exists. In my class, we had pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and several military members who served multiple tours of duty overseas, just off the top of my head. I would argue that any of those are just as good "pre-med experiences." But maybe I'm wrong, you've already been accepted to medical school after all, what do I know...?

 

[PassThePropofol]

You don't know me, my family, or where my respect for the nursing profession comes from, so don't try to act qualified to judge it. I'm not sure why you're being so argumentative about this, especially since I'm trying to dissuade students from disrespecting nurses and nursing school by using it as a stepping stone to medical school if they're not really interested in being nurses. I'd love to offer my psycho-analysis, but that's not my specialty so I won't.

I will definitely disagree with your argument that nursing is the best premed clinical experience that exists. In my class, we had pharmacists, respiratory therapists, and several military members who served multiple tours of duty overseas, just off the top of my head. I would argue that any of those are just as good "pre-med experiences." But maybe I'm wrong, you've already been accepted to medical school after all, what do I know...?

Now who's defensive??? No, I don't know you or your family, although your dad and uncle must be amazing since they are nurses. I can only go by what you say. From what you SAID, you gave no explanation of why you had respect for the profession EXCEPT that you knew some nurses. In my opinion, I did not see that as enough evidence to show what about nursing, per se, you respected.

Also, yes, there are other professions that are excellent pre med experiences. These may tend to be post college and not realistic for the trad undergrad, but my eyes are opened to more possibilities. Still think though that nursing is a fine pre med major. We will have to agree to disagree.