I apologize in advance for the length of this reply.
I’ve thought about this many times. I have many years in nursing-critical care-critical care peds, supervision, and community health. It's just hard for me to get passionate about CRNA. I graduated from a great university summa cum laude, but I have some youngster issues from earlier days of schooling--like a number of us. I am seriously running out of time, and I have to make a decision pretty darn soon. I'm older than the average non-trad I think. Doesn't matter if anyone can guess my age. It can easily be read in the data. One person at work was so intrigued about what my real age was, she decided to be sneaky and look up my BD. She was out of line, but hey, to me that just showed her insecurity.
As for CRNA, to me it's not about "being in charge," whatever that really means in the face of healthcare realities today. I just think I would be interested early on in training, and then lose interest. The issue with CRNA is the good money in a comparatively lesser period of time contrasted with medicine. I am pretty much honed in on primary care at this point in my life. My only issue with FM is that I'd like to have a good mix with at least a nice 40% of peds. I don't know that that would be possible in most settings. I know I would just love, love, love ED--thing is, I've done so much of my share of off shifts and rotating shifts--that makes ED a big downside to me at this point in my life.
I think you need to get more insight into the various roles of physicians and CRNAs. Have you shadowed at all? Have you ever really worked in a hospital or healthcare? It has changed a ton--and I am talking about huge insurance and management bombs that would tend to make anyone in medicine nervous. In the end, to me, you've got to go where you heart is--and you have to do the leg work and get the right experiences in order to assess them and what they feel like or mean to you.
Make a chart, get some experiences in healthcare under your belt--you know, like the close up and personal stuff.
And don't let the goofy comments that fly around here about the suck-factor of nurses cleaning up crap get to you. That always makes me laugh. That has ALWAYS been the least of the stress and aggravation in nursing. People that haven't worked it really do NOT have a clue. People bleeding out on you, or running to code one baby, and then another whilst trying to keep on top of the third baby's ABGs--that's more the pain in the butt than any crap, blood, or vomit cleaning. (And holistically, we believe it is humane to bring cleanliness and comfort to a person in need that is limited in their ability to deal with their own bodily functions--just as sadly any number of us will one day face--regardless of what our roles or titles have been. I mean I think retired and dying presidents and political big wigs know what I mean by that.) You either care for people in their states of humanity--especially since you are human too--or you don't. It matters not whether the role is one of nurse or physician in that regard.
I think your big question may be, do you really find things in medical science intriguing, and do you like helping people in dealing with such things?
BTW, I am by no means saying CRNA school = Med school. But I will tell you that CRNA is 2.5 years or so (after getting your RN-BSN and working for a good year or so of ICU) of busting hump both didactically and clinically. Many programs can be competitive. Educational requirements are changing in the area of CRNA as well. Getting a Master's is becoming the old way, and it's changing to PhD--if certain forces have their way. This will required involvement in some research to be published. Of course you realize before you apply for CRNA, you must be a licensed RN with a four-year degree--I'm not sure if it's definitely BSN--I say this b/c of RRTs that got in to CRNA school--but I think they did have to gain a BSN or BA or something. GREs are usually required, as is also some strong critical care RN experience--like ICU, SICU, Open Heart ICU, PICU, etc. I think they are now counting RN, ED experience; although strong university-centered ICU experience is better; b/c you have to take the time to think through the particulars from a pathophysiology standpoint--whereas in the ED, the nurse doesn't always have the time to do this as she/he might in even a busy high-level ICU setting.
Not sure what you mean about CRNA and MD taking the same amount of time. Pretty sure MD/DO is longer and harder--even when you consider the push for CRNAs with PhDs.
Good luck whatever you decide.
