NP or MD - Pros and Cons

[sena]

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Hey everyone. I'm kind of torn here. My goal has been to become a doctor for as long as I can remember. At the start of college, I geared toward CRNA for some reason, finished my BSN and now am stuck in a hard place. Help give me some pros and cons toward MD/DO and NP.

Pros I have:
Can begin NP school in the coming fall
Don't have as much responsibility as MD
"Decent" pay
Only 3 more years for DNP
No MCAT
No research prior to admission


Cons:
I think I'd regret it later on
NP's in a generalized way (family practice is my desire) do almost the same work for a hell of a lot less (I know salaries/wages/benefits etc are all different)
I don't want to be looked at as a wannabe doctor
I'm burnt out on school
I don't want to go into so much debt
MCAT (worried I will suck on it)
2-3 years away from applying
Don't want to be 34 when I finish,
I'm only 24
worried i won't get accepted (cGPA 3.6, sGPA 3.2)

 

[silas2642]

This has been discussed ad nauseam in the forum-- do a search. In the end, my advice would be to avoid medical school at all costs unless after sincere contemplation and soul searching, you cannot be happy doing anything else.

 

[nixonshead]

i agree. do your msn/np, then if you discover you want the md, go to med school. much nicer flow than going to med school, dropping out, then trying to go get your np after all that nonsense.

keep in mind, for clinical practice, the dnp is a loooong way from being required by state laws, which is what will dictate when you need to have it. Just go for the MSN and see how life as an NP is

 

[primadonna22274]

Disagree. You are only 24. When I was 24 I started PA school (I was not a nurse, had a BS biology). Graduated at 26 and by 27 knew I wanted to go back to medical school.
The longer I worked, and the older I got, the more frustrated I was with knowing a little about a lot but never knowing as much as I wanted. I read constantly but lacked the fundamentals, even though we get a pretty good basis in PA school. You will have even less of a foundation in basic science in NP training, and if you think now that you might be frustrated by that later, I can almost promise you that you will.
I know full well how frustrating it is to be more productive than many of your attending docs but paid 1/3 of what they are paid. I know firsthand how it feels to never have input into clinic operations as a PA. I did something about it, and at 38 am a MSII, and at 40 will be a physician. So? I will be 40 anyway.
But I will caution you: my path is longer and more expensive. If you really think you might at any point want to be a physician, do it now.
P.S. the MCAT is not the end of the world 🙂 not great fun, but it's just a test--study, do your best, take it when you are prepared--but it should not be the major thing that keeps you from applying to medical school.
Good luck 🙂
Lisa