Nurse to Doctor-new to SDN, lots of questions

[ernursetodoctor]

I am new to SDN and I am happy to find all the resources available here. I am 26 and an ER nurse. I enjoy my job but during nursing school I realized I wanted to be a doctor. I work full time and I am taking pre-med classes. I will take the MCAT a year from now.

I think I want to be an ER doctor but I am wanting to shadow doctors in other areas. Does anyone have a suggestion as to which areas I should expose myself to?

Do Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology count in the science GPA?

Would it be appropriate to have one of my nursing school professors write a letter of recommendation as a non-science professor? She is extremely supportive of me becoming a doctor.

Thank you!

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[BPlaysItCool]

I am new to SDN and I am happy to find all the resources available here. I am 26 and an ER nurse. I enjoy my job but during nursing school I realized I wanted to be a doctor. I work full time and I am taking pre-med classes. I will take the MCAT a year from now.

I think I want to be an ER doctor but I am wanting to shadow doctors in other areas. Does anyone have a suggestion as to which areas I should expose myself to?

Do Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology count in the science GPA?

Would it be appropriate to have one of my nursing school professors write a letter of recommendation as a non-science professor? She is extremely supportive of me becoming a doctor.

Thank you!

Welcome. ED nursing is an awesome background. If you ask me. The best along with ICU. These skills will improve your usefulness to all of your teams as you progess in medical training. I too loved the ED culture to the extent that I couldn't see myself doing anything else. I would propose that you consider in your last year of work there what it would be like to be the one calling the shots in that environment. As it seems to me most of my colleagues interested in EM don't even consider what it would be like to ride it out in that hot seat. They just look at the compensation, the lifestyle, and the romance of being one of the last cowboys left in medicine.

Expose yourself to whatever strikes you as interesting that you are able to get yourself into. You would be surprised what does not count as BCPM. Everything that is in science or math counts. Your nursing professor is a perfect letter writer. Keep in mind the occasional medical school requires a liberal arts or Humanities letter. But sometimes nontrads are able to elude these rules by contacting the admissions offices. Buy the latest MSAR. Study it. Mark it up with schools of interest. It will prevent you from making application mistakes. Which can be expensive.

 

[shaggy alfresco]

I am new to SDN and I am happy to find all the resources available here. I am 26 and an ER nurse. I enjoy my job but during nursing school I realized I wanted to be a doctor. I work full time and I am taking pre-med classes. I will take the MCAT a year from now.

I think I want to be an ER doctor but I am wanting to shadow doctors in other areas. Does anyone have a suggestion as to which areas I should expose myself to?

Do Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology count in the science GPA?

Would it be appropriate to have one of my nursing school professors write a letter of recommendation as a non-science professor? She is extremely supportive of me becoming a doctor.

Thank you!

Anything offered through the biology department will count in the BCPM. Be aware that many/all "nursing oriented" classes you've taken won't count towards your BCPM (especially if it was through a nursing or some other dept. ) - this could be a good or bad thing obviously depending on how you did in them.

In terms of suggestions, since you've worked in a place like ER, maybe you could shadow or volunteer in places where people stay for a week or more (some kind of icu or oncology maybe)? And then also some outpatient setting like primary care or pm&r. That should make you well rounded. But don't forget to join some organizations outside of medicine too! and maybe some research as well.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

Welcome! Exact same situation as you- 28, also an ER nurse making the jump, taking the MCAT next month! A&P and micro do count, unless you did one of those programs where the nursing courses are highly specific and you're only in with other nursing students (if the course name has NURS in front of the number, it probably doesn't count.) There are certain programs that notoriously really like nurses, like GW. Also, there are a few courses that are on the fence as far as counting for your sGPA or not. I would sit down with your advisor, make a list of the courses that could go either way, and tabulate your GPA to see which categorization works the most to your advantage. (Example: I was told you could either count or not count "nursing" stats, pathophys and pharm, depending on which worked out best.) Good luck and PM me if you have any questions... there are a few of us lurking around here.

 

[ernursetodoctor]

I was hoping that A&P and Micro would NOT count. That is 2 Cs and a B. Since I started nursing school and realized that I wanted to go to medical school my GPA has been a 3.9.

Yes, I was thinking about ICU. I also volunteer every week at a free health clinic that my church runs. The doctors there allow me to shadow them but I am still performing my "nurse duties" also.

 

[ernursetodoctor]

Epsilonprodigy-Wow. We are in the same boat. You are just a little ahead of me

I am sure that I will have plenty of questions for you. Thanks for your reply!

 

[agilitydogRN]

I used 2 nursing professors to write LOR's, and both were counted as science letters by the schools I applied to. I had 1 LOR from a biochem instructor as well (it was the only true science class I had taken in almost 10 years). I called schools i was applying to before I sent the LOR's in to be sure the ones I had were ok, and they all were very lenient with what letter were used.

As for docs to shadow, try the intensivist at your hospital...I shadowed ours on multiple occasions, and it was an amazing learning experience (I work in the CT surgical ICU so getting to see more of the medical and neuro stuff was pretty cool).

Good luck with your journey...it is very exciting!!

 

[TxRadTech]

I am kind of in the same boat as you. I am a radiology tech x 8 years. Right now I only work as MRI tech... all my specific radiology courses fall under "other science" on the TMDSAS....and under "health" for AMCAS...not sure exactly if that gets put under your science gpa.

 

[panamishe]

Hey ernursetodoctor and others. You all will do great. I was an er nurse for 3 years before I started med school. Do yourself a favor and get LORs from your premed teachers because a lot of schools don't count nursing classes as science classes. Good luck!

 

[Smb8041]

It's so nice to hear that so many nurses are making the transition into medicine. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only only. I was an ICU nurse, who is currently in a post-bacc program, so I'll be applying to med school next spring.

Just talking to a few nurses that are currently in med school, they tell me that a nursing background won't really help the first and second year, but will definitely help during the third year a bit, as far as feeling comfortable talking to patients, and basically just knowing how hospitals work and function.

My post bacc program has 20 students in it, and I'm the only one with a nursing degree. I'm kind of amazed at the lack of knowledge the students have regarding hospitals and what being a doctor actually entails. One of the girls in my class was telling me about a recent volunteer experience when she was in the ED and a patient had vomited in a bucket and tried to hand the bucket to her. She was disgusted and turned her back away. The nurse had to walk in and take the bucket away from the patient. I was, to say the least, a bit surprised. My boyfriend (who is also a nurse) had a good laugh about that.

Anyway, congratulations to everyone on starting the journey, I wish you all the best of luck. Keep us all updated!!