nursing to med school

[rose123]

Hey everybody,
Is nursing to med school a common route? Do ADCOMS look down on this? Also, I've noticed that a handful of former nurses who went to med school got acceptances from osteopathic schools. Do you know of any instances where nurses got acceptances from allopathic schools? I was advised to go into nursing first and then apply to med school to strengthen my application. My undergrad years have been marred with repeated W's 2 semesters medical withdrawal and some W's due to just plain immaturity. I'm a post bac student now and more serious and commited than I was then. It has been a long and painful journey for me, and no matter what has happened, I always return back to medicine. I would think it would be a good idea to go into nursing first to 1) show consistent high grades and raise my gpa 2) distance myself from my subpar undergrad performance and show academic maturity 3) get clinical experience and work experience to better prepare me to serve my patients as a physician. Do you have any advice?

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[tedsadoc2002]

Sent you a PM.

 

[jdrake82]

I'm also post baccalaureate, but I have mine in nursing already.....generally, does this particular characteristic help in applying to and being accepted by med schools (allopathic or osteopathic)? I've worked a year in physical rehab which I think would be somewhat helpful....also in nursing school we did a couple of visits to a local senior center and organized health fairs....I'm just very insecure right now about whether some of (most of ) the experiences I've had will be beneficial or detrimental for me as I apply to med school....I've even heard that having a nursing background is negative(????). If anyone has any feedback on any of my ramblings, please reply. Thanks.

 

[rose123]

I have heard mixed reviews about whether ADCOMS see having a nursing degree as a positive or negative thing. It may be seen as negative given the shortage of nurses. However, if your desire is to do medicine and you have the grades in all the science core courses and the MCAT score, I would think that med schools will look favorably on that. There are plenty of former nurses who I have had the priviledge of corresponding with, that have made the successful transition. If anybody else has more information or insight on this topic, it would help a great deal.

 

[jdrake82]

well, i've taken the mcat twice: once "diagnostically" (DUMB IDEA, i do NOT reccommend this) and the second time just to see if I'd improved at all after taking organic chem. i'm taking it again for the final time in april and i plan to start studying next month. if anything, the mcat is my goliath; i graduated with my bsn with a 3.7 gpa, i think my volunteer work is adequate, and i've had lots of exposure in the field.

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by jdrake82
well, i've taken the mcat twice: once "diagnostically" (DUMB IDEA, i do NOT reccommend this)

sorry

 

[CaMD]

I've heard that doing nursing in order to get into med school is not a smart move because it can make you seem like you can't make up your mind what you really want to do.
Also, some physicians have biases against the nursing profession so they may not take your application as seriously.

That's what I've heard, take it for what you will. To me it seems like a great idea. Tons of patient contact and observation of what being a doctor is really like. I think a nurse who says s/he wants to be a doctor probably knows better than most applicants.

 

[Hilaree320]

Yeah I've heard that ADCOMS frown on nursing degrees simply because nursing classes gear you toward one specific career, which is of course, nursing... Unlike a more broad kind of degree like Biology, History, Psychology, etc..