One, Two and Three

[Doctor Positive]

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Hi! I've been lurking around for a little bit and I felt I should introduce myself and ask a few questions that I would love for you to answer. Before I go on though, I shall note that I am only in my freshman year of high school but however, I'm the type who likes to have everything nicely planned out and one of my biggest fears is getting to grade twelve and have absolutely no idea what do next. So before you start to say that I shouldn't be worrying about this stuff, just know that I understand but it is just the kind of person I am. With that over with, here we go.

1. I'm a Canadian and while I know this is more for American high schoolers, I have other questions and I felt like this whole thing fit best here. I have always dreamed of going to college in the US, crazy right? I know it is mighty hard and that few do go that route but is there anyone who has? My grades aren't bad right now, A's in everything other than Math but that can also change fast. There are lists all over the place about US schools that accept Canucks but they are all quite outdated, does anybody have a list or at least a few schools they're sure about? And if you suggest that I shouldn't do it, what are some good Canadian universities? I want to get out of BC, away from the family but there are just so few choices here and I'm very misguided about which ones are actually as good as some say. One more thing, are there any advantages of a US college/uni. compared to a Canadian one? Please say so!

2. I'm a quiet, down to earth person but I have always been quite a positive person also and it'll talk a ton more than some snarky comments from residents to get the smile off my face. I give a lot more than I get, I spend money on strangers and it sort of leads to why I want to be involved in the field of medicine, I want to give patients their lives back, or improve them at least. But I'm caught up in between whether I should head towards being an RN or a MD. I like being a nurse because I can really interact with the patients, and I have always had a funny way of making people feel better. But I want to be a doctor because it's hands on, you're actually making the patient better and because, it just has that certain era to it. What are the pro's and con's of each, what do you suggest?

3. Lastly, talking about majors and minors. Would you be able to take the four year nursing course, and then go on to medical school to be a doctor? I would probably do something along the lines of a Nursing major and a Human Anatomy minor but would it be something you would suggest? I don't see it listed often and that's why I have became curious, just because it would sort of give me a taste of what it is like to be a nurse. Thanks for all your awesome answers, I appreciate them so so much! 🙂

 

[hmockingbird]

1. Don't really know anything about the Canadian education system. In the US you don't have to know your major right away; most colleges give you 2 years to declare. (You would for nursing or you only get a year to decide, depending on the school, because it's a very structured major - you have to take all the classes in a specific order.) That might be different; I know it's different from Europe.
Also, I would think applying to US med school from a US undergrad would give you a better chance of getting in.*
Edit *getting into a US med school

3. Yes, you can do an RN/pre-med program. They are either 4 or 5 years. Instead of taking the nursing science courses (which are adapted specifically to what you need to use in your future job), you take the regular science courses for majors/pre-meds
I really think it depends on the school, but nursing is an insanely busy major, and usually works separately from the rest of college. So, you might have to make some special arrangements to do a major if you really wanted to, just due to scheduling and whatnot.

 

[Kahr]

Hi! I've been lurking around for a little bit and I felt I should introduce myself and ask a few questions that I would love for you to answer. Before I go on though, I shall note that I am only in my freshman year of high school but however, I'm the type who likes to have everything nicely planned out and one of my biggest fears is getting to grade twelve and have absolutely no idea what do next. So before you start to say that I shouldn't be worrying about this stuff, just know that I understand but it is just the kind of person I am. With that over with, here we go.

1. I'm a Canadian and while I know this is more for American high schoolers, I have other questions and I felt like this whole thing fit best here. I have always dreamed of going to college in the US, crazy right? I know it is mighty hard and that few do go that route but is there anyone who has? My grades aren't bad right now, A's in everything other than Math but that can also change fast. There are lists all over the place about US schools that accept Canucks but they are all quite outdated, does anybody have a list or at least a few schools they're sure about? And if you suggest that I shouldn't do it, what are some good Canadian universities? I want to get out of BC, away from the family but there are just so few choices here and I'm very misguided about which ones are actually as good as some say. One more thing, are there any advantages of a US college/uni. compared to a Canadian one? Please say so! Sorry, no clue. I think though that if you really want to attend college in the US, then you should do it, it'll be a good/different experience for you. I think you should look at cost considerations honestly, like non-private schools where you might be able to gain residency fairly soon and get the lower tuition. I can tell you that having moved from Hawaii to NYC and doing my undergrad there, it was a very interesting experience, and while I was able to attend a city university for practically nothing, the cost of living was enormous.

2. I'm a quiet, down to earth person but I have always been quite a positive person also and it'll talk a ton more than some snarky comments from residents to get the smile off my face. I give a lot more than I get, I spend money on strangers and it sort of leads to why I want to be involved in the field of medicine, I want to give patients their lives back, or improve them at least. But I'm caught up in between whether I should head towards being an RN or a MD. I like being a nurse because I can really interact with the patients, and I have always had a funny way of making people feel better. But I want to be a doctor because it's hands on, you're actually making the patient better and because, it just has that certain era to it. What are the pro's and con's of each, what do you suggest? Just a thought, you might consider PA (or even Respiratory! 😉) as well. If you do the RN route, you can always change your mind and still go to medical school, so I don't think you're really giving up the MD if you do this. You will get to interact with patients in both fields, but for each it will depend on what field you choose, I think you need to examine (over time) which role you'd prefer to help the patients through, that is going to be the huge difference. But again, you can always change your mind should you go the nursing route first.

3. Lastly, talking about majors and minors. Would you be able to take the four year nursing course, and then go on to medical school to be a doctor? I would probably do something along the lines of a Nursing major and a Human Anatomy minor but would it be something you would suggest? I don't see it listed often and that's why I have became curious, just because it would sort of give me a taste of what it is like to be a nurse. Thanks for all your awesome answers, I appreciate them so so much! 🙂 See my comment below.

1. Don't really know anything about the Canadian education system. In the US you don't have to know your major right away; most colleges give you 2 years to declare. (You would for nursing or you only get a year to decide, depending on the school, because it's a very structured major - you have to take all the classes in a specific order.) That might be different; I know it's different from Europe.
Also, I would think applying to US med school from a US undergrad would give you a better chance of getting in.

3. Yes, you can do an RN/pre-med program. They are either 4 or 5 years. Instead of taking the nursing science courses (which are adapted specifically to what you need to use in your future job), you take the regular science courses for majors/pre-meds
I really think it depends on the school, but nursing is an insanely busy major, and usually works separately from the rest of college. So, you might have to make some special arrangements to do a major if you really wanted to, just due to scheduling and whatnot. This is absolutely true (regarding both the existence of said programs, as well as the incredible pace of nursing programs in general). From personal experience I can also add/verify that even programs not geared toward a future in higher education health practice (MD, NP, etc etc), you can in fact often work out special arrangements regarding classes. What I mean is, in the respiratory program I attended (as with the associated nursing program), we had various sciences to take alongside the job-specific classes like a combined chemistry course, lower level physics, A&P, etc, however upon speaking to the department chairs, I was told I could swap these classes for the traditional pre-med/dental classes and still fulfill the program's requirements.

All the best with your studies. If there's one thing I could recommend, it's get in some AP (or whatever you have in Canada) science courses while in high school, it'll give you a small advantage when you start college, and possibly for the rest of your life in the academic side of things.

Cheers

 

[crazycooljoel]

1. Don't really know anything about the Canadian education system. In the US you don't have to know your major right away; most colleges give you 2 years to declare. (You would for nursing or you only get a year to decide, depending on the school, because it's a very structured major - you have to take all the classes in a specific order.) That might be different; I know it's different from Europe.
Also, I would think applying to US med school from a US undergrad would give you a better chance of getting in.*
Edit *getting into a US med school

3. Yes, you can do an RN/pre-med program. They are either 4 or 5 years. Instead of taking the nursing science courses (which are adapted specifically to what you need to use in your future job), you take the regular science courses for majors/pre-meds
I really think it depends on the school, but nursing is an insanely busy major, and usually works separately from the rest of college. So, you might have to make some special arrangements to do a major if you really wanted to, just due to scheduling and whatnot.

I recommend against the RN/pre-med program. My reason is because your going to learn all the medical in med school, unless you want to be an RN. Medical schools do not care what your degree is, they don't discriminate that way. They look at your overall accumulative GPA if it is decent, they look at your science GPA, then MCAT scores (plus other stuff). At this point i'm not going to get too detailed, but in general, keep your GPA above 3.0 minimum, improve at math because it will help you in organic chemistry and you need calculus for many med schools. You will want your science GPA to be as high as possible. When you take your science classes, try to learn whatever you can, it is easier when you are interested in it. Use med school as your motivation and drive. Since you are in high school, take physics, biology, and chemistry sometime before you graduate if you can. It will make college a little easier if you have the basics down already, which in turn will improve your MCAT score.

 

[Kahr]

I recommend against the RN/pre-med program. My reason is because your going to learn all the medical in med school, unless you want to be an RN. Medical schools do not care what your degree is, they don't discriminate that way. They look at your overall accumulative GPA if it is decent, they look at your science GPA, then MCAT scores (plus other stuff). At this point i'm not going to get too detailed, but in general, keep your GPA above 3.0 minimum, improve at math because it will help you in organic chemistry and you need calculus for many med schools. You will want your science GPA to be as high as possible. When you take your science classes, try to learn whatever you can, it is easier when you are interested in it. Use med school as your motivation and drive. Since you are in high school, take physics, biology, and chemistry sometime before you graduate if you can. It will make college a little easier if you have the basics down already, which in turn will improve your MCAT score.

I agree with just about everything here, though I want to comment on the recommendation against the RN/pre-med route unless there's a strict desire to go RN (assuming that's what you meant). If by the time you finish high school, you are still unsure, then what drawback could their possibly be to starting a RN/pre-med route over a traditional route? I think this will give you the most options in the first two years of college IF you're still unsure (or of course are sure about the RN; not if you're sure about MD of course). I say this because the general coursework in a university level nursing program is going to be fairly similar to anything else, you won't typically get into the core of nursing classes until later on in your studies (at which point you might have a better idea of what you want to do); thus if you change your mind, you can easily switch into a different major and not have lost any time, but if you decide on RN at that point, you'll be on track for that too, it's a win-win in my opinion.

Hell, if you graduate even, and change your mind, you'll be at the same place a traditional student would be, ready to take MCAT and apply. To make this more clear, imagine you go through the traditional route, doesn't matter what major, if you change your mind at the end, you'll have to go backward to finish the nursing degree and have lesser job options until you finish (a BA/BS in just about any field will not trump what a nursing degree can offer). Here's yet another reason to go the RN route, if you change your mind post-graduation, and apply to medical schools, you'll have the non-trad background and healthcare experience, both things that make you stand out over the production line of 22-4 year old biology majors (no offense meant).

Anyway, sorry for the rambling post, and any redundancy it has to my first post.

By the way crazycooljoel, if you're not already aware, SDN offers military personnel some benefits for serving (and obviously for sharing your experience/knowledge here), check it out here, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised: https://sdn.zendesk.com/entries/185027

 

[Law2Doc]

...
3. Lastly, talking about majors and minors. Would you be able to take the four year nursing course, and then go on to medical school to be a doctor? I would probably do something along the lines of a Nursing major and a Human Anatomy minor but would it be something you would suggest? I don't see it listed often and that's why I have became curious, just because it would sort of give me a taste of what it is like to be a nurse. Thanks for all your awesome answers, I appreciate them so so much! 🙂

If your goal is to be a doctor, don't become a nurse. If your goal is to become a nurse, you probably should just go ahead with that plan and not raise the question of later becoming a doctor. These are not concordant paths, and if your ultimate goal is a physician, at least for the US system, you are actually better off being a non-science major and premed on the side than being a nursing student trying to make a transition.

 

[BadelRN]

If you choose the RN route (assuming you truly want to be an RN) you will obviously have far more professional options available to you; however, if you choose strictly pre-med or a general BS/BA, you significantly limit your options, especially if medical school does not pan out.

Now, if you absolutely want to pursue medical school and you are completely dedicated to it, an RN route should be out of the question. Speaking as a BSN-RN, there is far too much additional time, work and stress (2 most stressful years of education outside of an MD education one can experience) involved if you're just going to use it as an avenue to medical school.

I had this very same internal struggle and eventually chose the RN route to leverage my efforts as medical school was by no means definite in relation to life circumstances and the possibility of acceptance. Glad it is finally behind me.

The good thing about the RN avenue (assuming you complete it and then decide to continue on to medical school) is the tremendous exposure and experience it provides. Rather than being relagated to inflating volunteer experiences to seem like in-depth patient interaction like the traditional pre-med individual has to, you will have far more impressive extracurricular (SNA, numerous health fairs, screenings, etc) and healthcare experience (countless in-hospital hours and diverse unit rotations) portions of your resume than any others. Additionally, you will have access to any number of MD/DOs you want for shadowing/advice purposes. However, it must be considered in the context of 2 additional years of study, aside from the inorganics, organics, and physics you would have to finish as well.

I hope you weigh both options appropriately and choose the one that is best for you.