Post-bacc or science degree for BSN?

[ghostly]

Hey. I'm a nursing student in my senior year of college. I've always wanted to be a physician; didn't take the plunge due to personal fears about failure.
I think I've officially changed my mind, as I don't believe I'll be satisfied with my scope of practice as a nurse practitioner, should I go that route.
However, I'm undecided as to how to go about getting my pre-med requirements done after I graduate. I'm considering applying to a 2 year post-bacc program, but my other major option I was considering was completing another degree (possibly biology?). I think a 2 year program would be better for my lifestyle so I could work, but will it negatively impact my application to med schools or my MCAT score? I'm generally concerned because health professions tend to score poorly on the MCAT, or so I understand.
My current GPA is 3.83, I'm minoring in philosophy, and will be graduating with honors (with a thesis), if any of that is relevant. My science GPA is 4.0, but we all know nursing pre-req sciences aren't terribly rigorous.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[quitejaded]

Let me ask, what exactly do you think will be missing as a nurse practitioner? My mother is a nurse practitioner (I'm a dietitian) and in our state, she literally does exactly what the physician does. We're opening a clinic together. Typically, I need to partner with a physician to do this, but an Dr.NP satisfies our state requirements.

But this is clinic setting, not hospital setting. I'm not sure how NP's fair there.

 

[ghostly]

Let me ask, what exactly do you think will be missing as a nurse practitioner? My mother is a nurse practitioner (I'm a dietitian) and in our state, she literally does exactly what the physician does. We're opening a clinic together. Typically, I need to partner with a physician to do this, but an Dr.NP satisfies our state requirements.

But this is clinic setting, not hospital setting. I'm not sure how NP's fair there.

I think I'll be missing out on the medical education necessary to make best practice decisions if I go that route.
For me, I'd rather know as much as I possibly can for the benefit of the patients I am providing care for.
Nothing against nurse practitioners as a whole, though. I've met some darn good ones in my time as a student and as a patient (well, from my judgment anyway).

 

[popopopop]

1. Finish your nursing degree with that awesome GPA of yours.
2. Work 1-2 years in whatever specialty you want that can provide you with a flexible work schedule. I myself worked strictly weekends for years during my pre-reqs and it was awesome. I sacrificed earning potential for sure, but it was worth it.
3. When it's time to apply, make sure you got a solid grasp on how to explain the switch from nursing to medschool.

Now to answer your question, I would say pre-reqs + extra courses > bio degree. I did the post-bac route and sprinkled in some extra upper level sciences a la carte. If I had gotten my bio degree, my school would have required me to take a writing course, calculus, and I would have been forced to take irrelevant upper division sciences like plant science to fulfill the requirements.

One reason health professionals do poorly on the MCAT is our lack of exposure to pure sciences, not that we're dumber as a whole. The general consensus is that the MCAT is more a comprehension test rather than a content knowledge test, but it sureeeeee would have been nice if I had two years of biochem rammed in my head vs nursing theories lol. It's solely up to you as far as your performance on the MCAT, not the degree! If I had the money, I would have loved to have taken more relevant science courses before my MCAT. Having the extra degree won't help you much on your application as long as you have your BSN already.