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Rant: Nurses
Started by Whale2018
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It requires test taking skills and strong intuition to guess accurately and score high on the MCAT. Test taking skills/intuition/innate intelligence etc. are what makes it difficult and rare for people to score high on the MCAT, and these factors counter any randomness involved. However, GPA is affected by a lot of variability and is much easier to game (e.g. go to an easy undergrad with rampant grade inflation/easy professors and get a high GPA quickly).
I'm sure schools are aware of the MCAT being a single, one-day test... but so are the Step exams, shelf exams, boards, licensing exams etc. The situational factors encountered on test day are readily minimized with solid practice.
Aw hell naw. I loved orgo. It is so interesting how different brains work
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AnatomyGrey12
Nah, anatomy is. You have to know what something is before you can know what it does (Physiology) and you need those two before you figure out what is going wrong (pathology).
The squat, and I would say Anatomy and Physiology is the deadlift.
Biochem and hormones, those are pretty high yield medical topics that I saw a decent amount of on the MCAT.
haha it was a joke..cuss why would I need the mcat ( a test) in med school you know 😛?
Shout out to BU grade deflation
Orgo is like the clean and jerk in this analogy - Can it help you in your endeavors later on? Yeah, to some degree, but there are other courses/exercises which are much higher yield with much lower risk (joint damage/premed GPA nuking).
I like ochem
Nurses in the schools in my state DO take organic chemistry to an intense and condensed degree. It's definitely a weeder course to see how much and how quickly they can shove vast amounts of information into their noggin. Granted, they never cover mechanisms/arrow push, but they do cover reactions. It's called Nursing Chemistry, and it includes general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemsitry over the course of one semester. At least at my uni, the course was 5 credit hours and met every day but Friday and went through a fair amount of information at an incredibly fast pace.
i know that was probs a typo but it was still funny to read lol
I'd suggest adding a requirement on understanding the difference between there and their as well. Just kidding.... mostly
Yep, you're right. Excuse my lack of specificity.
My boss between undergrad and med school said, "Your degree doesn't tell me what you know. It tells me the level at which you're able to learn." The man has a PhD in mol bio. I learned more mol bio that year than I even thought possible.
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857770
It is true that the rigor depends on the college/university. Where I am the private universities grade all homework. They even let students whom are averaging C and below write papers on any topic in physics. So, it is very rare that a student will get below a B grade. Obviously, these students won't have a good grasp of the material unless they do a lot of learning on their own.
I wasn’t expecting some negativity toward my rant. I should have been more informed that nurses should at least take a survey of organic chemistry. I’ve known having a basic background will help nurses have a good foundation instead of wasting doctors their time.
Dude first why do you even care what pre reqs nurses take. Second how is not knowing how to push arrows causing nurses to waste a doctor's time?
how about instead of nurses taking orgo, you take a grammar class?
Not all... I didn't
You even lift bro?
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AnatomyGrey12
You don't arrow push in the wards? Smh you must go to a Carib school
Soooo a C-?
Back to the original question... because they’re not trying to be doctors...? You know the ones that actually do the diagnosing and curing for the most part? How’s this even a question?
I never understood the fuss about organic either. I liked it better than general chem by a lot.
Haha touché. Is it me or are there a lot of big egos in this forum? I have noticed some people still in undergrad who really do think they are God's gift to medicine. I am an older career changer and my experience in the real world is no one really cares about these pissing contests. You go to work to pay the bills and have some semblance of life. Besides that who cares. Just my two cents.
That’s part of growing up: realizing you’re just part of a larger team/community, and there will always be someone as or more important than you.
Lol. I took Chemistry for Nursing before I started the Gen chem/orgo/ biochem and they are not comparable.
I agree with matt9:35. I’m not here to say I’m the most mature person ever but I think it’s usually just a maturity issue. I have found the same thing to be true in my classes and it is very frustrating. Luckily, it seems like the good guys actually make it through to med-schools at a higher rate.
Does it really matter? I got a C+.
You are not paid enough. In my state minimum paid for RN out of college is 30/hr.
Plus you have to remember, most nurses do overtime and pick up shifts and do doubles.
NPs earn on average 100K while PCPs earn around 200-220K
So, yes, it is around 3x
For sure. My wife made $45/hr at her last job as a clinical RN. She makes $30 now, but she’s doing chart review.
I don’t know... how does the fact that prenursing students don’t have to take organic chemistry have to do with you having to take it because of differing career paths?
And it matters because I bet if you got an A this thread would not exist.
Boy, I’m glad we have your vast body of premed knowledge to help improve nursing education in the US. Whatever would we do without your decades of experience in clinical practice and medical education.
30 is not a typical starting wage in the Midwest for a new grad nurse. I make around 25/hr and saying that most nurses pick up shifts and do doubles is not really that true, some do but not the majority. And the fact that they may be working extra hours does not mean that theyre making close to 3x less. If I make 50k this year which is highly unlikely it would not be close to 3x less than a PCP. Obviously it all depends on the location but lets not exaggerate nursing pay.
average national RN salary is 71K
Yep, including people that have been nurses for 30 years and those practicing in the Bay Area of California making north of $60/hr.
Doesn't mean it's anywhere close to what most RNs make, especially in non-union states.
I see the picture. It's sad then that there are places where RNs are paid less or around 20/hr. Here, we have CNAs start at 15-16/hr. I am from Midwest.
Aye. My partner is an RN in a non union state, new grad started at 22/hr.
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deleted862527
The real Organic Chemistry course(s) are not required for Nursing School simply because the content in the course does not (in anyway shape, or form) contribute to Nursing practice, theory, and education. Nursing School applicants do have to (pre-requisite courses vary upon Nursing School to Nursing School) but generally, it is common for them to have to take General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry; however, these courses are "watered down" and less complex than the original pre-med science courses. To put it blunt: Nurses do not need Chemistry for their practice unless they are covering simple concepts (acids + bases, etc.). However, Physician's have a much more detailed and thorough understanding of biological sciences because this serves as a very important foundation towards treating the disease and practicing medicine----not Nursing.
You'll know when you take cardiovascular/pulmonary/renal physiology.
Concepts of pressure, velocity, acceleration, flow, force, and leverage are concepts you need to understand for physiology.
Having some knowledge of physics is helpful in ortho as well.
I find it so hard to believe that some RNs are making $22/hr. I'm working every other Saturday while in med school as a nurse doing hospice home visit, especially just to do an admission, that's $100 right there. Other rounding visits I'm based at $50/hr and if I'm called to pronounced etc or out of scheduled visit, those are $75 per visit. On a good stable 8 hr day, I'm getting 4 visits with 1 admission and that's $300 before taxes.
That’s nice?
F=ma=smash bone
