Reintroducing myself

[StudyShy]

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Hello, my name is Elizabeth. As you can see from my profile, I have been a member of SDN for quite a while. I ended up getting my bachelor's in nursing, got married, and had three children (3, 1.5, and 3 months) since I have been here last. I'm currently in graduate school studying European history, and I start nurse midwifery school at the end of the month.

I have recently decided two weeks ago that I wanted to be an OBGYN. This is after having a traumatizing third pregnancy where I was in the hospital for a month for hyperemesis gravidarum and was very poorly taken care of. Because I want to work with other women with the same horrible condition, I feel that nurse midwifery will ultimately be too restrictive for me to practice in the way that I desire.

I have decided to continue with my nurse midwife degree since it will give me experience and because it will take me two more years anyway to finish my history degree and take the rest of my premed course work.

So far, my GPA rocks. I just need to focus on doing well on the MCAT. My first three practice MCAT verbal scores were in the 8s using Examcrackers so I'm focusing right now on that section since it is the hardest to raise scores. I'm reviewing chem I so that I can take chem II next semester, and this fall I'm taking biology I (yes as a nurse I've never taken a general biology class). This year should be eazy peezy! In the summer, I plan to take organic chemistry, and next year I plan to ake general physics and then write the MCAT that spring.

I will definitely be needing your support and guidance over the next couple of years to keep my mind focused!

 

[TriagePreMed]

Becoming a midwife and then going into medicine is probably not the best way to go about it. If you want to be a doctor, you need to make that commitment and go for it. Your in between steps will not help your application.

 

[StudyShy]

Becoming a midwife and then going into medicine is probably not the best way to go about it. If you want to be a doctor, you need to make that commitment and go for it. Your in between steps will not help your application.

It will take me two years to finish my prerequisites for med school and take the MCAT. This is also the same amount of time that it will take for me to finish the rest of my masters degree in history and my masters degree in nursing.

I want to start working with women now, and moving on with the midwifery degree while finishing my prerequisites will give me a taste of what kind of future responsibilitly that I will hold and give me practice. Although, it may not help my application, and I may even be viewed more negatively for having an advanced nursing degree, I still feel that what I will gain from my clinincal experiences will make me a more competent physician in the long run.

Furthermore, I can began learning and maybe even starting some research projects involving hyperemesis. I just don't want to sit around and do nothing in the field that I am interested in while completely my general premedical courses when I have the opportunity to "shadow" midwives and OBGYNs.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Okay. I don't quite understand how you'll be finishing 2 masters AND taking pre-med plus the MCAT. The real concern is that you are a nurse with an advanced degree. Medical schools will have even less reason to consider you as a candidate.

 

[jinx520]

I don't think it's necessarily true that med school adcoms look down on nurses who apply. I think that nursing programs are more reluctant to let you in if they know you are eventually planning to go to med school simply b/c you will be taking a slot in their program that won't eventually translate to an increase in nurses, but since it appears you've been accepted to the midwife program already that's probably not an issue for you. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting a nursing degree before you start med school, but since you already have one I wonder why you would want to go through the effort and expense of completing the midwife program while working on your prereqs. It does sound a bit like working on Plan B before working on Plan A. However, I'm not an admissions committee member, so I don't speak with authority.

 

[StudyShy]

To complete my history degree, I will need to take one class a semester for the next two years. This is no big deal.

Nurse midwife school will be like regular nursing school, which I handled without any problem plus while taking other courses that I enjoyed such as German. I finished nursing school while pregnant which for me means being too weak to walk, not eating, and living on a feeding tube. In my mind, nursing school + 1 history course will be like bachelor degree nursing + one German course and even easier since I will not be so sick.

Even though I still need to take a semester of general chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, a year of biology, and a year of physics, these classes except for organic chemistry should be a review of prior knowledge. I have never taken general college biology, however I have taken AP biology, a year of anatomy and phisiology, and microbiology. I'm registered to take the first semester of biology in the fall, and the first semster content seems pretty easy (meaning I can answer most questions in the study guide correctly without reviewing the content again since I was a teenager). I do need a semester to review chem I that I took in highschool for college credit so that I can take chem II in the winter semester. I have had calculus-based physics (also in highschool) before, and can really start reviewing for the MCAT for physics even though I don't have college credit yet for that. My plan for studying for the MCAT can really began now. Studying two hours a day for even a year would give me the average time a student spends on MCAT preparation.

ANYTHING is easier than vomiting 20+ times a day and losing a pound every day and a half. It has definitely put my goals in life into perspective. I decided to go to medical school after I had been accepted to nurse practitioner school after reading more about how other women have been mistreated and ignored similar to what I experienced. I realized that being a nurse won't be enough to induce change for 100 years of stigmatization of hyperemesis which in places such as Germany is still being treated as a psychological disorder and not a real disease.

I don't want to argue about whether or not to go to nurse midwife school. It's already a done deal, and I'm looking forward to learning both midwifery's methodology for the birthing process and the medical model. I simply wanted to introduce myself as another nontraditional student who has another two years before applying for med school. So, hi! 🙂

 

[Pons Asinorum]

One should broadcast a plan on SDN ONLY if they want it found wanting by the commentariat 🙂

I don't remember what post it was, but somewhere in the pre-Allo forums there a thread that basically lays out that ANY plan or stats that get posted inevitably leads to the conclusion of "better apply Carribbean/DO, that's your only chance."

It's like SDN's version of Godwin's Law.

So, hi!

 

[StudyShy]

One should broadcast a plan on SDN ONLY if they want it found wanting by the commentariat 🙂

I don't remember what post it was, but somewhere in the pre-Allo forums there a thread that basically lays out that ANY plan or stats that get posted inevitably leads to the conclusion of "better apply Carribbean/DO, that's your only chance."

It's like SDN's version of Godwin's Law.

So, hi!

Good point. I think that when I was thinking about going to nursing school years back, things weren't so cut throat. I actually used to talk to THE Dr. Kimberly Cox. lol

I better get passports for the tots now! 🙂

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Good point. I think that when I was thinking about going to nursing school years back, things weren't so cut throat. I actually used to talk to THE Dr. Kimberly Cox. lol

I better get passports for the tots now! 🙂

Swim around in the Surgery forums. Dr. Cox is still a very active commenter/admin down there. SDN handle is Winged Scapula. And I wouldn't worry about passports just yet 🙂

 

[StudyShy]

Hey, thanks! I can't believe how time goes by so quickly! Dr. Cox was fun to talk to. I'm going to have to stalk her! 😉

It's a good thing that I'm not scared off too easily. I really thought that someone was going to mention my three kids all three and under, but no one did. 🙂

Back to studying while the kidlets sleep...

 

[TriagePreMed]

I'm not trying to say that she won't be able to make it to medical school, but it is known there is somewhat of a bias against nurses because they already are medical professionals and there's a shortage of nurses.

One should broadcast a plan on SDN ONLY if they want it found wanting by the commentariat 🙂

I don't remember what post it was, but somewhere in the pre-Allo forums there a thread that basically lays out that ANY plan or stats that get posted inevitably leads to the conclusion of "better apply Carribbean/DO, that's your only chance."

It's like SDN's version of Godwin's Law.

So, hi!

 

[StudyShy]

Actually, I think that I heard that there is no more nursing shortage. Nursing positions are harder to come by since many have come out of retirement to work or have maintained their current positions past the time that they originally planned to retire in order to support themselves and family members. I know of some new grads that are having trouble finding jobs, unfortunately.

Everything depends on their attitude toward nurses. I know that University of Michigan accepted a boy that I went to nursing school with. So that's one school in the my area that I can lean toward. If it makes them feel any better, they can simply view me like an EMT.

 

[DrTroll]

It's your life, do whatever your heart lead you to.

That being said, don't take the pre-requisite lightly, I see enough ppl crash and burn in OChem.

Best of luck

 

[StudyShy]

My sister just took organic chemistry and did fine. She can help me. 🙂

 

[DrTroll]

Perfect, all is well then 😀

 

[LingoLaine]

Welcome Elizabeth!

I decided to go to medical school after I had been accepted to nurse practitioner school after reading more about how other women have been mistreated and ignored similar to what I experienced.

I too want to be an ob/gyn, though it sounds like my experience was somewhat opposite of yours... I decided to go to medical school after receiving the most amazing medical care during my high-risk pregnancies and wanting to be JUST LIKE my own doctors.

 

[StudyShy]

Welcome Elizabeth!



I too want to be an ob/gyn, though it sounds like my experience was somewhat opposite of yours... I decided to go to medical school after receiving the most amazing medical care during my high-risk pregnancies and wanting to be JUST LIKE my own doctors.

I'm very happy that you had a good outcome and experience. 🙂 My situation might have been a little different since hyperemesis has been traditionally viewed as the woman's fault, psychosomatic disorder, or the like. No one wants to deal with a puker anyway, especially those who do not respond with antinausea medication.

Why were you high risk? What did you like most about your physician? How many children do you have?

 

[LingoLaine]

Why were you high risk? What did you like most about your physician? How many children do you have?

Elizabeth, I have two children -- a boy (6 1/2) and a girl (3) -- but it took me six pregnancies to get them. My doctors (regular OB, maternal fetal specialist, and hematologist) for pregnancies #5 and 6 were amazingly caring, supportive, and knowledgeable, and I found myself wanting to BE them.

Here's my full history in case you're interested.

pregnancy #1 -- miscarriage at 12 weeks (fetus died at 9 weeks), cause unknown. D&C.
pregnancy #2 -- totally normal pregnancy, healthy full-term son born via emergency c-section (fetal distress, compressed cord)
pregnancy #3 -- miscarriage at 8 weeks (fetus died at 7.5 weeks), cause unknown. D&C.
pregnancy #4 -- miscarriage at 5 weeks, cause unknown
pregnancy #5 -- high risk due to subchorionic hematoma (placental abruption), severely growth restricted fetus, premature rupture of the membranes, and irreversible pulmonary hypoplasia. Labor induced at 24 weeks, baby died during labor, normal female karyotype. cause potentially linked to a common maternal blood-clotting disorder (MTHFR).
pregnancy #6 -- high risk due to prior history and repeat subchorionic hematoma. daily baby aspirin, high-dose folic acid, and Heparin injections. healthy full-term daughter born via drug-free VBAC. had to go under general anesthesia after delivery for surgical removal of a retained placenta.

 

[StudyShy]

I am so sorry. I have only had one loss, and I know how I felt. I bet that you would have traded anything to even have a pregnancy like mine if it meant that your baby would live.

My best physician was Dr. Chames at University of Michigan. I was totally prepared for him to give me the crazy treatment, when instead he sat next to me on my bed and talked to me like a person. Patients truly appreciate support and respect. Also, his discharge dictation was very accurarate and detailed which means that he actually listened to what I had to say. This is compared to my community hospital where I think that I'll have asthma forever because people keep documenting that I have asthma when I don't.

I have a boy your girl's age. You go girl VBAC and no drugs! Thank you for sharing your story. 🙂