RN and 32 in NP school, but still considering MD. Help!

[SequoiaTN46]

---

Members don't see this ad.

So.... Like a lot of kids, I grew up wanting to be a doctor. To give a little background, my mother was a diabetic who experienced a lot of complications from that, and my dad worked nights, so throughout my early life until she passed away when I was 14, I took care of her a lot. I was always at the hospital when she was admitted, and it felt like a second home. I really do love caring for people. Somewhere after high school, I decided that I’d go into nursing instead. I’m good at it, I enjoy it for what it is, but I still want more. At this point in life, I am now 32, with a 16 month old son. I am the type of mom who wants to be there for my kid, but not the type who would enjoy completely giving up my career. That said, I am now halfway through NP school, but I can’t get med school out of my head. I often think of ways I could make it work with my family life, and then I think of the drawbacks. In some ways I feel like if I don’t do it, I’ll always regret it. So here I am. I’m aware that most of you here are endearingly brutally honest, and I need that. Give me some insight into if med school with a young family, at 34 (I need a couple years to do some prereqs) would be doable or advisable or tolerable. I don’t want to miss my son’s childhood, but I also don’t want to look back with regret later.

 

[atomi]

Unless you want to specialize, at this point you should stick with NP.

Unfortunately if you go down this path you will miss out on your child’s formative years.

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

I can't speak to having children, but I would say this: There is no second go at life. This is it. So if you can die fulfilled being a mother and NP, then great - stay on that course. If not, then there isn't much of a choice.

 

[Forever Geebs]

You’ve been a nurse and are well on your way to becoming a NP. What about what you do, do you like and what don’t you like? Can you help us better understand what “wanting more” means to you? You said yourself two years for prerequisites, then you have a year for application/interviews, four years of med school, and a minimum of three years for residency. Fast forward ten years and you’ll be a physician. If what you’re missing in your current profession will be realized after ten years of going down the path to become a physician, the only one who knows whether it’ll be worth it is you. That being said, you need to consider your family and doubly confirm they fully understand what this path entails, the sacrifices that will need to be made by everyone, and the leaning by which you’ll do as they pick up your slack due to school and training commitments.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DrElliotReid]

I would add to this by asking, what is more important to you? Your career or your family? You're on the path to a successful one already, is it worth it for you to shift gears? It is most definitely possibly to do med school and residency with a kid or two (several of my colleagues have done it/are doing it) but what they have is a really strong support system be it extended family, significant other, friends not in medicine etc... Will you be ok with missing soccer games, birthdays, holidays etc? Your schedule will not be under your control for the next almost 10 years. Make sure you know what you're getting in to before deciding.

 

[MusicDOc124]

What's more important, family or career? You can always go back later if you really want to, meanwhile working in a VERY closely related field. You can't always go back to your children's childhood. I'm not in your boat in terms of having a family, but I am a career changer, and even started on the path toward PA first. I switched to med school, but only because I don't have a family or anything tying me down somewhere in particular. FWIW, I'm there is an NP on the cardiology service for my cards rotation, and an NP who performs procedures themselves in GI at my hospital. You're only real limit will be fairly specific procedures that usually require fellowships/additional training (like interventional cards) or surgery. The only other real differences that I can see is pay differences, but that pay difference also comes with opportunity cost and debt. You're almost an NP - you can work after this making great money. Otherwise you take what you've already paid/invested, then add to that to become a doctor, and delay working for 2+ more years before residency, then get paid less as a resident for 3+ years - all of which you could be working regular hours with great pay and a family life. My .02 is to stick with NP at this point, and once your kids are old enough, then if you still want med school and have money saved up to make up for being back in school and paying a lot, then go. People go to med school well into their 40s fairly frequently, and there have even been some who have graduated in their 50s and 60s.

 

[precisiongraphic]

I don't have specific experience but in terms of blending family with med school this article here is written by an MD who had one kid in med school, one in residency, one in fellowship and one in private practice - yes four kids - and she has what I consider a good amount family time. (Any parent will have to make tradeoffs - even those who don't work. ) She's also written an article here for more info.