RN to MD advice

[Curious428]

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Hey so heres the deal.

I am currently a nursing student about to finish my BSN. It was always my interest to become a pediatrician growing up but once I actually got into college and looked at all the sciences you have to take to get into med school, I got intimidated.

Now I am kind of not satisfied with the whole nursing side of health care. I feel more inclined to the actual diagnosing aspect and have actually gathered a huge inclination to becoming a surgeon.

I did the math. I graduate next year with my BSN. I will work part time as a RN and complete all the pre-req for Med school and take my MCAT. Which I will do slow to make sure my GPA stays above a 3.5. Then med school and normal residency is about 7 years (4 for med and 3 for residency= 7)

So that would be about 9 years and I want to become a surgeon, which is another 3 years residency. So 12 years from now I can actually be a surgeon at 35 years of age.

I honestly do not know if I should do this route. I want kids and do not see how they will fit in this picture which such a long route.

I guess what I am looking for is more of advice of being a female and choosing to become a surgeon.
I am also considering becoming a CRNA but think it will become pretty mundane quickly. Not sure.

 

[MDforMee]

What is it exactly that dissatisfies you about the nursing side of health care?

One thing, too, surgeons are on the opposite end of the spectrum from nurses when it comes to patient contact, working environment, and job functions. Saying that you want to pursue surgery is like saying that you're unhappy as an animal trainer and want to become a software developer... And that you're scared of programming classes.

I left nursing school (BSN) after 1.5 years of a 3 year program. I thought about pursuing the CRNA route, but felt like I wouldn't have the science background to perform the job as well as I would have liked. I finished an entire BS since leaving nursing school, and now I'm 1 year through a masters degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology. I start my medical school applications in June. It's taken YYYYEEEEEAAAAARRRRRSSSSSS

 

[Indianarn]

Hey so heres the deal.

I am currently a nursing student about to finish my BSN. It was always my interest to become a pediatrician growing up but once I actually got into college and looked at all the sciences you have to take to get into med school, I got intimidated.

Now I am kind of not satisfied with the whole nursing side of health care. I feel more inclined to the actual diagnosing aspect and have actually gathered a huge inclination to becoming a surgeon.

I did the math. I graduate next year with my BSN. I will work part time as a RN and complete all the pre-req for Med school and take my MCAT. Which I will do slow to make sure my GPA stays above a 3.5. Then med school and normal residency is about 7 years (4 for med and 3 for residency= 7)

So that would be about 9 years and I want to become a surgeon, which is another 3 years residency. So 12 years from now I can actually be a surgeon at 35 years of age.

I honestly do not know if I should do this route. I want kids and do not see how they will fit in this picture which such a long route.

I guess what I am looking for is more of advice of being a female and choosing to become a surgeon.
I am also considering becoming a CRNA but think it will become pretty mundane quickly. Not sure.

I see where are you coming from and see your reasoning. I am an RN (BSN) and got accepted to an osteopathic medical School this year and will be starting this fall (by the way I will be 42 when I start). I know you are worried about your age and all and gonna give you a very honest and straight answer (You hate it). I think you wanna be a doctor because you want to be a doctor, because that what you dream of, because you can't live with out it. I understand age is important, but do it because you love it and don't worry about age. Just keep working hard you will get there. The age of 35 year is nothing. You will have more than 3 decade to enjoy and practice. That's what I think, rest is up to you. Good luck.

 

[Pose]

Hey so heres the deal.

I am currently a nursing student about to finish my BSN. It was always my interest to become a pediatrician growing up but once I actually got into college and looked at all the sciences you have to take to get into med school, I got intimidated.

Now I am kind of not satisfied with the whole nursing side of health care. I feel more inclined to the actual diagnosing aspect and have actually gathered a huge inclination to becoming a surgeon.

I did the math. I graduate next year with my BSN. I will work part time as a RN and complete all the pre-req for Med school and take my MCAT. Which I will do slow to make sure my GPA stays above a 3.5. Then med school and normal residency is about 7 years (4 for med and 3 for residency= 7)

So that would be about 9 years and I want to become a surgeon, which is another 3 years residency. So 12 years from now I can actually be a surgeon at 35 years of age.

I honestly do not know if I should do this route. I want kids and do not see how they will fit in this picture which such a long route.

I guess what I am looking for is more of advice of being a female and choosing to become a surgeon.
I am also considering becoming a CRNA but think it will become pretty mundane quickly. Not sure.

What I've gathered is that you wanted to be a pediatrician, but decided not to pursue medicine because of 8 introductory science courses. Now you're partly through a BSN program, you don't think you like nursing (prior to actually working as a nurse), so you've decided you might want to be a surgeon. And if that doesn't work out, you're thinking about becoming a nurse anesthetist, though that might be too boring for you. I think you need to do some soul searching and seriously consider your motivation for changing careers, especially before you torture yourself with this process.

In terms of the transition from RN to MD, there are many people that have done so and spoken about it on these forums. Same with having a family as a student and physician. If you do a search and you'll have a lot to read through. I would also recommend reaching out to some doctors in your area. Have you done any physician shadowing?

Some other questions for you to consider: what if you experience a delay along the way? Gap years, not being prepared for the MCAT when you thought you'd be (esp. with the new format coming up), not getting in on your first cycle, etc. Would you still want this then?

 

[Mad Jack]

Edit: Nevermind, I see you noted this already.

 

[MedPhys2MD]

I agree with the suggestion that you really need to do some shadowing & figure out a good path that you can be passionate about.

Btw, if I'm not mistaken, surgery residency will be more than just 3 years.

 

[Curious428]

Okay I appreciate everyone's advice and I agree I need to do some soul searching, hence why I am actively seeking advice. I do not have many people around me who are actually doctors or nurses who can guide me so I am looking to this site. Currently I am in finals week so Ill go through all the past forums on this site later when I have more time.

I guess you can say that I want to just have the title as a doctor just for the sound of it but I really think its more to me than just that. I gave up on that whole doctor dream coming into nursing school about a year ago but as I study now I look up surgical procedures related to my current studies and have been fascinated with majority of each procedure. I am fully aware that surgeon and nursing are two different professions in general.

Pre -nursing sciences to me were really easy and I actually enjoyed them.

I read that some of you guys are actually older than me on here and are pursuing MD, which gives me hope.

I think my game plan is to finish my BSN, get an RN job, which is going to take time. Once I have my RN job take the pre-reqs for medical school as I work and see where it goes from there.

The problem with nursing that I see so far, well not really a problem, but what I notice, I will give you an example. This is just a minor thing and its not that I do not like nursing, MD and RN are two different ball parks. But the other day I was doing practice questions and one said that pt had signs and symptoms of a rupturing appendix, the options were to a. assess the patient further b. call the MD. c. raise the head of the bed d. Call the OR to schedule surgery sooner.

My nursing instinct was to call the MD (now im not really sure if this is what happens in real life) which was the right answer and I read the rationale further and it explained that calling the OR is what the MD would do which is what essentially made more sense to me..

This again, is just a minor example that was just recently bought to my attention but I can't really explain what it is thats making me more inclined to MD. I will look into shadowing, which I don't know how because I do not really know anyone besides a nurse practitioner that I shadowed before in which I was able to step in for VAD surgery last year, which is where my fascination with surgery started.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

I see where are you coming from and see your reasoning. I am an RN (BSN) and got accepted to an osteopathic medical School this year and will be starting this fall (by the way I will be 42 when I start). I know you are worried about your age and all and gonna give you a very honest and straight answer (You hate it). I think you wanna be a doctor because you want to be a doctor, because that what you dream of, because you can't live with out it. I understand age is important, but do it because you love it and don't worry about age. Just keep working hard you will get there. The age of 35 year is nothing. You will have more than 3 decade to enjoy and practice. That's what I think, rest is up to you. Good luck.

I also have a BSN and starting med school this year...I have worked as a RN for almost ten years and I did not like the job because I thought it was not intellectually stimulating. Besides, becoming a physician has been always my dream, but I had to put that on hold because of life circumstances. Making the decision to become a physician I think is a 'gut feeling' so to speak... Now I am very happy to start this journey in the next 2-3 months. I command you for not being afraid to start at your age. I am in my mid 30s and I have had people who told me it does not make sense to start med school at that age... The way I look at it is doing something that I will enjoy for the rest of my life is priceless... GL.

 

[Indianarn]

I also have a BSN and starting med school this year...I have worked as a RN for almost ten years and I did not like the job because I thought it was not intellectually stimulating. Besides, becoming a physician has been always my dream, but I had to put that on hold because of life circumstances. Making the decision to become a physician I think is a 'gut feeling' so to speak... Now I am very happy to start this journey in the next 2-3 months. I command you for not being afraid to start at your age. I am in my mid 30s and I have had people who told me it does not make sense to start med school at that age... The way I look at it is doing something that I will enjoy for the rest of my life is priceless... GL.

That's exactly what I am talking about. I know age is important, but finishing by the time you are 35 years old, is nothing. I have always wanted to be a doctor too. I know how full filling this whole journey is going to be for me. It will make me complete. I wouldn't have it any other ways.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

Edit

 

[Curious428]

I am also curious to know for those RNs who are in medical school or have already completed MD, did having a BSN help at all? I not expecting for MD to be a walk in the park with this background but did it give you a leg up?

 

[allojay]

I am also curious to know for those RNs who are in medical school or have already completed MD, did having a BSN help at all? I not expecting for MD to be a walk in the park with this background but did it give you a leg up?

I'm not a BSN who has completed an MD program, but I'm a BSN who's going to start an allopathic program in the fall. The general consensus from my research and interview trips are that nurses who go to med school tend to do well in their 3rd year clerkships and floor rotations bc of the prior experience of managing patients. Other than that, I think the playing field is leveled in terms of knowledge base before you start rotations. The nurse just have that experience and it helps big time. But don't get me wrong, getting into an allo school as a BSN/RN is tough and tougher if you're freshly out of nursing school. I managed to finish my pre reqs quickly and only work as an RN for 2 years, so age isn't much of a concern. My advice is to just decide what you want first and plan it out.

 

[popopopop]

Okay I appreciate everyone's advice and I agree I need to do some soul searching, hence why I am actively seeking advice. I do not have many people around me who are actually doctors or nurses who can guide me so I am looking to this site. Currently I am in finals week so Ill go through all the past forums on this site later when I have more time.

I guess you can say that I want to just have the title as a doctor just for the sound of it but I really think its more to me than just that. I gave up on that whole doctor dream coming into nursing school about a year ago but as I study now I look up surgical procedures related to my current studies and have been fascinated with majority of each procedure. I am fully aware that surgeon and nursing are two different professions in general.

Pre -nursing sciences to me were really easy and I actually enjoyed them.

I read that some of you guys are actually older than me on here and are pursuing MD, which gives me hope.

I think my game plan is to finish my BSN, get an RN job, which is going to take time. Once I have my RN job take the pre-reqs for medical school as I work and see where it goes from there.

The problem with nursing that I see so far, well not really a problem, but what I notice, I will give you an example. This is just a minor thing and its not that I do not like nursing, MD and RN are two different ball parks. But the other day I was doing practice questions and one said that pt had signs and symptoms of a rupturing appendix, the options were to a. assess the patient further b. call the MD. c. raise the head of the bed d. Call the OR to schedule surgery sooner.

My nursing instinct was to call the MD (now im not really sure if this is what happens in real life) which was the right answer and I read the rationale further and it explained that calling the OR is what the MD would do which is what essentially made more sense to me..

This again, is just a minor example that was just recently bought to my attention but I can't really explain what it is thats making me more inclined to MD. I will look into shadowing, which I don't know how because I do not really know anyone besides a nurse practitioner that I shadowed before in which I was able to step in for VAD surgery last year, which is where my fascination with surgery started.

For the title of it? Come on now. Being a nurse and being a doctor may be different, but it's still medicine in the end and being a nurse gives you the great responsibility of being a patient advocate when the docs aren't there. I think what you're trying to say is that you want the autonomy of a physician, but please don't think what you are doing isn't important. I don't really understand what you meant by "calling the OR" is what made more sense to you. Can you elaborate?

 

[qwerty1980]

I also have a BSN and starting med school this year...I have worked as a RN for almost ten years and I did not like the job because I thought it was not intellectually stimulating. Besides, becoming a physician has been always my dream, but I had to put that on hold because of life circumstances. Making the decision to become a physician I think is a 'gut feeling' so to speak... Now I am very happy to start this journey in the next 2-3 months. I command you for not being afraid to start at your age. I am in my mid 30s and I have had people who told me it does not make sense to start med school at that age... The way I look at it is doing something that I will enjoy for the rest of my life is priceless... GL.

nice I m relieved to read ur reply . I m an IMG , studying in med school . worked as an RN for 11 yrs. Can u plz clarify whether my years f nursing experience can overlap my clerkship n student externship ? Plz n thank you.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

nice I m relieved to read ur reply . I m an IMG , studying in med school . worked as an RN for 11 yrs. Can u plz clarify whether my years f nursing experience can overlap my clerkship n student externship ? Plz n thank you.

As I said in my reply, I just started med school so I don't how beneficial your nursing experience will be when you start clerkship...