Hi everyone! I have been doing a lot of reading about going from RN to doctor and I have a few questions.
I'm currently in nursing school now. Just about finishing up the first semester, and it is not what I want to do. I am doing an ABSN program and I am really at a crossroads here. I just recently got my Bachelor's in psychology specifically to be able to enroll in the ABSN, as it was quicker than doing the ADN route in my case (I only had about 7 more classes for my bachelor's so I just quit my job and finished them up). However, now that I'm in the program I just do not feel like the scope of nursing will be fulfilling to me. I got this impression the first day when we were touring and we went down to the lab (we share a campus with the med students) and everyone was so freaked out by the cadavers, and I wanted to take a gander and open it up lol. I just really want to be able to delve more into the pathology of diseases and put those clues together to gather a diagnosis instead of just diagnosing a patient with impaired skin integrity (or something of that nature)! I like the healthcare field in that I am really fascinated by the body and I've always enjoyed helping people and making a noticeable difference in their lives. I also really like the science aspect of medicine which is not a large part that we really talk about in class. I ask a million questions, and everyone else complains that our professor gives us too much info, he's an MD. I love it! I actually prefer him to the nursing professor everyone complains they didn't get. I really want to know the reasoning behind the presenting symptoms and why they're manifesting, but this isn't something that is talked about in depth.
The thing is, I also don't want to quit as the program is not that long. I have one more year left and I feel like I can just stick it out and finish, as it's not that hard and I don't hate it. The issue with that is the grading scale. My undergrad GPA is fairly low, a 3.3 (due to the stereotypical maturity issues remedied with age), and I have yet to get an A on anything in nursing school. I have gotten 91.5% on at least 3 exams and an A is a 92%
(Those should be rounded to A- by the end of the semester, but one misstep and I'm screwed). I could definitely do better though and I plan on it, but I feel like it is still risky! I know that the suggestion will be to ensure I get all A's in nursing school, but I don't know how much of a possibility that will be! I was really planning on doing the NP route, but upon speaking with more NP's and learning more about the nursing profession, I don't believe this will be fulfilling to me either.
I am also a veteran and am using my GI bill to pay for nursing school. If I do pursue medicine, the GI bill would be much more useful for that tuition, however my nursing school is not cheap, around 15k a semester. Since I still have a year, it will leave me with 21 months of benefits to use. I am debating on whether I should even continue? I still have to take all the in/organic chemistries (I took one for allied health sciences), physics I&II, and biology II (these I will pay for without assistance). So not only is that going to take me AT LEAST a year to knock out the classes, I will most likely have to pay out of pocket and I am poor lol. I have read that adcoms don't like to see cc classes for the prereqs, but I won't have much of a choice. I was thinking since I am using the GI bill I could add some extra classes that I need to my schedule so they can be paid for and I can knock them out at university, but this is an accelerated program and it is a lot of work. I don't know if I should add difficult classes on top of them when I haven't even gotten an A yet.
I am also a 27/8 (in a few weeks) female. So I won't be able to even start med school until I am 30, IF everything goes as planned and I can get in on the first application cycle. I know that there are women that do it, but one of my reasons for pursuing nursing instead of med school was the time commitment. I have definitely come to terms with the fact that I may very well just become a lonely cat lady, but I can't say the time aspect doesn't sit in the back of my head at times. However, being fearful of age was something that put me off initially, and if I had truly thought about it sooner, I would have at least been finished with all the prereqs by now.
I guess I just need some advice! I feel like I can't tell my family or friends because they will say I'm being ridiculous as it was a long journey for me to get to nursing school in the first place, and one of my concerns was debt! I have essentially eliminated that with the military and other things, and now I feel like I am wasting my tuition money!
I have also been plagued with self-doubt through most of my life. This was probably the most MAJOR factor in me not pursuing medicine. The thought of failure or not getting accepted is more fear inducing than actually trying at times, but as I've gotten older I have really come to terms with my abilities and I know I can succeed if I really give it my all. Sorry for the Hallmark moment there at the end...lol
Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions? I don't know what to do and really have no one with the background knowledge to run my thoughts by.