Should I become a CNA or RN before going to medical school?

[952995]

As mentioned in another post, I have a BS in accounting, but no health care experience. Should I get a Associates degree and become an RN or CNA and gain relevant work experience BEFORE applying to a medical (or DO) program?

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[precisiongraphic]

As mentioned in another post, I have a BS in accounting, but no health care experience. Should I get a Associates degree and become an RN or CNA and gain relevant work experience BEFORE applying to a medical (or DO) program?

CNA is 5-15 days of trade-school classroom training, depending on state certification rules. RN is one year of pre-reqs and 1-2 years of university-level classes. Do not get an RN degree unless you want to be a nurse - it would be a needless detour if you want to be an MD/DO.

 

[raf1ki]

It's not necessary if you shadow doctors for a few dozen hours (aim for 50) and can get clinical experience another way, such as volunteering. But if you think you would enjoy getting a CNA and getting some healthcare experience that way, sure. It is a good method.

Med schools will also be looking for a GPA around 3.7 (you might have lower if upward trend in later years) and the science prereqs listed by AMCAS.

 

[LizzyM]

You can get adequate experience through shadowing (about 50 hours divided between/among two or more physicians), plus face-to-face experience, either paid or volunteer, with patients in a pediatric ward, emergency department, out-patient clinic/doctor's office, neonatal unit, etc, etc. Hospice is growing in popularity. Many pre-meds find employment as scribes who record information in the electronic medical record freeing the physician's hands and eyes for the business of examining the patient. Any of those things are reasonable clinical experience; there is no need to be credentialed in another field before going on to med school.

 

[LM75]

You can get adequate experience through shadowing (about 50 hours divided between/among two or more physicians), plus face-to-face experience, either paid or volunteer, with patients in a pediatric ward, emergency department, out-patient clinic/doctor's office, neonatal unit, etc, etc. Hospice is growing in popularity. Many pre-meds find employment as scribes who record information in the electronic medical record freeing the physician's hands and eyes for the business of examining the patient. Any of those things are reasonable clinical experience; there is no need to be credentialed in another field before going on to med school.

Off topic but...I can never understand why pre-med students are not required to have that much clinical exposure but PA schools want, what appears to be, thousands of hours. I think that's discriminatory. They are probably requiring those hours because they know the students who didn't get into medical school will not have them and I guess they want to discourage those students from going to PA school as a backup.

 

[Doc_Ock]

RN is wayyyyyy overkill. CNA will definitely look good on your app, boost your healthcare-related experience hours, give you a potential letter of rec, and something to talk about in your personal statement/interviews. Just make sure you'd actually like it. Pay sucks and work can be physically demanding, and you get the jobs no one else wants- that involved poop and piss (Among other things).

 

[Planes2Doc]

An RN is a career track. This will be frowned upon and will give you an uphill battle for admissions.

A CNA is an OK choice I guess. I know mostly nurses who did that to get their foot in the door. I know the CNAs at my hospital are kept busy with long hours, so it may not be very friendly for a pre-med curriculum.

The best thing you can do for clinical experience is clinical volunteering. Medical school will start you not at step 1, but at step ZERO. All you need is exposure to the clinical environment, so you know what you're getting into. You don't need to learn any specific skills. I had plenty of former EMTs, scribes, etc in my class, and I never felt behind despite never having done stuff like checked blood pressure, pulse, or anything similar prior to starting medical school.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Off topic but...I can never understand why pre-med students are not required to have that much clinical exposure but PA schools want, what appears to be, thousands of hours. I think that's discriminatory. They are probably requiring those hours because they know the students who didn't get into medical school will not have them and I guess they want to discourage those students from going to PA school as a backup.

PA is considered a fast-track approach to medicine. I believe it originated during the Vietnam War to get people with physician skills out there in less time. I believe the legitimate hands-on care is needed since it is a compressed curriculum shorter than medical school with no residency required after. In medical school, we had an introduction to clinical medicine course as an MS-1 and then two full years of clinical rotations with only a once weekly required didactic component.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Off topic but...I can never understand why pre-med students are not required to have that much clinical exposure but PA schools want, what appears to be, thousands of hours. I think that's discriminatory. They are probably requiring those hours because they know the students who didn't get into medical school will not have them and I guess they want to discourage those students from going to PA school as a backup.

Lol, swing and a miss

 

[panbimbo]

An RN is a career track. This will be frowned upon and will give you an uphill battle for admissions.

A CNA is an OK choice I guess. I know mostly nurses who did that to get their foot in the door. I know the CNAs at my hospital are kept busy with long hours, so it may not be very friendly for a pre-med curriculum.

The best thing you can do for clinical experience is clinical volunteering. Medical school will start you not at step 1, but at step ZERO. All you need is exposure to the clinical environment, so you know what you're getting into. You don't need to learn any specific skills. I had plenty of former EMTs, scribes, etc in my class, and I never felt behind despite never having done stuff like checked blood pressure, pulse, or anything similar prior to starting medical school.

OP, listen to Planes2Doc! He has written a few entertaining premed guides on Final Fantasy, RPG's, and the massive unnecessary and many times sabotaging detours premeds take. One of these huge detours is the EMS/CNA route. The gist of it is, better to have clinical volunteering with a 3.8/51x AKA good grades, than a 3.5/50x because you were too busy working as a CNA or EMT to get good grades, trying to 'stand out,' when in fact those jobs are largely unnecessary to gain admission.

Now, if you are a strong student and you REALLY want a clinical job, go for it! Just don't become an RN to become an MD. THAT would be sheer stupidity.

 

[Lucid_Dream]

I am an RN, and while I would have probably chosen a more direct route had I realized I was competitive for med school earlier, it takes off a lot of stress financially having a well paying career to fall back on.

That’s one thing I don’t understand. On one hand premeds are told to choose what ever major they can do well in, but on the other hand they are told that even with “good” stats (3.5 GPA 510 MCAT) that they are competing against many other great candidates and there is no guarantee they will get in. Since you don’t know how you’re going to do until you try, that seems pretty scary to choose a major that will not stand on it’s own. If it takes you more than a year or two to get in, you’re already amassing a load of debt when it comes to food, rent, etc along with the interest from the loans.


If all you want is to be a doctor, I’d do a direct route. I have taken a lot of side paths, which I believe give me a broader perspective than had I simply pursued medicine straight away. It has delayed me, but I honestly wouldn’t take any of it back. Many of my fellow nurses know nothing other than their experience from highschool->college->nursing and I don’t evvy them at all.

 

[LM75]

Lol, swing and a miss

? Must be SDN humor.

 

[candbgirl]

As mentioned in another post, I have a BS in accounting, but no health care experience. Should I get a Associates degree and become an RN or CNA and gain relevant work experience BEFORE applying to a medical (or DO) program?

FYI- DO is a medical program.

Don’t do RN unless you want to be a nurse. You would be taking a seat from some person who wants to be a nurse. And you would be asked during med school interviews why the career switch . And your reason of gaining valuable work experience BEFORE applying to med school most likely wouldn’t help your cause.