should I work for a year as an RN?

[wannabe123]

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Im wondering if I should work for a year after nursing school and take a class or 2 in biochem concurrently or apply right away for med school? A big perk I feel like for having a nursing degree is being able to obtain some awesome clinical experience, and earn some money before med school. Would I be doing myself a disservice by applying straight to med school, or is that the optimal route to my end goal?

 

[DokterMom]

Yes, you'd be doing yourself a disservice. Any reasonable AdCom member would be asking why in the He!! did this person get a nursing degree if what s/he really wanted was to become a physician?

Work as a nurse for a few years before applying.

 

[863168]

@wannabe123 Sorry. Just for clarification are you already enrolled in a nursing program or are you trying to get into one? It's a bit confusing because not a lot of the prerequisites for nursing line up with taking Biochemistry unless you're taking it through an ABSN program which would mean that you already have a degree in another field. Just trying to work out some of the details.

 

[wannabe123]

@wannabe123 Sorry. Just for clarification are you already enrolled in a nursing program or are you trying to get into one? It's a bit confusing because not a lot of the prerequisites for nursing line up with taking Biochemistry unless you're taking it through an ABSN program which would mean that you already have a degree in another field. Just trying to work out some of the details.

I’ve been doing premed classes while in my bsn program during the summer and lighter semesters.

 

[863168]

I’ve been doing premed classes while in my bsn program during the summer and lighter semesters.

@flightnurse2MD Is a great resource on this website and also their YouTube channel is hilarious.

 

[jarednogeek]

I’m also confused about the bsn premed

 

[wholeheartedly]

The clinical experience is invaluable, so I'd vote work for a year or two first.

 

[Moose A Moose]

Lol. No.

 

[wannabe123]

Counter intuitively, specialized health majors, which includes nursing have the worst acceptance stats with 650 matriculants of 1796 applicants for 36% rate. Several of the reasons (which I list below) that applicants think that nursing is a great idea for premed are directly opposite the reality.

1) It is professional medicine: No, it is nursing and looked at as a separate professional path than being a physician
2) It has medical/health science coursework: No, the coursework is considered lower level, less rigorous, and narrowly focused for nursing. Most nursing coursework would not be included in AMCAS "science"
3) It provides great clinical exposure: No, nursing school clinical work is just that, specifically focused on nursing
4) It shows my passion for medicine: No, medical school requires motivation. commitment, and achievement. You have made a commitment to nursing and now you are saying, I am jumping to medicine, with never practicing nursing That makes you suspect that you might just as easily jump to something else.

The best path for nurses is to work for at least a few years after nursing school where:
1) you will show professional success and maturity over any student directly from college
2) you have real clinical experience with patients, physicians, and the team work in a hospital
3) you can show that you tried the commitment to nursing, but have made the informed decision after significant time to go into medicine

Counter intuitively, specialized health majors, which includes nursing have the worst acceptance stats with 650 matriculants of 1796 applicants for 36% rate. Several of the reasons (which I list below) that applicants think that nursing is a great idea for premed are directly opposite the reality.

1) It is professional medicine: No, it is nursing and looked at as a separate professional path than being a physician
2) It has medical/health science coursework: No, the coursework is considered lower level, less rigorous, and narrowly focused for nursing. Most nursing coursework would not be included in AMCAS "science"
3) It provides great clinical exposure: No, nursing school clinical work is just that, specifically focused on nursing
4) It shows my passion for medicine: No, medical school requires motivation. commitment, and achievement. You have made a commitment to nursing and now you are saying, I am jumping to medicine, with never practicing nursing That makes you suspect that you might just as easily jump to something else.

The best path for nurses is to work for at least a few years after nursing school where:
1) you will show professional success and maturity over any student directly from college
2) you have real clinical experience with patients, physicians, and the team work in a hospital
3) you can show that you tried the commitment to nursing, but have made the informed decision after significant time to go into medicine

What about classes I should take while working? Could you recommend 3 of the most important classes you took outside the prereqs that prepared you for med school the most? And what area would you recommend I work in; psych, med surg, icu, oncology?

 

[DokterMom]

What about classes I should take while working? Could you recommend 3 of the most important classes you took outside the prereqs that prepared you for med school the most? And what area would you recommend I work in; psych, med surg, icu, oncology?

You have made a commitment to nursing and now you are saying, I am jumping to medicine, with never practicing nursing That makes you suspect that you might just as easily jump to something else.

If you immediately start taking medical school prerequisites, you are undermining the core impression you want to make, which is that you gave the nursing profession a genuine and fair shot.

Either be a nurse or be a doctor. Don't treat the nursing degree/profession like a stepping stone because it isn't. If you're 100% committed to becoming a doctor as quickly as possible, then switch majors NOW, delay your graduation, take the MCAT and apply to medical school instead. Don't insult the nursing profession by half-a$$ing a "nursing career" en route to what you really want.

 

[wannabe123]

If you immediately start taking medical school prerequisites, you are undermining the core impression you want to make, which is that you gave the nursing profession a genuine and fair shot.

Either be a nurse or be a doctor. Don't treat the nursing degree/profession like a stepping stone because it isn't. If you're 100% committed to becoming a doctor as quickly as possible, then switch majors NOW, delay your graduation, take the MCAT and apply to medical school instead. Don't insult the nursing profession by half-a$$ing a "nursing career" en route to what you really want.

This is such a ridiculous thing to say. Its exactly the same as saying dont major in psychology if you don’t want to be a psychologist or don’t major in philosophy if you don’t want to be a philosopher. Those degrees are 9/10 times used as a stepping stone to other careers. Nursing is no different to me, it’s just a low level, easy degree to make some money and continue studying the human body and gain some clinical experience. Quit the whole either or thing, it makes you look silly.

 

[Toutie]

This is such a ridiculous thing to say. Its exactly the same as saying dont major in psychology if you don’t want to be a psychologist or don’t major in philosophy if you don’t want to be a philosopher. Those degrees are 9/10 times used as a stepping stone to other careers. Nursing is no different to me, it’s just a low level, easy degree to make some money and continue studying the human body and gain some clinical experience. Quit the whole either or thing, it makes you look silly.

Psychology or philosophy are NOT vocational degrees. A nursing major is. It is training you to do a job...to be a nurse.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Quit the whole either or thing, it makes you look silly.

You’re telling an MD she looks silly? How mature. @DokterMom is right. @Toutie is correct -nursing is a vocational degree. Psych is not a vocational degree.

 

[wannabe123]

Psychology or philosophy are NOT vocational degrees. A nursing major is. It is training you to do a job...to be a nurse.

I’m not arguing that it isn’t a vocational degree, I’m arguing that it doesn’t need to be terminal, or linear to np. Nursing seems like a great stepping stone, and if I’m willing to put in the extra work to prepare myself academically i don’t see why it shouldn’t be used as such.

 

[Toutie]

I’m not arguing that it isn’t a vocational degree, I’m arguing that it doesn’t need to be terminal, or linear to np. Nursing seems like a great stepping stone, and if I’m willing to put in the extra work to prepare myself academically i don’t see why it shouldn’t be used as such.

You came in here asking for opinions. You got some. You don't like them. Fine, do what you feel is best for you.

 

[wannabe123]

What’s with the argum

You came in here asking for opinions. You got some. You don't like them. Fine, do what you feel is best for you.

that’s fair, but I actually asked specific questions about a situation, not for opinions on whether or not I should be a nurse...

 

[DokterMom]

This is such a ridiculous thing to say. Its exactly the same as saying dont major in psychology if you don’t want to be a psychologist or don’t major in philosophy if you don’t want to be a philosopher. Those degrees are 9/10 times used as a stepping stone to other careers. Nursing is no different to me, it’s just a low level, easy degree to make some money and continue studying the human body and gain some clinical experience. Quit the whole either or thing, it makes you look silly.

Was going to reply along these same lines, but @Toutie was quicker and more succinct.

Psychology or philosophy are NOT vocational degrees. A nursing major is. It is training you to do a job...to be a nurse.

Psychology and Philosophy are useful building blocks for many other disciplines and careers. Nursing is a vocational degree -- a degree program specifically geared toward a particular career or vocation. If you're not going to be a nurse, it's a lousy degree to pursue.

In your own words: "it’s just a low level, easy degree to make some money"

 

[ljkeeper]

As a current nurse looking to apply to med school this next cycle I can maybe offer you some advice, even though it may not be as helpful as some of the more experienced members who have already responded. I knew that I wanted to go to med school as I started my last year of nursing school and since I had already completed 3/5 of the semesters I decided to go forward and get my RN. However the decision also was based on the fact that I had a full ride scholarship to finish the BSN program and wouldve had to pay back 3 years of school and the last year as well if I decided to switch programs. Since I graduated in 2017 I took all my med school prereqs including 2 semesters of gen chem as the general chemistry I took as a BSN didnt meet the requirements, physics, ochem and biochem and take the mcat all while working straight weekends at the hospital so I could make it to class. Some parts of it were beneficial, I now have some money saved up and will have about 2.5 years of clinical experience by the time interview time rolls around, however some friends of mine that went into college will be in their 4th year of med school/vet school by the time I get in.

My advice: If youre not already too far into your nursing program back out now and switch to pre-med. It will save you a lot of time and probably money too since you'll just be wasting money taking nursing credits that you don't actually plan on utilizing for long. There are plenty of ways to get clinical experience without getting a nursing degree.

 

[863168]

@wannabe123 You came across the wrong way in your initial and follow up post. However, you did get the advice that you were looking for and using the search function will get you responses in other threads as there are many RN to MD threads that have been posted on this site to date.

I get what you are typing and think that it is impressive that you are doing pre-med requirements on top of a BSN. If you do decide to go through with the BSN, then understand that you should be committing to it as if it was the groom you intend to marry and not simply a one night fling. Your fellow nurses take the degree as something more than something easy & low level. And adcoms will be concerned whether your pursuit of nursing will also translate over into how you treat becoming a DO/MD e.g. as a means to another end in 2-4 years time.

In terms of specialties like neuro/onc or acuity like med surg/ICU understand that there is no specialty match in which those fields translate into medical school. When you enter medical school, you are an undifferentiated stem cell all over again and adcoms may favor non-nursing applicants as they don't have to worry about the blurring that may come from reorienting them towards their new scope of practice. If you are going to be graduating soon, a friendly piece of advice would be for you to have a professional and well thought out answer if it is brought up in an interview why you chose to become a nurse over a physician as you will be asked about your 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year plans as well as your course load. For the NRP program for our unit we look through nursing transcripts and also request official copies in which there are a couple of questions that are usually generated from them when something interesting comes up.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

imho, work a year or two.

 

[wannabe123]

well sounds like the consensus is I’m pretty naive and misguided! Thanks for the reality check and great advice. Sorry for being an a$$ doktermom.

 

[Toutie]

@wannabe123 , I looked through your other posts and quite honestly I am a bit confused. Where are you exactly in your schooling? Your posts all from the last year seem to be all over the place in terms of your interests/goals. Are you currently in Nursing school? Or are you still looking at options?

 

[jarednogeek]

This is such a ridiculous thing to say. Its exactly the same as saying dont major in psychology if you don’t want to be a psychologist or don’t major in philosophy if you don’t want to be a philosopher. Those degrees are 9/10 times used as a stepping stone to other careers. Nursing is no different to me, it’s just a low level, easy degree to make some money and continue studying the human body and gain some clinical experience. Quit the whole either or thing, it makes you look silly.

These are members of admissions committees telling you these things. Whether right or wrong that is how many admissions members will see it and I would take their advice very seriously.

 

[Dwight Snoot]

I would for sure work for at least two years. You will learn so much and be way ahead of your peers in some aspects of medical school. Also it will significantly boost your application. No doubter in my opinion (unless you have already taken some time off).

 

[RNtoMD87]

I mean you spent that money getting a nursing degree.... why not? I'm going on four years now.

I do agree that it is a simple, easy, quick degree. I mean that's why I pursued it. I wanted to pursue medicine but I had to care for my mother and help manage a farm following my fathers early demise, and needed money bad.

But at least make you some money! Hell do it while you pursue prereqs. Not many other jobs allow premeds to make the money we do. Its nice to work 4 days a month and still gross $3,000. Plus like others have said its good experience.

 

[idontsave]

I know that the general consensus is to work for 1-2 years after finishing the BSN degree prior to applying to medical school, but how significantly would my chances of II/acceptance be impeded if I were to forego this, finish my last few pre-requisites, and prepare for the MCAT immediately after graduation?

I have less than a year left of my BSN program, have maintained a 3.9-4.0 GPA throughout (nursing courses), and only have o-chem I/II and physics I/II to take. If I get As in those four classes my sGPA would be up to a little over 3.3 (not great, I know). I've just found through clinicals that I have absolutely no desire to work as a nurse, even if I can do the job well. I know many would advise to switch majors but I am on a full-ride scholarship at a university that only offers nursing programs so my hands are unfortunately tied. Long story behind how I got myself into this situation.

Anyway, considering my application would be the same minus the 1-2 years of experience working as a nurse, could this truly impact my chances of admission to the extent that is described above? I am 100% sure about pursuing the physician route and feel that working towards anything else after graduation would be counterproductive.

EDIT: Also wanted to add that for AACOMAS my sGPA would be just below 3.7.

 

[863168]

@idontsave Out of curiosity what do you hate about nursing? It's a very broad and versatile field. It seems pretty frequent for nursing students to get on the boards here before they have graduated and feel like they are bored/uninterested by the degree when in truth hating your current circumstances has no bearing on whether you will find the grass greener on the other side.

As you know, there is a gap between being a student and being in the driver's seat. I'm curious how you seem committed to knowing that you hate the job before you've even explored what it's like to be responsible for patients in a variety of settings.

I'm also curious what was your breakdown on G. Bio I and II and G. Chem I and II assuming that you took them already. Previous performance is a predictor of future success.

Within nursing itself there an expectation that you have a 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year plan through nursing. Now take your circumstances and you are putting yourself on a 1 to 2 year timeline. In the case of a student, it probably seems like a long amount of time. But in the case of a career, it means that you took a left turn rather drastically before even approaching what some people would even consider to be a milestone and might have jumped a bridge and landed in shark infested waters.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Perhaps you could look into a leave of absence from the nursing program and then finish your pre-med prerequisites. It might not preserve your scholarship but if you pause it and put it on hold then you won't have to explain to adcoms why you got an RN and never worked as an RN. It's worth a try to see what your school says.

 

[idontsave]

Perhaps you could look into a leave of absence from the nursing program and then finish your pre-med prerequisites. It might not preserve your scholarship but if you pause it and put it on hold then you won't have to explain to adcoms why you got an RN and never worked as an RN. It's worth a try to see what your school says.

I hadn't considered that. It's just unfortunate that this may be my only option as my program is accelerated and I would be concerned that my performance upon reinstatement after the leave would suffer due to readjustment to the nursing curriculum.

Had I known my true intentions and that this would be such a red flag to adcoms I might not have gotten myself into this mess. I figured that optimal performance on my remaining prerequisites and a decent MCAT score would be enough to put me in the pool of regular applicants.

Losing my scholarship could also be a problem.

 

[PeleHonuaMea]

deleted

You probably should just stop your program already. Use the next 2 years to complete your pre-reqs and build up your ECs. Dont bother being a Nurse... you'll just be miserable and it might affect the way you provide patient care. Good luck!

 

[863168]

@idontsave I appreciate the response, but you still come off as being incredibly naive, brash, and self-confident. I'm not sure why you felt the obligation to include outside validation that you have received from fellow nurses during your rotations, I would argue that more often than not most nurses are supportive of students in order to encourage them to continue the journey. However, I think that it comes at the cost of having students disrespect the actual acuity of the patients as the nurses largely insulate the students from accepting responsibility for missing meds, missing an order, missing a call, missing a round, missing presentation of narrowed pulse pressure, not assessing for a bleed, not being able to identify an abnormality on a strip etc. which would all be expectations of the nurse once they take on practice after a short orientation. I did write a number of responses which I ultimately ended up saving in a separate text file, I chose not to post them as none of them matter as you will experience practice first-hand and hopefully it changes your perspective so the time you spend as a nurse isn't completely miserable.

I understand that the curriculum within a nursing program doesn't come close to touching on underlying concepts. A lot of students misconstrue this to mean that nursing is devoid of having to require knowledge on underlying concepts. This is wrong, what is required to pass nursing school and take on the NCLEX is largely basic interventions oriented concepts. But it is no way representative of being stagnant as an adult learner when it comes to looking into patient diagnosis and preparing for end of life scenarios based on their current symptoms, comorbidities, assessments, and other pathophysiological presentations.

Critical thinking is the most important tool for a nurse in order to fill in the missing information and to demonstrate diligence of care for a patient who you know nothing about until you were given report on them at the start of shift. You won't be required to splice a gene sequence in order to insert a recombinant sequence, create cDNA libraries, or think about how CRISPR can be used to address this problem. But if that's the missing puzzle piece that you want to deep dive into then there is a large possibility that even medicine is not what you are looking for as that area is more reserved for areas of research for PhD students than for a majority of MD students. I would state that what you describe as being task-oriented behavior can be equivocated to being part of familiarity and protocol which plays a part in dictating both medicine and nursing. I disagree with many other areas, but it's not my job to convince you to stick with nursing and I wouldn't want you to feel obligated to it. It's just that I fundamentally disagree with where you are coming from because I don't think you know what you don't know.

 

[idontsave]

@idontsave I appreciate the response, but you still come off as being incredibly naive, brash, and self-confident in the outside validation that you have received from fellow nurses during your rotations. I wrote a number of responses, but none of them matter as you will experience it first-hand and I hope that the learning moment doesn't come at the expensive of a patient.

I apologize, that's exactly the opposite of what I had intended. Just wanted to provide insight on my thought process throughout my education thus far. You're right, outside validation is not necessarily indicative of future success in the field and that isn't exactly the point I meant to put across. It is impossible to say that I am entirely certain that I will hate every job that is available in nursing, nor that I will excel. I actually hadn't said that in my initial post either, but I can definitely see how it may have come across that way.

The problem I am facing is more-so the fact that I already know that I want to pursue medicine. This is something I am certain of. Knowing this, I just feel that choosing to work (in any job really) may make it more difficult to perform optimally in the remaining pre-requisites that I need to take. I would essentially be working 1-2 years simply to prove a false point to adcoms. If this is what is necessary to be able to move forward, I don't exactly have a choice. That was more of what my initial question was about.

I understand that I was fundamentally wrong for pursuing nursing initially and am, at times, reminded of this when speaking to others about their future plans. Having said that, I will do everything I can to provide the best patient care regardless of my own satisfaction with the job. That is part of what I signed up for and it would be absolutely unacceptable to do anything outside of that.