What are my chances?

[Tess21]

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I have just recently graduated high school and I am enrolled in a direct admission nursing program at my college next year, but I've been seriously considering becoming a doctor. I've been shaddowing doctors and nurses frequently for the past year in hospitals and I know they are both different careers but I love shadowing and I could see myself doing either of them. I know for sure that want to be either a doctor or a nurse, im just not sure witch one yet. Most people I talk to about it say I need to make a decision now because medical schools hate "wannabe doctor nurses". Is this true? My plan right now is to do really well in nursing school, get my BSN and hopefully attend med school after that. Should I stick to nursing or should I major in something else? Thanks!

 

[claduva94]

They do not discriminate based on major. However, you will have to be able explain why you went through the training to become a nurse in preparation for medical school. If you are certain you want to attend medical school, I would suggest majoring in whatever interests you. If you want to leave your doors open to nursing, and feel you can conclusively justify either pathway, the BSN is the way to go.

 

[deleted407021]

You should major in whatever you enjoy and can do well in. However, it appears to be true that nursing is the one major that medical schools will raise their eyebrows at. That's because nursing school is a pipeline to a career, as is medical school. It's assumed that if you are in nursing school, you want to be a nurse.

I've never dealt with someone who is enrolled in a direct acceptance program, so I'll defer to the knowledge of someone else in regards to how you should go about changing your course. But, I can give you some pointers for other things you must be doing.

You will need to gain some clinical experience; a free clinic serving the community, volunteering in a hospital, working as a nurse's aide or any other venue that puts you face to face with some kind of clinical patient. The rule of thumb around here is "if you can smell them, it's clinical".
You should also become involved in some kind of community service. Use a talent or a personal interest or passion to help some people in your community. Whatever you end up doing, make certain that you make a longitudinal commitment to that group or cause. I've heard (read on sdn) first hand where people have been specifically told that they would have been admitted had they spent more than a few months working with their volunteering venue.
Join a club that shares your interests or will help you learn something new that you always wanted to try. Try and find leadership or management opportunities somewhere in all of this, if you can. Put some consideration into doing some research, if that peaks your interest.

Have fun in college!

 

[Time Table]

See the thing is, while all majors are accepted to med school health care field majors, such as technicians and nursing, are not seen in a positive light because you take away a spot from someone who would definitely want to go to nursing school whereas you're just using it as a backup. That being said, med school will take the 3.8/35 nursing major over the 3.6/33 any other major, given similar ECs. If you're using your BSN to get into med school, I would highly advise against it because someone who definitely wants to go into nursing school would lose a spot, whereas you aren't sure right now. If you're going to get your BSN and then work in the field for a year or so before applying to medical school, not sure if this is the best route because it would take a helluva longer time, then take this route. I would recommend you take your pre-reqs for med school, because they should be somewhat similar to your nursing school requirements and go from there. Take the math, bio, chemistry, etc your first year. Get a full feel for both the medical field and the nursing field. Look to gain about 100 hours with different specialties, so you can make a more informative decision on where you want to go. Then you can fully decide if you want to stick with the nursing major or go into a science/humanities major.