Why are nursing majors frowned upon when applying for medical school?

[QueBarbara]

I am a nursing major because I wanted to work in the medical field before applying for medical school. I have recently come upon a comment from a user saying "It's best to avoid nursing- med school admissions committees look down on this."


Why is this?

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[Catalystik]

I'm not saying it's universally true, but what I've read is that due to the nursing shortage, adcoms might be reluctant to steal away another healthcare worker. That spot in nursing school could now never be replaced by someone who wanted to be a nurse for 30 years, rather than someone looking for income to support them through school until they were ready to apply to med schools. I suppose there's also the "can't make up their mind" perception, as such a person may just as well change their mind again and waste a med school spot that could have gone to another applicant.

All that said, I know nurses who've made the transition, obviously having found a good explanation for their new career goals. And they are fantastic at clinical medicine from the get go.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

My class has several students in it who were nurses and I have interviewed a couple applicants who were nurses (or other licensed health professionals). Of those that I interviewed, I never held it against them. However, you can almost guarantee getting some version of the question, "why do you want to switch from nursing to medicine?" This has to be a really good and honest response; if it's not, the interviewer will smell it a mile away and hold it against you ("I want to be in charge" = bad answer).

While I cannot speak for all schools and healthcare markets, I am not sure if the "nursing shortage" is really a factor in many areas currently. Facilities may be understaffed, but for a relatively long time, hospitals in many cities all across the nation have not been hiring or only posting a few openings (I did research on this because my wife is a nurse and I just finished residency interviews). Obviously, this is due to the current economic crisis. Also, many nursing graduates leave the field for many different reasons, so why couldn't one of them be to become a doctor.

If you really want to be a physician, go for it.



-senior medical student / admissions committee interviewer

 

[mooshika]

I'm an RN and I made it clear in my essays and in the activities section the "why" I know why exactly, for me it is because I thought NP or DNP was the best I could do in terms of level and scope of practice because I had a low uGPA and was "older" so I thought med school was out of the question for me. I went along with my life with the idea that medicine was completely out of the question until I started preparing for nursing school and taking the required clinicals got me into contact with a lot of residents, attendings, and med students and I learned some things about applicants that I did not know before.

That's when I found out I could actually become competitive enough. It was kind of a process for me, and I finished nursing school because it kept me in close contact with patients, doctors and great nurses who we can all learn a great deal from. I have been asked only a couple of times and it was regarded generally positively. I do not believe it is held against you, you just need to have a good explanation that has to do with "discovering your true passion kind of thing."

Good luck.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

i'm an rn and i made it clear in my essays and in the activities section the "why" i know why exactly, for me it is because i thought np or dnp was the best i could do in terms of level and scope of practice because i had a low ugpa and was "older" so i thought med school was out of the question for me. I went along with my life with the idea that medicine was completely out of the question until i started preparing for nursing school and taking the required clinicals got me into contact with a lot of residents, attendings, and med students and i learned some things about applicants that i did not know before.

That's when i found out i could actually become competitive enough. It was kind of a process for me, and i finished nursing school because it kept me in close contact with patients, doctors and great nurses who we can all learn a great deal from. I have been asked only a couple of times and it was regarded generally positively. I do not believe it is held against you, you just need to have a good explanation that has to do with "discovering your true passion kind of thing."

good luck.

== good answer

 

[J ROD]

it makes you look like you have no idea what you want to do.

hence, you have to really explain the change of heart....

Lucky, for me, my med school was aware of my intentions of getting my PharmD before I applied so I did not have to deal with question much.

 

[kellycaitlin]

I don't really have an answer, but I do have a question to kind of tack onto yours in the hopes that someone will respond.

I'm halfway through with my degree in nursing, currently. I've realized that there isn't as much "science" in nursing as I was hoping for and that (after tons of clinical experience outside of school and shadowing) that my true passion lies in being a doctor. I find the human body and it's processes fascinating. I love learning about how medications work and what they do. Basically, I love all the biological details that nurses DON'T learn. I've begun to complete my pre-reqs for applying to med-schools, but I'm not sure what I should do about my degree. My pre-health advisor has stated that the major you pick should be your "Plan B" in case you don't get into a med school. Honestly, if I can't be a doctor, I would just return back to nursing school. I want to be as involved with medicine as I possibly can be. However, my grades are pretty competitive for Med Schools at this point and I'm fairly confident in my ability to succeed in being accepted into a Med School.

Will adcomms really look down on my completing my nursing degree? Should I change majors? Or would I be okay to continue on my course if I can really back up the "why"?

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Will adcomms really look down on my completing my nursing degree? Should I change majors? Or would I be okay to continue on my course if I can really back up the "why"?

Could some adcom members look at this negatively? Sure. Could some look at it positively? Sure. Any number of things in every application could stand out as a negative or a positive in anyone's mind.

You should choose the degree you want to earn and go for it.

-senior medical student / admissions committee interviewer


Plus, the bulk of this question was addressed earlier in this thread.