Becoming a Nurse before Med School for Financial Reasons?

[responsible_cap_7474]

Hello all!

To give some background, I'm 22 and I have a B.A. in Criminology from the University of Maryland and my goal was to go to law school and become an attorney. However, I realized over time that I'm much better suited to a career in healthcare due to my interest in science and desire to work in more of a collaborative rather than adversarial work environment.

Since I do not have many of the prereqs for med school, a post bacc program for career changers is the best path forward. However, the cost of my first degree and the potential cost of a post bacc program have put me in a bit of a financial bind. Also my parents are planning to retire soon so I don't think they could support me for the next six years or so.

I have the opportunity to attend a state school and earn an accelerated BSN in one year for only about $20,000., Plus new RNs in New York make about $90,000 a year starting which would allow me to build up quite a bit of money for a couple of years.

My biggest fear at this point is that becoming a nurse will bar me from acceptance to medical school. I know there are plenty of nurses that go to med school, but I feel like the idea of me changing from law, to nursing, to medicine will make admission committees think I am uncommitted and therefore unsuited to the medical profession. Is this true? Although difficult, should I just try to find a way to go to med school directly?

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[deleted1085158]

If you want to become a nurse, go to nursing school. If you want to become a doctor go to medical school and stop thinking about nursing school.

If you're heart is not 100% set on medicine and you're not doing it for the right reasons, then please save yourself the trouble and do not go to medical school.

 

[GreenDuck12]

If I can summarize your post, you’re asking if it is a good/bad idea to spend one year and $20,000 in tuition to get a nursing degree in order to work for a few years as a nurse (with a potentially higher salary) in order to help you pay for classes / save money to try to go to medical school. How long are you expecting it to take for you to get your application to medical school prepared?

Without more context I agree with the poster above - spending time pursuing a degree and training you don’t plan on using seems like a waste. To your question I dont think an admissions committee would look down on you for becoming a nurse. What might cause them pause is the appearance that you don’t know what you want and are quick to change your mind. Changing career paths multiple times will make them really want to gauge whether or not medicine is the right path for you. What adcoms must avoid is a scenario where a student starts medical school only to withdraw later on - leads to significant problems as those seats typically are not filled with transfer applicants.

 

[DO_or_Die]

As an RN myself, I would say don't do it. I love nursing and the experience it brought to me, but I also didn't go to nursing school in the thought of going to medical school. You're taught to think differently as a nurse and it's been a struggle in medical school to "erase" my bad habits. Go into nursing if you want to be a nurse, not because you think it'll help you get into medical school. As a non trad I do wish that if I could go back I would have faced my fears and went straight to medical school, I don't regret my decisions but I also wouldn't advise nursing to medical school as a practical route.

 

[FutureInternist]

The loss of even 1 year of attending salary far outweighs what you would make as a nurse.

Additionally, every year out of college/Uni, decreases your chances of getting in, although a nurse will likely have a leg up on someone in another field/career.

 

[Dral]

The loss of even 1 year of attending salary far outweighs what you would make as a nurse.

Additionally, every year out of college/Uni, decreases your chances of getting in, although a nurse will likely have a leg up on someone in another field/career.

This.

Unless you cannot absolutely afford at all to do the post bac. Even then, I’d say just tend bar or something while you do the post bac.

Even if you only make 200k as an attending, you have thrown away at least 220k over the course of your life for the one year of nursing school....Every year as a nurse, you are losing at least 110k in this scenario. Sure, you will have to pay interest on money you take out now, but you will likely make up for that with paying things off faster with an attending salary sooner.

Just no. As someone else stated, if you want to be a nurse, do that. If you want to be a doctor, skip nursing school and get to it.

OP, If you want to do nursing for the experience, then that is possibly a different story. Who are we to tell you what to do with your life experiences...but your post (OP) seems to indicate that this is pretty much a financial decision.

 

[NITRAS]

To say that medicine isn’t adversarial at times isn’t true. You should see some of the “discussions” i have with the ED and ICU residents.

Or that sometimes you have to be adversarial with nursing.

As others have stated. Nursing isn’t a step to medicine.

The bigger issue to me is that . . . You don’t seem to know what you want to do with your life. I might suggest figuring that out before you jump into one (or two) career fields. These all cost time and money to get.

 

[Dral]

To say that medicine isn’t adversarial at times isn’t true. You should see some of the “discussions” i have with the ED and ICU residents.

Or that sometimes you have to be adversarial with nursing.

As others have stated. Nursing isn’t a step to medicine.

The bigger issue to me is that . . . You don’t seem to know what you want to do with your life. I might suggest figuring that out before you jump into one (or two) career fields. These all cost time and money to get.

Not to mention not all patients and family members are always sunshine and puppy dog tails.

 

[Ganon]

I'll be the voice of dissent: It's not unreasonable to get an RN license as a fallback if you don't have any other career prospects.

Everyone on this forum will tout the low acceptance rate to med school, yet have no problem advising people to get a BA or BS in biology that will leave them high and dry if they strike out on an app cycle.

My time working as an RN is invaluable to me, and I don't look at is as a stepping stone to medicine, but as an accomplishment in itself. It's also enabled me to help in a meaningful way during this COVID pandemic. It's also nice to know that I could walk away from MD school, go to CRNA school, and still be done before my classmates finish residency. Talk about a fallback plan.

All that said, from a purely financial perspective, time spent as an RN is money flushed down the toilet compared to attending salary. That statement *assumes* admission to medical school, though.

My opinion is that "premed" tracks should always integrate a health profession that could be used during gap years or in case of a lack of acceptance (could be RN, RT, Rad Tech, MLS, anything with a job and decent demand). Too many kids wind up with worthless degrees and shunt themselves into graduate school for the only reason that they couldn't get into med school and want something to show for their time. I know people in Pharm, PA, PT, ST programs who are truly only there because they couldn't get into medical school and they want a job. In my opinion, those fields all deserve candidates who *want* to be in them, not desperation to pay back loans for worthless undergrad degrees.

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

I'll be the voice of dissent: It's not unreasonable to get an RN license as a fallback if you don't have any other career prospects.

Everyone on this forum will tout the low acceptance rate to med school, yet have no problem advising people to get a BA or BS in biology that will leave them high and dry if they strike out on an app cycle.

My time working as an RN is invaluable to me, and I don't look at is as a stepping stone to medicine, but as an accomplishment in itself. It's also enabled me to help in a meaningful way during this COVID pandemic. It's also nice to know that I could walk away from MD school, go to CRNA school, and still be done before my classmates finish residency. Talk about a fallback plan.

All that said, from a purely financial perspective, time spent as an RN is money flushed down the toilet compared to attending salary. That statement *assumes* admission to medical school, though.

My opinion is that "premed" tracks should always integrate a health profession that could be used during gap years or in case of a lack of acceptance (could be RN, RT, Rad Tech, MLS, anything with a job and decent demand). Too many kids wind up with worthless degrees and shunt themselves into graduate school for the only reason that they couldn't get into med school and want something to show for their time. I know people in Pharm, PA, PT, ST programs who are truly only there because they couldn't get into medical school and they want a job. In my opinion, those fields all deserve candidates who *want* to be in them, not desperation to pay back loans for worthless undergrad degrees.

I have been a nurse for the past 5 years and will be matriculating into a MD school this August, I do NOT hate this take at all. Yes, I think my experiences and pathway have provided my with both unique and invaluable perspective for a career in medicine. I never intended to switch careers or use nursing as a pathway into medicine, but rather it was something that I grew into and chose to do for personal reasons. I also firmly believe that I would not change how I got to medical school if I could go back to my freshman year of college.

In my years as a nurse I have seen countless graduated premeds turned nurses aides, attempting as they may to reapply and make some money on their otherwise worthless science degrees. Your average "premed" degree - bio, neuroscience, etc. - does not set you up for success in life outside of medical school. It is very difficult to pivot careers as a rejected premed if you have one of these degrees, as you have not learned a practical skill that anyone taking prerequisites has not learned themselves. Earning a degree in nursing, RT, rad tech, etc. with the intention of applying to medical school down the road should not be so taboo for this reason. It gives you both a viable career fallback plan and invaluable experiences along the way that I believe will put you ahead of your classmates as far as clinical skills and knowledge.

Perhaps before you even apply to medical school you realize, through the experiences working in an alternative healthcare career, that medical school is not for you? I believe it is not a perfect route to medical school but it certainly is not as foolish as it has been labelled by others.

Save some money, life your life, and decide what you want to do. I would not trade a few years of attending salary in my 30's for life lived in my 20's, I will go to my grave with that one!

 

[DO_or_Die]

I have been a nurse for the past 5 years and will be matriculating into a MD school this August, I do NOT hate this take at all. Yes, I think my experiences and pathway have provided my with both unique and invaluable perspective for a career in medicine. I never intended to switch careers or use nursing as a pathway into medicine, but rather it was something that I grew into and chose to do for personal reasons. I also firmly believe that I would not change how I got to medical school if I could go back to my freshman year of college.

In my years as a nurse I have seen countless graduated premeds turned nurses aides, attempting as they may to reapply and make some money on their otherwise worthless science degrees. Your average "premed" degree - bio, neuroscience, etc. - does not set you up for success in life outside of medical school. It is very difficult to pivot careers as a rejected premed if you have one of these degrees, as you have not learned a practical skill that anyone taking prerequisites has not learned themselves. Earning a degree in nursing, RT, rad tech, etc. with the intention of applying to medical school down the road should not be so taboo for this reason. It gives you both a viable career fallback plan and invaluable experiences along the way that I believe will put you ahead of your classmates as far as clinical skills and knowledge.

Perhaps before you even apply to medical school you realize, through the experiences working in an alternative healthcare career, that medical school is not for you? I believe it is not a perfect route to medical school but it certainly is not as foolish as it has been labelled by others.

Save some money, life your life, and decide what you want to do. I would not trade a few years of attending salary in my 30's for life lived in my 20's, I will go to my grave with that one!

As a nurse myself I disagree, being a nurse does not put us ahead in knowledge for the first two years at least. I've had to undo many bad habits I've accumulated from real patient care when transitioning to the patient interview styles/OSCE styles of med school. Med school has been extremely biochemistry/basic science heavy. If I could go back (which I wouldn't choose to do), but in a perfect world I would have been a biochemistry major. I've excelled so far, but it has taken a bit more time in comparison the the other students who were traditional science majors. The focus of medicine is much different than that of nursing. I didn't realize how much I didn't know until about 3-4 months into med school. Nursing is a great career, but for someone with the goal of becoming a physician I think it would be best to stick to the hard sciences as a major. That's just my thoughts. I wouldn't trade my experiences, but they have not made this road easier at all.

 

[hmockingbird]

I don’t hate that take either because I think the lack of directly relevant opportunities with only a BS in science is a major flaw with the undergrad to med school system. I especially think if someone wanted to get an RN (associate level) then work while completing a bachelor’s then do med school that could work out well for some people. I think a lot of times people bring this up thinking that nursing classes will fulfill their med school prereqs making things easier when it’s actually the opposite.
For op though, they already have a bachelor’s. While I am not informed enough to know about specific fields that attract criminology degrees there are plenty of jobs where you just need a bachelor’s so I’d probably advise OP to skip the extra degree and work while taking night classes. And if they really wanted to do something healthcare related, there are cheaper and quicker options like EMT.

 

[Mad Jack]

Hello all!

To give some background, I'm 22 and I have a B.A. in Criminology from the University of Maryland and my goal was to go to law school and become an attorney. However, I realized over time that I'm much better suited to a career in healthcare due to my interest in science and desire to work in more of a collaborative rather than adversarial work environment.

Since I do not have many of the prereqs for med school, a post bacc program for career changers is the best path forward. However, the cost of my first degree and the potential cost of a post bacc program have put me in a bit of a financial bind. Also my parents are planning to retire soon so I don't think they could support me for the next six years or so.

I have the opportunity to attend a state school and earn an accelerated BSN in one year for only about $20,000., Plus new RNs in New York make about $90,000 a year starting which would allow me to build up quite a bit of money for a couple of years.

My biggest fear at this point is that becoming a nurse will bar me from acceptance to medical school. I know there are plenty of nurses that go to med school, but I feel like the idea of me changing from law, to nursing, to medicine will make admission committees think I am uncommitted and therefore unsuited to the medical profession. Is this true? Although difficult, should I just try to find a way to go to med school directly?

If you didn't come from law first it would be fine, but yeah, you're going to look uncommitted on paper. Won't stop you from getting admitted but may make it slightly harder

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

As a nurse myself I disagree, being a nurse does not put us ahead in knowledge for the first two years at least. I've had to undo many bad habits I've accumulated from real patient care when transitioning to the patient interview styles/OSCE styles of med school. Med school has been extremely biochemistry/basic science heavy. If I could go back (which I wouldn't choose to do), but in a perfect world I would have been a biochemistry major. I've excelled so far, but it has taken a bit more time in comparison the the other students who were traditional science majors. The focus of medicine is much different than that of nursing. I didn't realize how much I didn't know until about 3-4 months into med school. Nursing is a great career, but for someone with the goal of becoming a physician I think it would be best to stick to the hard sciences as a major. That's just my thoughts. I wouldn't trade my experiences, but they have not made this road easier at all.

Was not implying it would help with the preclinical years at all, I certainly don’t think it will make a difference there. I think the experience, as with any healthcare experience, will help out in the clinical years.