Hey everybody! I’m new to this forum, so I wanted to introduce myself and ask for advice.
I’m 31 years old and have 3 children (6 months, 3 and 4 years old), and am currently enrolled in a General Education program at a local Community College. I wanted to study medicine since I was a teenager, but never had the confidence that I could actually do it. After moving to the states from Germany (where I worked as a lab tech), I decided now is the time to just go for it.
And here is where I need some advice! The program I am in right now goes toward nursing (RN). I didn’t make it into the actual nursing program this time, because I had just started to take my pre-req’s for it (the way this school determines who gets into the program is the sum of your ACT score + points for grades in certain courses + loyalty points for obtaining a certain amount of credit hours at this school). I only had the ACT score to count for me. If I keep taking my pre-req’s there, I will make it into the program next year, get my RN, then do a bridge program to get the BSN.
I wanted to get the BSN in case things don’t work out and I won’t get accepted into med school, or life just happens and I need to work full-time instead of going to med school. I am married and my husband works full-time, but who knows what’s going to come our way in the future.
But I’m second guessing that route. The local University offers a Biology major as well as one in Health Science, where I could chose the pre-med track! I am very drawn to switching to one of these, especially since they will probably transfer more of my German credit hours (they will let me know what exactly they will accept sometime this week). Getting the BSN just seems like it would not get me to my goals the fastest… Kind of like taking many detours. And now I have to wait a whole year to apply again. I would take nursing and med school pre-req’s during that year, but I don’t think I would be able to fit all the med school pre-req’s into only 1 year, plus the CC doesn’t even offer everything I would need for that. So even after getting the BSN I would still not have all the classes I need for med school.
But the chances of finding a good job with just a BS in Biology or Health Science aren’t as good as with a BSN. I’m torn!
I really want to become a Doctor, I can’t imagine myself really being happy with any other job. But I guess I am still a little scared. Any word of advice?
I’m not going to try to tell you which direction to go, but I just want to forewarn you about nursing credits. When I was applying (4 years ago), there were some schools that would NOT accept nursing school credits for the basic science prereqs if the course was taught by the nursing department (ie labeling Bio I course as NURS 221 vs BIO 101). I don’t know if this is still the case or if many schools have that policy, just thought I’d throw it out there for something you can do some more research into. Would hate for you to get the BSN and then have to retake some prereqs.
All that being said, many schools (and the general trend it seems) now have NO MANDATORY prereqs, just highly recommended courses that may help you succeed when taking the MCAT/in med school.
@Kennymac wrote:
I’m not going to try to tell you which direction to go, but I just want to forewarn you about nursing credits. When I was applying (4 years ago), there were some schools that would NOT accept nursing school credits for the basic science prereqs if the course was taught by the nursing department (ie labeling Bio I course as NURS 221 vs BIO 101). I don’t know if this is still the case or if many schools have that policy, just thought I’d throw it out there for something you can do some more research into. Would hate for you to get the BSN and then have to retake some prereqs.
All that being said, many schools (and the general trend it seems) now have NO MANDATORY prereqs, just highly recommended courses that may help you succeed when taking the MCAT/in med school.
Thank you Kennymac, for your reply! That is some really good advice and I will make sure to research that. And I wasn’t even aware that many schools only recommend certain courses instead of making them prereqs! That’s actually great news since I already took many of those classes back in Germany, so I do have the knowledge (even though I need to refresh it!!), but I wouldn’t have to worry about wether or not they transfer! I will read more into that as well, thank you!
So did you take the BSN route and then applied to med school? Besides some schools not accepting nursing school credits, how did it work out for you? Or did you take a different route?
I was in a non-healthcare military job before medical school. I just remember thinking it was odd that schools would specify not accepting NURS credits…
I agree, that is odd. Thanks for the heads up!