Has anyone taken this route? Did anyone work nursing then do pre med (would you recommend working before starting school again) or did you jump straight to a pre med program after graduation? Also when you get into a post bac program can transfer science courses from the bsn to the post-bac program or does one have to retake all the required classes regardless? Im currently a bsn student in an accelerated program my grad date is june 2014. I had dropped out of high school in 11th then did my own thing for a few years then got my ged 2 years ago and now im just starting the bsn program and my hot pursuit is medical school. Any advise, helpful info is much appreciated :)) I would LOVE to hear your successes/come backs!!
There are plenty of nurses and NP’s on here who have gone onto med-school, who can share their experience. My question is if your ultimate goal is med-school why are you worrying with a BSN?
I’m a family nurse practitioner working on med school prereqs. If you know for sure you want to go to medical school, I personally wouldn’t waste the time and money on a nursing degree. Instead, I would be majoring in chemistry or biology and getting my prerequisite courses done. Is there an pre-med advisor you can consult with on how to get on the right track for medical school?
Thank you for the responses!
There isn’t a advisor at this school, however, that is probably the right thing to do…
@TravelGtr-where are you taking prereqs at, is it a program or at a CC?
I’m enrolled in a premed post-bacc program through a 4-year university.
One more thing you may want to consider is that in some places (Utah), they live in the dark ages and a degree in nursing is a detriment to the process of getting into med school. They have some antiquated theory that by admitting nurses into med school, they take away from those that care for their patients (just an excuse for discrimination). When I made a formal complaint about equal opportunity, they said that they don’t really discriminate against nurses (of course), but even if they did, it wouldn’t be illegal, because nurses are not a protected class. So I would second the advice to not waste time with a nursing degree if your ultimate goal is medicine. There are a lot of people who do it, but in some places it isn’t the benefit to a medical career that it should be. As someone else said, a Chemistry or Biology major would probably serve you well.
Fortunately I am now very happily enrolled at AZCOM, and loving what I am learning, and hopefully will be putting my 30 years’ experience to good use now. Good luck to you!
- BaileyPup Said:
There are plenty of nurses and NP's on here who have gone onto med-school, who can share their experience. My question is if your ultimate goal is med-school why are you worrying with a BSN?
With the ecomomy the way it is and seems will be for a while, going for a BSN seems logical to me, if you already have an interest in Nursing.
These days setting up a good "fall back" position is a darn good idea.
Thank you all for sharing!
@ pathdr2b-- Thank you for that plan… fall back, in this economy is a good idea to me…
Hi. I have thought long and hard about this. I returned to school 1 1/2 years ago thinking as a mom in my 30’s with no Bachelors (I have many “nonsense”/gen. ed credits from my 20’s but no degree) looking to get into healthcare that nursing was a logical choice. My interest in medicine and going to medical school, though, dates back to childhood, but I thought I veered too far off for that to even be a possibility. My grades in my 20’s were up and down for various reasons including a young, abusive marriage, etc. Just another sob story, I guess. I had semesters with all A’s and then something would happen the next semester and I’d stop going to class and then be so caught up in things in my personal life that in some cases didn’t even bother to withdraw. Bad move, but I was in crisis a lot. Immediate problems took precedence. I grew up and left that marriage and am now someone with some serious life experience and a good head on my shoulders. I have a 3.96 gpa and after surfing the net found this site that made me see my dream of medical school is not far off if I do the work to get there. So, I changed my path. I am no longer seeking a BSN, but I am working on a Bio major will all intentions of entering medical school in 2014. It’s a leap and a risk. I understand the fall back option, but I had to really ask myself if I wanted to train for a career in nursing that I really had no interest in when it came down to it. Another issue is that if there is a chance (I like to have conviction about getting into medical school) of not getting in to med school, do I really want to work as a nurse along side doctors? For me, the answer was absolutely not. I would feel panged and emotional every single day and probably deeply envious of those doctors and I don’t want to be in that situation, job security or not. Those are my personal feelings, though, others may not have as strong a feeling, you may be one of them. If nursing is a fall back you believe you can enjoy and not harbor the feelings I know I would, by all means go for it, but I understand it may be best to work at least a year as a nurse before making the moves on med school, but that is just what I’ve heard and read. As for a fall back, well, it won’t pay as well, but there are fall back options for me with a bio major if it came down to it and maybe even grad school/PHD path, but I remain headstrong about medical school and I cannot live the rest of my life wondering what if. I’d rather try than not out of fear, but it’s a tough choice. Reality,especially as a non-trad, hits hard and it’s not as easy to just declare a Bio major when you may have other mouths to feed, maybe a mortgage, car payments, insurance woes, etc. Nursing is a respectable profession and very different from medicine, and it does offer the security those of us cautious non-trads may be swayed by. As a personal choice, though, I had to do some soul searching and realized I could not honestly be a BSN major. Best of luck! Keep posting! May your soul search bring you to where you need to be.
Well mostly you need a bachelors. So if most of your credits are in nursing, time and economics say complete the BSN, and then do premed sciences. If I had time nd more money, I’d get bs in biochem.
I hate to trot out the old SDN line here but from what I read, unless you plan on spending a few years in your “fallback” nursing role, you are going to face an uphill battle inf front of adcoms. Everything I am reading is that if you go straight from nursing school and apply to med-school it is going to look bad.
- BaileyPup Said:
I hate to trot out the old SDN line here but from what I read, unless you plan on spending a few years in your "fallback" nursing role, you are going to face an uphill battle inf front of adcoms. Everything I am reading is that if you go straight from nursing school and apply to med-school it is going to look bad.
The thing about life as a nontrad is that you never know what's going to happen down the road that makes your plan "B" suddenly become your plan "A" which is why a good fall back position is a must.
As for the Bio or Chemistry degrees I'd say that these days, the entry level degree requirement for a decent job is at least a Master's, no matter what the job advertises.
I understand as an adult you need a good fall back position. I am just trying to advise the poster that most of what I have heard is that if you are just “using” a BSN to step into med-school that AADCOMS frown upon that. Not saying it will kill the dream, just that you are probably going to get a lot of “Why did you do that?”, and from what I hear using the "it’s my fallback position does not go over well.
I was even told by a pre-med advisor when I was deciding between the two paths that I shouldn’t even take the pre-nursing pre-reqs at my school if I really want med. They want to see that you want med, only want med, and only want med. Ofcourse all of this is hersay, since I have yet to sit in “judgement” infront of an ADCOM, but thought I would share what I have heard.
- BaileyPup Said:
I understand as an adult you need a good fall back position. I am just trying to advise the poster that most of what I have heard is that if you are just "using" a BSN to step into med-school that AADCOMS frown upon that.
I agree with you 1000%. Didn't mean to imply otherwise!
I think secondaries are making me cranky…
Why does it cost $75 for me to resubmit my primary app. in a new and creative way… 
See, I am not all that bent out of shape about what an adcom may or may not think about whatever. I am looking at the fundamentals and doing what is most reasonable for my own situation. I think each person should do the same.
It’s going to primarily come down to numbers: GPA overall, BPCM, and MCAT score. After that, the others will be important, but you have to do the best with first things first and not let every possibility push you back from moving forward.
And that’s what happens with many, and that is what happens with the SDN mentality many times. I am not saying some aren’t right or don’t have a point on certain things, but the things outside the fundamentals and where priorities need to fall, well, unless you applying to Harvard and worrying about top tiers, just don’t fixate on it.
Some people get bent out of shape over what to wear to a med school interview. This is like a no brainer to me. What in the Sam Hill did you where to any business or professional job interview???
I bypass those that a really young or have gotten caught up in some of the silly mentalities over there.
There are no guarantees of anything in life. You do the best you can, moving forward with what’s most important and the priorities, and you keep on going. I think it is problematic to get wrapped up in stuff that is more on the minutuae end of things.
At the end of the day, people want to see if you can carry the curriculum and workload and test well in science and its medical applications.
You have some recent posters over there at SDN that are amazing and very influential. Some sad unfairness too; but it is what it is. Someone recently posted a mega discouraging post that seems to imply it’s pretty much impossible to achieve the med school goal–even though the one person has been plugging away at getting in after many, many years and has just recently been accepted. You’d think after all that this person had been through, he/she might have thought to be a tad more supportive–even if he/she does feel the need to be realistic.
Who gives a _____what you major in, so long as it’s considered a valid field of study and you do well? Ad coms can ask you anything they want–just like employers and their administrative panels. (I guess within the limits of EEOC.) At the end of the day, as the interviewee, you have to intelligently demonstrate your determination to success in the field of medicine. An interview is an interview–you have to sell yourself. But first you have to successfully get the place where an interview is extended to you. That means getting the fundamentals in line first. And, as non-trads, well, we don’t have forever in which to jump through all the hoops. So if that means you complete the degree you started in, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I would think that it looks better bad to not finish what you started unless you had a very compelling reason. Say for example, you were pretty sure you wanted to do the MD/PhD thing; so, you decided to change your major to biochem or something of that nature. Frankly, I just think the biochem is a lot more interesting that most nursing courses I have taken. Call me crazy.
Hey, I’m a BSN nurse! Working in an high acuity ER and chipping away at some science courses here and there (Front row seat to the best show on earth, I love it!) The hospital pays for all my education with tuition reimbursement, I can network with the docs, know what it’s like to be on call, work long hours, and am not intimidated nor afraid of a patient physical assessment. You learn attention to detail, empathy, and catch certain conditions where things “just don’t look right”
In acute care you take the initiative, do more, see more. I say, why not get a BSN and work around patients?? You’ll be that much more prepared.
But of course you have to love it, that’s the key and that is what will shine through when you’re getting grilled by Ad Coms 
My situation is somewhat similar. I’m in an allied health position as a rad tech and have decided that becoming a physician is my ultimate goal. I’ve had doubts already due to family. I’m married with three small children, and they are everything to me. Losing special moments with them are a concern of mine but with disciplined planning I think we can all make it work. It helps to have a wife that is 100% supportive as well.
I understand how you feel about having an option to fall back on. I see nothing wrong with that. Becoming a nurse obviously shows you have an interest and desire to be a healthcare provider. I would continue in school after graduating but work also as long as you can handle the workload. I have a friend that works three twelves on the weekends and is finishing her last year to become a nurse practitioner. I’m sure the studies aren’t as demanding as medical school, but she has accomplished this with two children and a husband who has been in and out of work for the past couple of years.
Alot of us here are in similar situations and it has sure helped bring me back down to earth when I start questioning my ability to shuffle life with such demanding studying. It can be done.
I had a similar question. I currently have an associates in nursing, and just started prerequisites for rn to bsn program, with a plan of then pursuing MSN/MPH, but I found myself questioning of this is what I really want to do. Then recently I decided I am going to fulfill my childhood dream and become a Dr, and for the first time, I haven’t questioned that decision (other than the financial aspects.) I had the same thought, which would be better: finish my BSN, then take the prereq science courses or go straight for a Bachelor’s in biology? For me, to get my BSN (including the prerequs I lack) will take another 3 years, and I’m thinking a minimum of 2 years for the additional science courses, so I should be ready in 5 years. But, if I change my major to biology, I should be ready in 5 years! The difference to me is that I’m afraid that the adcoms will think that I can’t make up my mind between nursing and md. So, for me, Biology is the way to go!