New victim. Hoping for advice/encouragement

Warning: this will be kind of long. First of all, my sincere thanks to whoever started this forum. And second, I just wanted to introduce myself and see if there is anyone who has had similar experiences and can let me know what to expect. I just turned 30 (as in October 1). I’m a married mother of two finishing up my last year of my bachelor’s in nursing. Unfortunately I’ve found along the way that I never really had a desire to be a nurse.


I’ve wanted to be a doctor from as far back as I can remember, but didn’t feel I had the drive or abilities to get there. That may seem hard to believe considering that in high school I had a 4.0, was in National Honor Society, and was the first National Merit Scholar at my high school in about 20 years. I got a 1340 on my SAT with absolutely no preparation whatsoever.


Unfortunately, I was also a child abuse survivor. Growing up in such an environment leaves you scarred in ways that are hard to describe to someone who has never experienced it. Basically, that particular parent decided I needed to be an accountant. I had ZERO interest in the profession, and it showed in my grades. I rarely attended class and often didn’t turn in assignments. Despite all this, I was enrolled at the Honors College at UH with a full National Merit scholarship and maintained about a 2.9 GPA. I even managed to not get put on probation or have my scholarship canceled. Eventually, I realized I couldn’t continue in that direction and put school on hold to focus on growing up a little.


It took the majority of my twenties, but some very severe personal demons were dealth with and I came out the other side. I then decided to try my hand at nursing, feeling like I could go into advanced practice and “get close” to my dream of practicing medicine. I geared myself up to do it right this time and after hearing person after person tell me how difficult nursing school is, dug my heels in for the long haul. To my amazement, it has been incredibly easy. While I watch people around me struggle to keep C’s and B’s, I’ve gotten several 100’s on exams. I’ve maintained a 4.0 even when taking 18 hours a semester and it hasn’t been all that difficult. My most interesting course so far has been pathophysiology. I’m dying to be challenged intellectually. I’m so eager to get back into hard science courses that I can hardly stand it.


I hate nursing. I hate to say that but it’s true. Sure I could go and get my CRNA in a couple of years and be making a lot more money, but I /really/ want to be a doctor. My family is extremely supportive. The pre-med advisor at my school seems to think I have a decent shot. I took a chance at broaching the subject with one of my nursing clinical instructors and her response was, “It’s funny you said that. I’ve always seen you as more of a doctor than a nurse.” My ICU preceptor this semester said something along the same lines.


Now you knew it was coming. The ‘but’. I plan to go ahead and finish my RN degree since I need a bachelor’s anyway and I’m this close. I can use being a nurse to pay for post-bacc work and save up for med school. I took Calculus I and II back in 94-95 and a few maths since then. I also have my english out of the way and my pre-med advisor didn’t think I’d really need to retake those. I took Chem I back in 2000 so I’m taking Chem II next semester during my last semester of nursing school (it’s supposed to be an easy one). I plan to take Bio I and II and Organic I and II the year after I graduate, then Physics, Genetics, and Micro the year after that. At the end of that year (April of 2009) I’d take the MCAT and apply, then take biochem the semester after while awaiting decisions. I really want to go to UT San Antonio. I’m confident that with some intense preparation I can get at least a 33-35 on the MCAT.


My problem stands that I have so many college hours now that when I calculated my GPA’s, even if I get a 4.0 from here on out, I’ll still only have about a BCPM of 3.32 and an overall of 3.25. I also keep reading about the unofficial bias against RN’s wanting to go to med school. Do you think I have a reasonable chance? Anyone have any advice that would make me a more solid candidate?


I speak fairly fluent Spanish and translated in a public health immunization clinic for a year and half. I’ve already volunteered answering phones for spanish-speaking callers during Hurricane Rita evacuations. I’m set to start volunteering for the child advocacy center in this area next semester as one of two bilingual volunteers. However, my time for community service is somewhat limited between spending time with my children, working full-time (after graduation) and taking demanding science classes part-time with a real need to keep all A’s. Is this a ridiculous undertaking? Thanks in advance.

You have a wonderful, promising chance. All of your life and academic experiences made you the strong person that you are. Focus on obtaining the knowledge of your course work and getting the best possible score on the MCAT. Stay positive, and keep striving for the knowledge…


You will be a doctor if you truly want it…


Wise

A ridiculous undertaking? NO WAY!!! You have the desire, the heart and the brains. People with lower GPAs that you have gotten in, and plenty of nurses have gotten in. Will it be easy? Probably not. But it sounds like you are no stranger to hard times, and you’ve gotten through and come out stronger. You can do it.


I hope you can make it to the conference next summer. I went last year and got a lot of inspiration, advice and in-depth information from people who’ve done it already. Even if you can’t make it, you’ve come to the right site for support and tons of information.


Good luck to you.

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement. I know I’m just the next in a long line of people working their hardest for this dream. It just feels so daunting sometimes. I’m not afraid of hard work; I just hate to put my family through this if it isn’t realistic. After some extensive reading of posts, I’m left feeling both more hopeful and more terrified. But I’ve tried to convince myself too many times to abandon this and it has only made me miserable, so I guess I’m giving it my all. Any advice from those who’ve gone before will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!!

I know, the pre-med stuff seems so daunting and the idea of “putting my family through this” if in the end you DON’T get in is what is plaguing you.


As difficult as it is, try to think of it as a journey with many stops and the destination as yet not finalized… for both you and your family. Sure, you’re “putting the family through a lot,” but if you are enjoying the journey, there will be rewards for them as well. You will be happier, for one thing, and “if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” right?


Seriously, though, you are right to focus on the ways in which it will be hard on your family, and you should give some thought as to how you’ll minimize those hardships, but you should also think about the positives not just for you but for everyone in your family. I do think it’s important to emphasize the rewards of the journey itself, not just the goal.


I think you have a great shot. Good luck!


Mary

You hit the nail right on the head, Mary. But then again, from the postings I’ve seen from you in the past, I felt like I would probably identify with you. I think I saw you mention something about nursing education in another post and I’m sure we could have some very lively discussions on that topic.


But in reading through my first post, I realized I might have given the wrong impression. I don’t hate nursing as a profession. There are many nurses I’ve met for whom I have tremendous respect. And I’m sure if I make it all the way through this that there will be at least a couple of nurses who will save my butt during my residency. I just hate /doing/ nursing. It’s not my calling and there are only small portions of it that I enjoy doing. So I wanted to apologize to any former or current nurses if I seemed like I was being insulting.


Then, let me tack on one more question. Does anyone know if TMDSAS and AMDSAS (forgive me if I got the acronyms wrong) factor in “non-science major” science classes (i.e. A&P, micro for health science majors, etc.) when they calculate your BCPM? I know they don’t count as pre-reqs and I’m hoping maybe they wouldn’t use them, but I’m also aware that it’s probably just wishful thinking. Anyone know for sure?

When I was figuring out my AMCAS GPA, I presumed – and I am pretty sure I later confirmed that this was correct – that courses designated as, e.g. BIOL 101 or CHEM 102 or MATH 201 would be included in the BCPM GPA, whereas “pathophysiology in nursing,” designated NURS 304, would be an “all other” course because it was not in a science department. But I am pretty sure that the science courses I took as part of my nursing major, even if they were for non-science majors, were included in my eventual BCPM calculation by AMCAS. Geez, it’s hard to believe how long ago that was…


Is that your question? Hope it helps. And no, I can tell you are not insulting nurses or nursing. It’s just that the field isn’t floating your boat, and that’s OK.


Mary

  • msjessegirl Said:


My problem stands that I have so many college hours now that when I calculated my GPA's, even if I get a 4.0 from here on out, I'll still only have about a BCPM of 3.32 and an overall of 3.25. I also keep reading about the unofficial bias against RN's wanting to go to med school. Do you think I have a reasonable chance? Anyone have any advice that would make me a more solid candidate?

I speak fairly fluent Spanish and translated in a public health immunization clinic for a year and half. I've already volunteered answering phones for spanish-speaking callers during Hurricane Rita evacuations. I'm set to start volunteering for the child advocacy center in this area next semester as one of two bilingual volunteers. Is this a ridiculous undertaking? Thanks in advance.



No not at all if you feel that you will not be "whole" without doing this, there is a part to life that's important, your happiness. Some people will not be happy till they do what is deepest in thier heart. Medicine is one thing for me as it is for others. I spent 17 years as an RN and I have to tell you the first 5 were fine, the rest I wanted more and more and never seemed to be happy as an RN. Telling my first wife I wanted to be a Dr. really compounded any other problems we had and until a few years after our divorce I couldn't start to persue my dream. Many of us have our reasons and deamons in our past of why we start later, I think it really doesn't matter when but what really matters to you.

As far as grades, your upward trend will help, I do caution you to 1: Keep after a 4.0 and 2: study for the MCAT like no tomorrow, a high score on the MCAT can really help you overcome the GPA problem.

Good Luck. Oh and welcome!