Hello everyone,
I know this topic has been discussed in the past, but I am desiring to get some more input from fellow nurses and nurse practitioners that decided to go to Med School. I am finishing my FNP this upcoming July and am strongly considering going on to Med School. I am wondering what all the factors were that led some of you to be dissatisfied with the NP position? Also, for anyone that has walked down this road, is it worth it?
Thanks for all the help and input you can give!!
Hello Fowen,
I have been a PA-C for 10 years. I know you are looking for advice from NP’s, but there are enough similarities btwn the PA and NP professions that I thought I would chime in.
10 years ago I began thinking that I should be going to Med school. This was after the didactic portion of PA school and after I had done a handful of rotations.
Those thoughts have never quieted down.
I have been rather successful as a PA, and know Orthopedics as well as any PA out there. But at the end of the day, I’m holding the retractor, not the knife.
Now, 10 years later, I am beginning the process of brushing up un some pre-reqs and look forward to taking the MCAT in a year or 2.
If you want all the autonomy and would like the full responsibility of being a physician, then go for it. If you are telling yourself that you will be content as an NP, make sure you are right.
I have met more than one NP that wish they had gone on to med school. Many of them have met the hard realization that they are not as autonomous as they had thought they would be.
Live the way you want, don’t leave regrets on the table.
Thank you for your input. That is just the thing, I don’t want to have any regrets 10 years from now that I didn’t go on and do what I really wanted to, and really knew I was called to. I just have to be sure, because I know it won’t be easy…at all!
I’m a midwife, RN, FNP, and IBCLC. I have been wanting to go to Medical School for years…and now, after having trying to deny that I really want to do medicine for YEARS I am back on the path to Med school…with two children and a husband in tow. If your desire is strong–listen! Everyone convinced me it would go away, and it’s still here. Like the person who said he doesn’t hold the knife as a PA–same same as a NP. You’ll always be consulting and never be running the show. It’s ok to want those things, and you have to know yourself well enough to know what you REALLY want in your practice. Good luck!
This post is speaking to me as well…my family is trying to get me to go NP/PA route instead of MD route and there are parts of it that are tempting. But in the back of my mind…I am so worried that I would finish the program and be sad I didn’t go to med school. I took a look at the NP curriculum and am worried it doesn’t go as deep as I want to go, that I would eventually learn everything and still want to know more. Can any other NP’s weigh in here?
Hi all,
I have been an Adult NP for 3 years now and the drive to be a physician has been with me for most of my life. For me, however, the timing wasn’t right when my kids were younger, but now that they’ll be going off to college in a few years, I’ve begun taking prerequisites for med school. Don’t get me wrong, I have had plenty of “FUD” (fear, uncertainty, doubt), but I figure that I will at least try to get admitted to med school. If I don’t succeed, then I have lost nothing, since I still have a great career and will have gained additional science knowledge in the process.
I agree with many of the other NPs and PAs on this website as to the major motivating factor in the desire to change from NP to MD/DO is wanting more autonomy. Furthermore, I recognize that there is alot of information that I wasn’t taught in NP school. However, I think I would be able to provide top-notch care to my patients if I had the combined knowledge base of a physician and an NP. I love science, I’m curious and always striving to learn more, and I believe I have the drive to pursue this difficult path.
Good luck! From what I’ve read of everyone’s posts, it’s definitely a tough road, but hopefully it will be worth it in the long run!
Hey! I graduated last year from a fast-track entry-to-practice program and finished with 18 credits toward NP and did my clinical preceptorship in the ED which is my main interest.
I did not like nursing school at all. I found it demeaning and impertinent, and that is mainly because I really wanted to be a doctor!
So I am an RN now, but I am hopefully heading to med school soon. There is no doubt in my mind that I would be annoyed as an NP to have to “answer” to some doctor who I would probably be smarter than and even know more. I feel that way now!
I say go for it. If it is what you really want, the path is an exciting challenge, not “difficult.”
Best of luck!
BTW, is your ED hiring new nurses? Ha ha ha.
I don’t know if our ED is hiring…but I can tell you that our Trauma Unit will be, especially when I, and a handful other nurses graduate from our Master’s programs. So, come on over and join the fun!
I’m a CNM, and will be starting medical school this fall. I thought about going back to school to get the FNP, because I want to be able to address a broader range of problems. But I’m also frustrated with dealing with the most common problems, only. I’m looking for a depth of knowledge that I don’t think I can acquire other than thru medical school.
Mainly, I feel I could do a lot more if I had broader knowledge and experience. Of course I realize I can’t know everything, so I’ll likely never be satisfied 
But this is a good start!
Kate