Is there any problem being a pre-med nursing student...?

1 I have completed all the pre-requisites (bio/chem/english/calculus/physics) for medical school during my first and second year of undergrad. Until then, I am preparing myself to take the MCAT on a unspecified date next year. I already have my letters of recommendations and volunteering completed. The only thing missing is my Bachelor's degree, extracurricular activities, and perhaps a few research projects. But, I am beginning nursing school this Fall. I already understand how hectic and time consuming that majoring in Nursing will provide; however, would this be detrimental??

To my understanding, many have discouraged students to major in Nursing during their undergrad due to how time consuming the major is and usually suggest them to major in the hard sciences (bio, chem, biochem). This would probably mean that the pre-requisites along with their labs would be very difficult to maintain. But, if I finished them already, would this cause any problems? It seems as if many people look down on nursing students who want to go pre-med because their taking a seat from someone else who really wants it. But, if you meet the competitive cut off of admissions, don't you deserve to be there? I know some medical students who done Nursing, yet changed their goal of being a Nurse to Physician while graduating from the BSN program.
Honestly the biggest issue I see is burnout. Towards the end of nursing school I couldn't have imagined taking more classes after graduation. Most programs are two years long, would you even be able to finish as quickly as you could with other majors?I feel as though there would be a benefit to it as well. More clinical experience, an increased understanding of the nursing role, it will further solidify your knowledge of pathophysiology, pharmacology, etc.If you enjoy nursing you would, at the very least, have that degree to fall back on.Good luck, hope that helps..

Medical school has to be crazy hard right? Well I am speaking from experience as far as nursing school goes and I will be real clear with you, you will be busy from sun up to sun down, every single day of the week when you are working on your RN. I cannot imagine anyone being able to handle both schools at one time. The skills needed are worlds apart, you will be mixing up your scopes of practice if you are in both at once. If you think you can handle it, give it a whirl but I would only do one thing at a time IMHO.

I once met an older nursing instructor who said that a good number of the pre-med students she had seen come through her program, dropped in favor of another major once the realize how hard, time consuming, and all consumming it was; plus they tended to look down on basic nursing/hygeine care. As a nursing student you will have to change briefs, clean up feces, urine, vomit, etc. I would think that it would be extremely hard to stick with something that ultimately isn't what you want to do. Nursing and medicine are very much different fields, more so that most people believe. Most doctors prevent, treat, and rehab diseases; nurses treat people. I am not by any means speaking negatively of the medical profession; it's hard work and very much needed in this world. I think physicians would do better to go into nursing before hand. I believe that it will at the least humble you and hopefully give you an appreciation for for nurses and the work that they do.

Quote from starfishlpnI once met an older nursing instructor who said that a good number of the pre-med students she had seen come through her program, dropped in favor of another major once the realize how hard, time consuming, and all consumming it was; plus they tended to look down on basic nursing/hygeine care. As a nursing student you will have to change briefs, clean up feces, urine, vomit, etc. I would think that it would be extremely hard to stick with something that ultimately isn't what you want to do. Nursing and medicine are very much different fields, more so that most people believe. Most doctors prevent, treat, and rehab diseases; nurses treat people. I am not by any means speaking negatively of the medical profession; it's hard work and very much needed in this world. I think physicians would do better to go into nursing before hand. I believe that it will at the least humble you and hopefully give you an appreciation for for nurses and the work that they do.

I think it would be great if you can manage a nursing major, but I do wonder how you will manage studying for the MCAT with how busy you'll be in the nursing major - especially since you will be the busiest toward the end of the nursing program. I'm not finding nursing school to be intellectually challenging in the analytical sense (like calculus or physics). The challenge is with the huge volume of information in a very short 2 years. I previously did engineering school and was accustomed to lots of analytical thinking, but nursing school is all about volume (1000-2000 page text books for each 1-semester course).

Quote from TJ_vladinI have completed all the pre-requisites (bio/chem/english/calculus/physics) for medical school during my first and second year of undergrad. Until then, I am preparing myself to take the MCAT on a unspecified date next year. I already have my letters of recommendations and volunteering completed. The only thing missing is my Bachelor's degree, extracurricular activities, and perhaps a few research projects. But, I am beginning nursing school this Fall. I already understand how hectic and time consuming that majoring in Nursing will provide; however, would this be detrimental??To my understanding, many have discouraged students to major in Nursing during their undergrad due to how time consuming the major is and usually suggest them to major in the hard sciences (bio, chem, biochem). This would probably mean that the pre-requisites along with their labs would be very difficult to maintain. But, if I finished them already, would this cause any problems? It seems as if many people look down on nursing students who want to go pre-med because their taking a seat from someone else who really wants it. But, if you meet the competitive cut off of admissions, don't you deserve to be there? I know some medical students who done Nursing, yet changed their goal of being a Nurse to Physician while graduating from the BSN program.

A few thoughts about stereotyping physicians & medical training. I'll be graduating as an RN this year. I have been troubled when I encounter nurses & instructors to generalize and say that the medical profession "doesn't care about (or 'for') people," or that doctors are arrogant, etc. My experience with doctors in our city's hospitals has been amazing. At almost every clinical site, I have seen doctors have great relationships with the nursing staff. Many times these doctors have taken time to show me & my classmates some really cool stuff that we wouldn't normally get to see or to explain things from a medical perspective. This happened with an orthopedic surgeon setting wrist bones in the ER, a psychiatrist showing us ECT treatment, a surgeon explaining breast tumor excision as he performed it (and explaining the cancer staging rationale and treatment protocols), an anesthesiologist explaining how each drug works and how to treat adverse effects, and medical residents showing us a circumcision. I have found these physicians to be very caring toward their patients and to be friendly toward us. I realize there are jerks in every profession and I'm sure I will run into physicians who fit the stereotype, but I'm not willing to generalize and pre-judge.On the other hand, I am troubled with how much the nursing profession has strayed from pursuing medical knowledge in some areas. In the name of affirming nursing as a profession that is distinct from medicine, we have spent a disproportionate amount of time filling our classes with pop-psychology and "politically correct" sociology. It's not that all of this content is bad (well, SOME of it is!), but it is so pervasive that it steals A LOT of time that could otherwise be invested in becoming more competent in medical and scientific knowledge (pathophysiology, clinical reasoning skills, etc.) I'm not saying that we need to have the same knowledge base as a PA when we graduate, but I definitely thought we would lean a LITTLE more in that direction than I found to be the case. One example: we're taught about "complementary" and "alternative" treatments in a way that subtly discourages critical thinking and scientific scrutiny. We even have a nursing diagnosis, "disturbed energy field!" It looks like I'll need to pursue accreditations & grad school in a specialty field to gain the additional medical knowledge that I thought would be in an entry-level nursing curriculum.

Again I was not downing the medical profession, I have enormous respect for them; it is just a fact. As a student whether medical or nursing you are taught how things ought to be, in the perfect world and in the perfect facility, and a little less of how things actually go. It is not that doctors don't care about the social and spiritual needs of a patient or even that they do not address them. But I and probably any other nurse on here, who has actually worked in the field can tell you that the nurses spend exponentially more time with a patient than the doctor does (doctors have more patients that is just how our health system works). This means that these less pressing and non-medical issues are more apparent to us just due to greater amount of patient and family interaction. Not all doctors are arrogant, a few are as is true for the general population. I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with many really great physicians thus far in my education and career. I respect that our jobs are interdependent and that we rely on one another, not all healthcare workers see that. Having the opportunity to walk in someone elses shoes can certainly help you have a greater understanding of what they go through and a greater respect for their position. I have gone to physician's private offices for clinical and followed them around for a day. It certainly gave me a different out look on what they do and how busy they are. On the other hand I have seen doctors visit a patient in a long term care facility and spend less than one minute with a patient and bill medicare for a visit. I absolutely agree with the idea that we as nurses and nursing students should be searching and aquiring greater knowledge in the biological sciences, social science, and other subjects related to nursing. The sad fact is that not everyone sees it that way. In fact I remember several members of my associate's level class whining they couldn't find a BSN program that didn't require Chem and statistics. Many people are lazy, but my own out look is if you are going to be something you owe it to yourself to be the best at it that you can be.

Quote from AJPVOn the other hand, I am troubled with how much the nursing profession has strayed from pursuing medical knowledge in some areas. In the name of affirming nursing as a profession that is distinct from medicine, we have spent a disproportionate amount of time filling our classes with pop-psychology and "politically correct" sociology. It's not that all of this content is bad (well, SOME of it is!), but it is so pervasive that it steals A LOT of time that could otherwise be invested in becoming more competent in medical and scientific knowledge (pathophysiology, clinical reasoning skills, etc.) I'm not saying that we need to have the same knowledge base as a PA when we graduate, but I definitely thought we would lean a LITTLE more in that direction than I found to be the case. One example: we're taught about "complementary" and "alternative" treatments in a way that subtly discourages critical thinking and scientific scrutiny. We even have a nursing diagnosis, "disturbed energy field!" It looks like I'll need to pursue accreditations & grad school in a specialty field to gain the additional medical knowledge that I thought would be in an entry-level nursing curriculum.

The question is do you want to be a nurse or a doc? 2 very different disciplines

Quote from BabyLadyIf you are that determined to go to medical school, then why are you wasting your time with a nursing major? I am all about education and getting a higher degree, but no way would I do all that work for essentially, nothing at the end.It's not like you are going to be able to work as a nurse while attending school...there is a reason, more than just tuition, why physicians rack up those huge loans.

I've always thought that to get into med school you need a BS in a pure science degree (biology, zoology, etc.) I'm not so sure a BSN would satisfy med school requirements? I thought they required that so you would have upper level biology, physiology, chemistry, etc. - not just the intro courses. Maybe certain schools don't require that? If you did a BSN, you wouldn't have time to fit in the upper level science courses unless you want to add another year or two to your undergrad education after you finish your BSN.