<p>one step at a time, grasshopper! As rushrules1 points out, medicine (in any level of direct patient care) is challenging and consumes much of your time. My suspicion is that if you “suddenly realized” nursing may be right for you that you have not made an informed decision. Rather it popped into your head as a solution to a few issues (the time it takes to get thru medical school and into practice, a way to keep options “open”, etc).</p>
<p>This may not be what you want to hear, but since you asked for advice I’m going to give it. Put aside any planning until you’ve done some more investigation. It is my guess like you have no direct exposure to what nurses or NP’s do; you have never volunteered in a setting working with them, have not talked to any about their careers, etc. This isn’t a slam, it just means you’re making decisions without first becoming sufficiently informed. What I suggest is that when you start ucsd you haunt the career center. Many colleges can place you in contact with current alums working in fields you are considering, so do that and talk to NP’s and nurses. Furthermore ucsd has an associated hospital so you should easily be able to find volunteer slots. Take advantage of that and spend a few months seeing what the jobs are really like before you make big plans. When you decide what’s right you won’t be worrying about keeping options open, you’ll have a solid goal in mind and you’ll do what it takes to get there.</p>