<p>I will begin my undergrad career at Emory University this fall and have already decided to be pre-med. [Yes- I know it’s not a major but a set of courses :)]. Because medical school requires clinical experience, I thought it would be wise (and fun) to major in nursing to gain this exposure. Emory even has a nursing program for undergrads for junior and senior year through Emory’s School of Nursing. I noticed, however, on other forums that many posters discourage pre-med student from gaining a degree in nursing because it is frowned upon by medical schools admission commitees :(. I’m surprised at this because people get into med school every year with a non-science major that is not even related to healthcare. One of my main questions, first of all, is whether or not it is true that a degree in nursing is frowned upon by med school adcom. Secondly, why is that so?</p>
<p>Thank you all in advance for your responses!!! :)</p>
<p>Although I wouldn’t say it’s impossible (there are people that do it) I think this is their reasoning: if you are going into nursing, be a nurse. I also don’t think they want to take a potential nurse and put them into med school. There’s probably someone on here that knows more than me that can give you a better answer, but that’s basically what I’ve read on the other threads regarding this.</p>
<p>If you don’t plan on being a nurse, don’t major in nursing!! You aren’t displaying your commitment to medicine by doing this, but rather a commitment to becoming a nurse (so if you don’t actually have that commitment, don’t do it). Also, we need nurses (and people who want to be nurses), so your taking a nursing spot doesn’t help anyone.</p>
<p>Get your clinical exposure like everyone else. Getting a BSN isn’t the way to do it.</p>
<p>Icarus, I never said I didn’t have an interest in nursing as a career. You make it seem as if I will use nursing and cheat someone else out of an opportunity. That is not my intention at all! I just thought it would be wise to gain a BSN just in case my original plan doesn’t work out (medical school/career as physician). I at least want something to fall back on because I know gaining admission to med school is so competitive. I guess I didn’t make that clear in my original post. Sorry for the lack of clarification.</p>
<p>In many schools Nursing has its own science classes for example, Nursing Organic Chemistry is different than pre-med /chem major organic chemistry. That and other similar Nursing specific classes would be problematic for you if that is the case at Emory.</p>
<p>It is doable, but not easy. If you look at the curriculum for Emory’s BSN program, the Jr and SR years are only nursing classes without any room for electives. That means that for the first two years of college, you will have to take all the nursing prereqs, the university general requirements, plus fit in a full year of biology and full year of physics (both with a lab component). Somewhere find time to take calculus too. I am not sure if the gen chem sequence for nursing majors will fit med school requirements - you will have to check into that. </p>
<p>Then there is finding time for MCAT"s, unless you plan to take them after you graduate. </p>
<p>I only know of 1 nurse that went straight from nursing school to med school. Everyone else has worked for a few years while going back to college and getting their pre-reqs done. Then they apply to med school. </p>
<p>I tell this to everyone that asks the question you are asking - think hard about becoming a nursing major. It is not an easy major and it is very time consuming. Study what you feel passionate about. Don’t become a nursing major just to have something to fall back on. If your heart really isn’t into it, you won’t do as well as you want. </p>
<p>Another option to consider is to major in something else, get all your premed reqs out of the way. Apply to med school. If you don’t get in and are still interested in becoming a nurse, then apply to nursing school for their accelerated BSN program. These programs are designed for people with a bachelor’s degree that are now interested in nursing.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but the argument that one would be taking up a nurse’s spot is nonsense. There’s a great number of nursing programs out there. If an applicant doesn’t get into one program because someone more qualified took their spot, that applicant is free to reapply next year, or apply to other programs, which they most likely did.</p>
<p>There are so many nurses who quit because of the demanding nature of their job. Hospitals, despite there being a nursing shortage, don’t hire the optimal number of nurses to save money. Is a nurse becoming a doctor really such a big deal? </p>
<p>The negative side of majoring in nursing is that it’s a very big commitment in and of itself. It’s not an “easy” program by any means. It would also be very difficult to fit in the pre-med classes into your schedule. Most likely, you would have to take them after receiving your BS. I doubt med schools would accept you right out of college with no working experience (the whole point would be to gain experience that would make you an applicant with a well-informed, “different” perspective!)</p>
<p>Would the experience of nursing benefit you as a med student and a doctor? I can’t see how it would not. But you have to consider all sides and make the decision based on your personal circumstances. Speak with doctors; maybe you can find a few who began as nurses. Speak with nurses, to make sure that if you don’t end up going to med school, you’ll have a career that’s suitable for you.</p>
<p>Eadad, I checked the website. The classes are the same for each.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My heart is set in healthcare, period. Therefore, both careers would be fulfilling to me. I just always had this childhood dream or some type of calling to become a physician. That’s probably why I somewhat favor medicine over nursing. I would not be too disappointed, however, if I pursue a career as a nurse (particularly a nurse anesthetist or nurse practitioner.) </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Burningbright, what you mean by “no working experience?”</p>
<p>Thank you all for your advice :). It sounds like everyone is not supporting the idea of participating in the nursing program. I don’t mean to sound stubborn about my (possible) choice to pursue a BSN but I can perhaps take some required classes during the summer, correct?</p>
<p>At the cost of doing clinically relevant EC’s.</p>
<p>We’ve been beating around the bush. The bottom line is that nursing is a vocational major and is not an appropriate substitute for a liberal-arts, pre-medical curriculum. Its seeming closeness to medicine is not particularly relevant; it’s the thought process that’s different.</p>
<p>^ Pre-med classes can be taken in a post-bac program. BSN programs in respectable universities require plenty of Liberal Arts classes.</p>
<p>Highschoolgrad09, do a search on allnurses.com and The Student Doctor Network forums. There are threads where not only MDs and pre-meds share their perspective, but also nursing students and nurses who contemplate or already made the transition.</p>
<p>i will never understand why people ask for advice here and then try to convince the more experienced members why their advice is wrong. there is a difference between working as a nurse for a few years and then deciding you want to go to med school and getting your degree in nursing but throwing it away just to go to med school. adcom is not going to appreciate that a nurse is being sacrificed because you wanted to play around in phlebotomy lab or you were already so unsure of your chances of getting into med school that you needed such a sturdy plan b.</p>
<p>The OP may not know that Princess’Dad sits on the admissions committee for at least one med school (though I think it may actually be two) and his opinion on this subject in particular should not be taken lightly.</p>
<p>The flip side of that, of course, is that Princess’Dad is one member among a number. Not everyone on the committee(s) can be expected to agree with him all the time.</p>
<p>But the central issue remains the same, and it doesn’t change the fact that nursing as a pre-med major is not a good idea.</p>
<p>^ But part of my question still remains unanswered! Why is nursing as a pre-med major not a good idea? Besides it being time consuming and the fact that nursing is a vocational major, is there a bigger reason?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I certainly did not know that! Princess’ Dad could you, perhaps, give a reason why you would toss a nursing major 's application “into [the] round file without reading it.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I never said that anyone’s advice was wrong. I really do value you guys opinions or else I wouldn’t have started this thread in the first place. I just don’t understand why people tell premeds that they can major in anything they want/passionate about and then turn around and say, “Oh yeah, btw, don’t major in nursing.” Seems contradicting to me! I would like to know why nursing as a premed would potentially ruin my chances of admission to med school.</p>
<p>It boils down to this - for better or for worse, medical school admissions committees would like to admit people who have an intellectual background. In order to believe that you have some sort of intellectual background, adcoms want to see you complete the degree requirements for a bachelor’s in the liberal arts. Acceptable majors include English, Religious Studies, Physics, Computer Science, Math, Art History, Economics, etc.</p>
<p>There is the perception that vocational majors like Communications or Nursing are not intellectual, so these majors are looked upon unfavorably by adcoms. This is why we at CC tell aspiring pre-meds to stay away from vocational majors and major in some area of the liberal arts.</p>
<p>It’s because you’re getting a degree in a SPECIFIC trade. You’re more so learning how to DO things, rather than educating yourself about a topic. Sure, nurses take biology, chemistry, etc, but most of their training is clinical/labs. Also, let’s for example look at the medical education in Europe or Asia which is pretty much a combined undergrad/med school model. You’re sort of “majoring” in medicine there, and once you’re done, you’re a doctor. Wouldn’t it be silly if after getting that degree, you decide to go into a different occupation?</p>
<p>In addition to what BDM and SC have said, there is the issue of med schools not wanting to see a nursing student go pre-med after wasting a spot. Despite the claim by a previous poster that nursing schools are plentiful and such, I’ve yet to see a nursing program w/o a long waitlist. Where I am, even the local community college’s nursing program has a 1-2 year minimum waitlist. My undergrad had a 2-4 year waitlist (one year people were actually having to apply their freshmen year of HS to insure their applications would be considered before they graduated HS). Being as the nursing shortage is remains pretty bad in certain areas of the country and nursing school waitlists are so long, it makes sense med school adcoms would dislike the idea of removing a nursing student from nursing by admitting him or her into medical school. That argument has been the one I’ve heard most, although the vocational issue makes sense to me as well.</p>