Nursing and Pre-med?

worth2try
Sun, 06 May 2007 16:53:54 +0000

When applying to college, I knew I wanted to follow the pre-medical track, but didn’t know which major to choose. Everyone was telling me that it doesn’t matter what major I chose, and that I would have to complete a number of course requirements regardless of the major; people were suggesting majors like Japanese Studies and Medieval History and just told me to choose that at which I am good. Since I am really interested in healthcare (medicine, public health, you name it) I applied to majors like “health science” and “health and society” at a couple of universities and chose to apply as a nursing major to NYU - out of the blue, really. Fast-forward to today - I am going to NYU for nursing.

I still want to do pre-med in college, but I like the idea of graduating with a BSN and feel as if nursing is my safety net. I like how versatile the nursing career is and have been told by several people that I would make a great nurse if I choose to become one. If I encounter obstacles that many pre-meds encounter and decide for some reason that being a physician is not for me, I can still be a nurse, just like a biology major can be a biology teacher. I don’t have any kind of superiority complex and don’t feel that nurses are in any way “less” than doctors. However, I have been getting some negative responses from those on the nursing track/in the nursing field, who always tell me (without my asking!) how different the roles of physicians and nurses are. I already know that their roles are different, I just think that an education in nursing will not only make me appreciate of nursing, but also prepare me better for medical school and my career thereafter (in terms of patient care, etc). And if nursing in different from medicine, than how different is Japanese from medicine?

I will have to seek mentorship/support from my nursing department at NYU as a pre-med student, and feel as if I am going to encounter hostility of some sort from them due to my goals. Is there tension between those in the field of nursing and in the field of medicine? Am I wrong in some way for choosing nursing while aiming for med school?