Currently having a midlife crisis (not really but yes really).
I’m currently a Sophomore in university majoring in Biochemistry. However, I’m thinking about doing a BSN instead but my university does not have this program so I would have to transfer. The reason I suddenly want to change is because of financial stability. I know I’m not guaranteed a job straight out of university but I do want to work in the medical field and gradually become a physician so I thought that working as a nurse first would give me that experience. Plus I come from a family that is not very rich so I would need to earn enough money to attend med school.
The issue is the schools I’m interested in may not accept my credits and have some classes that my school does not offer. So I’m kinda lost of what I should do? I don’t know if I should just continue and finish my degree at the university I’m currently attending, do that while taking the required classes needed for the schools that I’m interested in transferring to or continue my Sophomore spring semester at a community college and then try to transfer for fall?
I don’t know. Just very lost to be honest. I just need some sort of guidance or advice.
Just some thoughts: BSN curriculum does not satisfy premed requirement. If you go the nurse way you have to, at some point, also take the premed classes, some of which have labs and med school usually does not accept on line classes. You have to look at how many of the premed class you miss and plan on how you will take them while working. Also BSN has a lot of their own requirements and transferring now might set you a bit back and not finishing in four years unless you are able to take summer courses etc which will depend on the college you do your BSN. Once you become a nurse and work for few years if you like the scope of nursing practice you might want to go to grad school as a nurse. But usually people don’t “gradually” become physicians. Nurses can gradually go to grad school, get other certifications or move in to niche nursing carriers. Scope of practice for nurses is different than scope of practice for physicians. Although there are nurses that became physicians (it can happen) it is not a gradual progression or something that happens often.
You are a college sophomore trying to figure out a career path. That’s perfectly normal!
Do you like biochemistry? I disagree with you about finding a job- you can find one. You may or may not like the job, but if you don’t you can certainly use it as a stepping stone to something else. This is very common- many do not follow a straight arrow.
There are many different careers in healthcare. Do you know if you would like being an MD/DO or a nurse? Have you shadowed these professions, had any informational interviews, gotten a real sense as to what these careers look like on a day-to-day basis? I would start there if you have not done this already. These are not careers to jump into without having a strong understanding about what is involved.
Most medical students take out loans- lots of loans. Many also take a year or 2 after college to work, save a little money (not nearly enough to pay for medical school), gain experiences, take the mcats etc. This is very common.
I would not transfer into nursing unless you really, really want to be a nurse- maybe you do! I would not do it as a path to medical school. If you like your school I would stay put until you know whether you actually like these careers.
There is no rush. At the end of the day, once you are done exploring different careers, shadowing, taking advantage of opportunities, engaging with professors etc….you can embark on a career path. That might mean nursing, medical school…or something else.
CRNA schools take limited students and is not a “quick” or “easy” way to make a bunch of money. I teach nursing and the number of my students who want to be CRNA and the actual students who are accepted years down the road are low. Potential CRNA need to look at need and autonomy in their living area of interest as well as malpractice insurance.
Nurse educator here. Note that many nursing programs do not allow transfers in as they already have enough of their own applicants from their own school. Good that you have already looked into it.
I do know nurses who have gone to medical school (and even PA school). Nursing curriculums do not meet the prereqs for either, however, the people I know personally finished their BSN and then took the med school/PA school prereqs after graduation while working. It is a longer road and as you know, med school and PA schools are super competitive.
There are second degree nursing programs (that get a ton of PA/med school “failures”) but most cost 50-70k or more. As those are post grad programs, there is very limited scholarships and no merit given so students need to take out loans. The second degree nursing programs are intense and students are only able to work limited hours (most work only 1-2 days a week) so the job wouldn’t pay all your bills most likely.
Another option for job stability and options is nuclear medicine. My cousin recently completed her program and she is making $6 more per hr than the new grad nurses in our area. Also, many recommend working as a nursing assistant first. Do note that you can absolutely hate being a nursing assistant yet love being a nurse (or doctor, or NP, or PA, etc).
It is unclear to me whether or not you have explored a nursing career through shadowing, speaking with nurses, looking at the work and expectations to see if they are of interest to you, etc.
In my post, I didn’t say it was a quick and easy way to make money. A lot of pre-med students aren’t even aware of what a CRNA is. I only mentioned it to the OP as a suggestion to consider in addition to med school. There are a lot of rewarding healthcare careers in addition to being a doctor. And within nursing, there are a lot of great options.
In my neck of the woods, CRNA’s are in high demand and are receiving extremely generous sign-on bonuses. Malpractice insurance is typically paid for by the anesthesia group they choose to work for. Many SRNA’s are being courted to sign on with the groups they intern with around here upon graduation. At my hospital they follow the anesthesia care team model.
I totally understand. However social media out there is glorifying CRNA as the next “it” job. Our young adults see this and don’t understand the work needed to get there. There is one young man on social media in particular who is documenting how he will be done with CRNA school making huge money by age 24 I believe. This is NOT the typical path (there’s other factors there).
Example: I work for a university that has a CRNA program. Only 14 students are accepted each year. The cost of the program is $125k and students are not allowed to work AT all during the program. While admission minimums state 1-2 yrs critical care experience and 3.0 gpa, the applicants most commonly accepted have much higher numbers.
So since the conversation is out there, I want to be clear that CRNA requires 4 year BSN, then 2 years minimum critical care work experience, then 3 years of CRNA school which requires the student to have access to extensive loans (both the program AND living expenses). The ROI is high of course but make sure CRNA’s are needed in your area (or that one is willing to travel) and review state practice guidelines (not all states allow independent practice).
There are also accelerated second-degree BSN programs that you can research to see if they would be a good fit for you. I know TCNJ in NJ has a new program now that takes only 14 months to obtain your BSN if you have graduated college with a different degree. There are specific pre-reqs for the program but I’m sure you probably have already fulfilled some of them as a biochem major (general chem, microbiology, A&P, stats, etc).
It is definitely something worth considering if you’d like to finish out your biochemistry degree but still do nursing (if direct transfer now is not an option). It looks like the cost is $34K at TCNJ. I know you’re not looking to take on more tuition but just wanted to throw this option out there.
There are also “ Anesthesiologist Assistant” grad school programs which seem more common in the south and Midwest. Your biochem degree would set you up well with the pre-reqs for such a program. They are similar to CRNA’s but autonomy differs. Something to consider checking into - depending upon what part of the US you are from or choose to live in.
Are you a US citizen? Some of the wording in your post makes me think you may be an international student which would add another level of complexity to any advice.
I do want to work in the medical field and gradually become a physician so I thought that working as a nurse first would give me that experience.
That’s not how things work in the US, no such thing as gradually becoming a MD
I generally agree with the other comments. However, there are two other things that come to mind reading this thread.
One is that becoming an MD is a major commitment. It takes a lot of time and a lot of determination and effort. This is a path for people who are very strongly drawn to it. Also, “earn enough money to attend med school” sounds to me like a very difficult path. Medical school is expensive.
There are as others have said a LOT of different types of jobs in the medical field. If you walk into a hospital or major medical center, you will see lots of people working there. Some are doctors. Some are nurses. However a lot of them have some other medical training. Also there are a lot of other people involved in medical research working somewhere else.
One daughter got her bachelor’s degree in biology. Generally looking for a job with just a bachelor’s degree in biology is considered to be tough. She had pretty much the exact opposite experience, and for a good reason. Specifically, while she was an undergraduate student she discovered that she loved lab work and is very good at it. From sophomore year on she spent about as much time in a lab as she could. Her classes overlapped a lot with premed classes so many of her friends were premed. While they were in a medical facility getting premed experience, my daughter was in a lab (for example at one point growing human cancer cells, and then figuring out how to inhibit their growth and/or kill them). Then when she graduated from university she rather quickly got three job offers. The job that she took sounded to me to be almost the same thing that she had already been doing as an undergraduate student.
I would expect that a similar experience would be possible for a biochemistry major (for example in her first job my daughter was working with a biochemist). One option to at least consider would be to look for research and lab opportunities in biochemistry. Most if not all universities will have some opportunities for undergraduate students. With enough experience gained while you are an undergraduate student, this might help your chances of getting a good job after graduation.
At least this might be something that is worth discussing with your academic advisor as one option.
I don’t think many NP’s go on to get their MD. Reason being they would still need to go back to school (again) to get the appropriate pre-reqs and sit for the MCATs. The only thing they would have that would be beneficial is the time spent practicing as a provider. However, it’s a completely different education model. I’m also saying this as a practicing NP. Plus, I enjoy my M-F job with no weekend, holiday, or call commitment.
Yes totally agree. I am an RN, and I have never seen any NPs that have gone on to become MDs. That would be part of this notion of ‘gradually’ becoming a physician. It just doesn’t work like that. I think some people think this happens but it really would be a rarity.
Of the 2 people I know directly who went RN to MD, both had spouses who were also doctors. Each went to nursing school and began working to pay bills while their partners finished medical school and then they did their prereqs/MCATs and applied while their partners were practicing physicians.
