<li>Does the med school one attends really matter when it comes to the future and finding a job as a practicing physician? Are employers and people in the medical field as concerned with “name brand” medical schools like they are with undergrad institutions? </li>
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<p>To me it seems like the name of the med school one attends shouldn’t matter as much. Since, in America (in my opinion) there is no such thing as a substandard med school. Any thoughts?</p>
<li>I’m considering going to nursing school, because the admissions stats to med school scare me and I want a security in my future job situation. But becoming a doctor is definitely my life’s aspiration. Will getting a BSN and applying to med school shortly there after be detrimental in med school admissions? Will doing this show that I’m unsure in my future plans or insecure? Or will it help? Or could it neither help nor hurt me? </li>
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<p>Also, is it possible to be in nursing school at a college AND major in something completely different like… Poli Sci? So i’d be getting a BA in poli sci AND a BSN… has anyone ever done this?</p>
<p>The med school you attend won't really matter. All medical schools (in Canada and the US) teach more or less the same curriculum (there might some minor variations between schools but nothing significant). The main reasons that I've read on these boards and from sources for going to a "top" school is that it might make it easier to get into the top/competitive residency programs. </p>
<p>But I mean, when you are a practicing physician, your patients aren't going to care if you didn't go to Johns Hopkins or Harvard. They just want a good doctor, which any medical school can produce.</p>
<p>They will look at a BSN as a strong committment to the medical field, so it will be a plus. </p>
<p>The key goal you will need to achieve is to complete all of your med school requirements while still at your U/G school. Get professor recommendations and everything that you would compile as if you were going to immediately apply to med school. If you don't you will find yourself needing to to do expensive ($$ and time) post-bac education. There are a lot of people that get pre-med advising in their U/G years and do not immediately apply.</p>
<p>The problem will be how long between U/G graduation and your med school application. Keep it to a year and all of your recs will still be good. Go longer and they lose their effect. Still plan on only taking the MCATs once in April before you do your med school apps.</p>
<p>Re: BSN and something else. Your BSN is a full time major. It is not a selection of courses that are satisfying the med school minimums. Ability to do a second major or a Poly-Sci minor is up to your own abilities and time management. Just remember that you will still need a 3.6+ GPA in whatever major you choose to make the med school adcom cuts in round one. The fact that it is Nursing doesn't get you more slack in the GPA required; it probably means you would get more heavily penalized for lower grades.</p>
<p>I majored in nursing at Pitt many, many, (many..) years ago. We were not allowed to double major. Period. The courses we took, with the exception of one elective per semester, were all courses within the nursing school, and did not overlap with other "schools". Even though I had to take Educational Psychology, for example, it did not overlap with either Psychology or Education school requirements. So there was not enough time in the day to get enough classes for a double major. Plus, the coursework often involves crazy scheduling -- working shifts, for example. That makes it almost impossible to schedule anything else.</p>
<p>I know of at least one classmate who went on to become a doctor. Others went on to become nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, and PhD nurses (who also get called "doctor"). Recognize that nurses are not "junior doctors" -- it is a completely different major. (I think of the Physician's Assistant programs as more like "junior doctors.")</p>