Hello! So, my boyfriend has decided that he wants to go into nurse practitioner and then continue on to be a doctor. The problem is he’s a junior majoring in Political Science. And, at our college, it will be 43 credits to do the requirements for pre-med major.
Would it make more sense to enter into a program that’s geared towards being a doctor? Or would going to be a nurse practitioner be a better approach?
Would an MEPN be a good idea?
If he wants to be a doctor there is literally no reason to become a nurse practitioner first
What does you BF want to do long-term as a career? Does he want to be nurse practitioner or physician?
Being a nurse practitioner is not a stepping stone to medical career. It’s career pathway of its own.
Even if he gains entry to a MENP, earning a DNP will take him at least 6-7 years. (MENP will take 3 years, DNP takes 3-5 years plus many programs require 1+ years of actual nursing experience for DNP admission.)
Seriously, why go thru all that time and energy (and debt) to become a NP just to start over as a pre-med student?
Your BF will still need to take the pre-med requirements ( 45+ credits) even if he earns a nursing degree. Why? Because nursing classes are not the same a pre-med requirements. In fact, at most schools, the bio, chem, physics, ochem, biochem, math, anatomy, etc that nursing students take are not the same versions of the classes that pre-med are required to have. (And won’t be accepted by med schools as fulfilling admission requirements.)
His plan is absolutely crazy.
Your BF should shadow both nurse practitioners and physicians, then pick one and commit to that career path.
What they said. Why invest 7 years of education to become a nurse practitioner and then spend another 7 or so to become a doctor? How would he pay for all of this? And why? What specialty would he take as a doctor that would require the MD/DO instead of the DNP?
Most schools that I researched with my daughter only accepted people into the nursing program as freshmen. He might need another 4 years of schooling to get the BSN needed to then practice for a year or two and then enter the MENP program, and he would then need more schooling to get the DNP, which is now required to be a practicing NP.
It might be easier in the long run to take the extra 45 credits and apply to med schools.
Another option would be to graduate with the polysci degree, find a job, and then get EMT certification and volunteer or work weekends with the local ambulance crew. After amassing 500 hours of service, and taking the required science courses at a local college (because they need to be taken within a couple of years of applying) he could apply to PA school.
Sorry for not responding a few days ago! He’s looking in being a Doctor. He’s going to be talking with an advisor about the Pre-Med. Thanks for the advice. We were a bit confused on if he could transfer from NP to DR.
No. It’s essentially impossible to transfer between allopathic medical schools. Let alone from one career training to another.