Can you have a career in medicine without going to med school?

Pre-Med & Medical School Careers in Medicine
1

<p>I'm not really excited about school and I can't picture myself going to more classes once I get my B.S. However, lately I've been really interested in medicine and I think I'd really like a career somewhere along the line.</p>

<p>Does anyone know an alternative to med school?</p>

2

<p>If I understood you correctly you want no course work beyond undergrad correct? Otherwise you can do a Physicians Assistant or Nurse Practitioner Program or you could look at Registered Dietitian as they frequently work in the medical area. RD requires the internship but not much coursework beyond your undergrad.
<a href="http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/CADE_748_ENU_HTML.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/CADE_748_ENU_HTML.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>That's it. Thanks. :)</p>

4

<p>Nurse practioner is more schooling after a BS - I want to say like at least 2 more years. </p>

<p>Getting a straight BS in Nursing (BSN) is only 4 years if you get into nursing school after two years of pre-nursing courses. Or if you don't want to do 4 years, you can just go directly to a LPN/RN program (I forget which is which) and those should only be two years. Or you can spend like 6 months and become a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA)...</p>

<p>The point is you don't even have to get a Bachelors to be involved in medicine.</p>

5

<p>Phlebotomy</p>

6

<p>There are several options for accelerated Masters of Nursing programs. Vanderbilt has a 5 year MSN program. UPenn has a sub-matriculation program where you can take classes senior year that will double count if you continue for Masters. Options for Nurse Practitioners are fantastic - you can even have your own practice.<br>
Check out:
<a href="http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/nursing/msn/prespec.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/nursing/msn/prespec.html&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/academic_programs/grad/masters/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/academic_programs/grad/masters/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>Considering you would rather not undergo anymore schooling after obtaining your B.S. I would think that would pretty much eliminate NP or PA as an option. I agree with hazmat, go into phlebotomy- part of the medical community, decent pay, very little course work if any (may just be a training program and certification), and as an added bonus they will let you stick people with needles daily!</p>