PLEASE HELP ME
So i’m a junior in high school and dream of being in the medical field.I have been so passionate about science and the idea of working in a hospital or private practice for as long as I can remember. Trying to figure out though what specifically is a different story… For a while I was set on being a doctor such as an anesthesiologist, plastic surgeon or even a dermatologist. Then I thought about whether all the years of schooling and money was worth it and found out about nurse practitioners but then I would major in nursing instead of lets say pre-med and it would be harder if I wanted to go to med school. I also want to be involved in treating and diagnosing patients and my biggest fear is not being able to do that…I’ve heard people say they loved being an NP and others say they hate it but i’m not sure still. If anyone has any insight on the two careers and experience they would like to share with me about their experience it would be amazing!
@rmedicald
It all depends on what your goals are. This is a very personal decision. What’s right for one person might not be right for you.
Medicine is the longer and more difficult pathway. It may also be the more expensive pathway, but physicians are very well compensated and are usually able today off their student debt fairly quickly–that is within 5-10 years of finishing residency. (Assuming they don’t make stupid financial decisions along the way like taking out huge loans for undergrad.)
Going to college as a pre-med has definite risks. More than 55% of those who apply to med school don’t get a single acceptance. However, once you’re accepted, then there’s 97% chance you’ll graduate, match into a residency and become a physician specialist.
Both my daughters (who are physicians) speak highly of the NPs they work with. NPs have a place on the treatment team, but if you are a person who needs to be in charge, then you’ll probably be frustrated as a NP since they aren’t the boss. If you are interested in managing complicated illnesses, managing high risk pregnancies, working with premature infants, or being involved in surgical fields, this is beyond the scope of a NP’s training. Only physicians can do those things. NPs mostly do routine primary care in out-patient setting.
NPs often have shorter work weeks and better work hours than physicians. However, a physician’s hours, workload and ability to find a work-life balance varies widely by medical specialty. Some specialties are much more family-friendly than others.
I would suggest that you try to do some volunteer work in a hospital or other medical practice site so you can see that day-to-day difference between nursing and medicine. Each operates from a different philosophical approach to the patient.
One other option is to defer choosing one or the other right now. Unless you plan on applying to direct entry nursing programs, you won’t be able to apply to the nursing program until near the end of your college sophomore year. During your first 2 years of college, the coursework for pre-med and pre-nursing is pretty much the same (biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, math, psychology, English…) This will give you more time to explore both options and become a bit more certain about your priorities and life goals.
BTW, it’s a myth that nurses can’t go to med school. They certainly can and do every year. The only thing is that medical school adcomms will expect you to have worked for at least a couple of years as a nurse before you apply to med school so you have the personal experiences to back up your reason for leaving nursing to pursue medicine.
Completely agree with everything @WayOutWestMom wrote.
Would add is that the 55% “who don’t get a single acceptance” greatly overestimates the odds of success as it doesn’t include all the kids who get weeded out before getting to the point of med school applications.
Lot’s of pre-meds find a new calling concurrent with Orgo midterms.
Being a very strong, driven STEM student helps - lots.
Thank you so much! This honestly helped a lot and am probably leaning more towards a field in medicine at this point but I 100% need to do some more research. I am actually volunteering in an ED at a hospital currently but due to time constraints I am only able to be there one a month for maybe 2 or 3 hours which I hate. I definitely am not a control freak but I do enjoy being able to freely practice things and not be told everything to do but I know it comes with the job and residency no matter what medical field. My only fear about entering a school without a direct entry nursing program, if I decide nursing is right for me, is how competitive it can become. Nursing majors are already quite competitive and having the extra stress to keep my grades up even higher in college for a spot in lets say junior year is a lot which sounds stupid saying considering I still need a good undergrad gpa for masters and med school. I’m not sure if you would know but if I wanted to pursue medicine would a pre-med major be best because that way I would have some experience and could find a job I feel like easier then lets say a bio major but again i’m not sure. It’s such a big decision but your response really helped me a lot so thank you!
Thank you and that’s really good to know! Also its kind of useless for medicine but I have been apart of my high schools robotics team for the past three years which is more engineering but still STEM in a way 
There is no such thing as “pre-med” major in college (except at Penn State). Pre-meds can major in any field so long as they complete their pre-med requirements. I always recommend pre-meds study a field that they enjoy (because it’s easier to get good grades in something you find interesting and like) and one that offers good post-graduation employment options should you not get accepted to med school.
Many pre-meds major in bio simply because bio has the largest overlap with med school admission requirements and it just makes scheduling easier. But it’s not necessary.
Neither of my daughters majored in bio. Their med school classmates had a wide variety of undergrad majors, including theology, business, music composition, gender studies, English Lit, Italian, engineering and forestry.
Bio majors can find jobs after college (beside teaching biology), but you are going to have work harder at finding one than say an engineer or business major will. You can improve your employability with a bio degree by learning some computer coding/programming skills. You could either a take a formal class or self-teach. You can also improve your employability by doing summer internships with biotech, pharm or chemical companies.
Plus you can use a bio degree to enter a variety of medicine-related careers (most will require additional training–usually a MS). You probably have never heard of or thought about most of them…Radiation therapist? Anesthesiology Assistant? Cardiac Perfusionist? Genetic Counselor? Medical Dosimetrist? Respiratory Therapist? Medical Librarian?
Here’s a searchable database of health-related careers–
https://explorehealthcareers.org
Good luck with whatever path you decide to follow!
Thank you again so much for everything as well as the link! I am definitely going to have to look through it now. You have been super helpful and I feel a bit of relief with this new knowledge! Your daughters are so lucky to have a mother such as yourself who is so knowledgeable and understanding. Thank you again so much and I will 100% use this new knowledge to try and figure out my future a bit more.
Np is a hot field right now. Many are replacing doctors like this… https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/edward-elmhurst-to-replace-physicians-with-midlevel-providers-at-immediate-care-sites.html
There will be more fields affected in the years coming. It’s an interesting option.
You’re very welcome.
And I’m the lucky one to have two remarkable young women as daughters. I am constantly impressed and humbled by their strength and resilience.
P.S. I am by profession a [biomedical research] librarian–I answer questions for living. I’m always happy to answer more.
I am a physician and I agree with WayOutWest Mom. Spot on, as far as description of the difference in real practice, as well as the fact it is too early to make yourself decide. Many people change in college or after. I briefly turned away from med toward science research the second half of college then came back to medical pursuits. My roommate freshman year was an engineer and hated everything about “premeds” (even though no major as such, she just hated the general grade conscious type or what she perceived as such). Well, hmm, her sophomore year she transferred out of engineering and junior year was “premed”. So it is too early to even know for sure if you want a health profession, let alone MD vs NP. Keep both options and non-health options open and decide much later.
Just to clarify some info as I am a practicing NP - depending on the state you practice in you can be your own boss and have your own practice as an NP. Even in the state where I practice now which still requires a collaborating physician, I am practicing independently about 95% of the time. My doc is onsite maybe 2-4 times per month, but is always available by phone or text. I actually enjoy my collaboration because if I need assistance they are just a quick call away. Otherwise, they trust me as a provider to treat what I can handle and refer out what I can’t.
NP’s can work in a variety of specialties, as well. Acute care NP’s can work in ER’s, critical care units, and as hospitalists. Neonatal NP’s work in NICUs. There are peds NPs, geriatric NPs, and FNP’s who work in various specialties such as dermatolgy, occupational health, retail health clinics, urgent cares, cardiology, orthopedics, etc. Women’s health NP’s see GYN patients. I could go on and on.
I agree with shadowing both professions to get a feel for how each approach their patients and practice. I strongly believe that in the next several years NP’s will be filling the shoes of the family practice docs while those in med school decide to continue on and specialize.
Good luck with your decision!
My best advice would be find someone to shadow. That means you ask healthcare providers to follow them around one day (or more if they are willing) so you cans ee haw their job is like. If you like being in the clinic, like the idea of having a more normal 9-5 job, then being a midlevel (PA or NP) might be enough for you. However, if you like being involved in surgery, emergency situations, to want to something very specialized, an md route might be better. If I were you, I would talk to everyone you know who is a healthcare provider and ask them what they would change if they were to do it over again. You will always find some midlevels who wish they were an MD/DO and vice versa. And lots of people who are perfectly happy. But if you can isolate what specifically makes home happy or unhappy, you can decide if that specific thing is important for you in your future career.
I would caution against doing a BSN if you aren’t sure nursing is for you. Most nursing credits don’t count as pre med credits and it would be difficult if not impossible to take pre med classes and do a nursing program at the same time. However, you can major in something science related in undergrad, while using that time to discern what you really want and take pre med credits so you have medical school as an option when. you graduate. And if you decided you want to do nursing, you can do RN program which is around two years.
As an HS student, you will find difficulties to shadow a physician. Sometimes, it is even difficult to find shadowing when you are in college, the most definitive indication of your interest is after you took MCAT, at that time you will have less problem to find shadowing. The best way to get involved right now is to get a CNA certificate and start working in the hospital part-time or in those elder care facilities.
Unless you want to apply for BS/MD program, its too early to think about medicine until after you took some premed courses with good grades and decided medicine is for you, NP, PA, or MD. The majority of the first year college students gave up medicine after one or two years in college.