<p>I want to know if nursing would be a good job for getting work experience before and during law school. I want to be a criminal defense lawyer or health lawyer but I also want to be an oncologist. I would like some steady income and I would also like working with cancer patients. And could I major in nursing and something else like philosophy to prep me for law school. I would like to know if all of this could work. Thanks bye.</p>
<p>Do you want to be a lawyer or a doctor?</p>
<p>I want to possibly be both. But I have wanted to be a lawyer longer than I have wanted to be an oncologist. I want to find that elusive cure for cancer.</p>
<p>Researchers are going to be finding that, not those who work with patients (not to mention that “cancer” is a blanket term for a whole number of diseases). I recommend you intern at a hospital and a law firm. See which practice actually appeals to you, then go for it. There’s nothing like personal experience for helping narrow down your options.</p>
<p>That still doesnt answer the main question of is nursing a good job to have before and during law school. And if I could major in nursing and another thing like philosophy to prep Me for law school.</p>
<p>Considering the curriculum for nursing, I think it would be difficult to have two majors and complete school in four years. The first two years consists of taking pre-requisite classes: biology, chemistry, anatomy… and the general education requirements. The last two years are a complete schedule of nursing and clinical classes. Since a second major also requires upper level classes that are taken during the last two years, there would not be room to add them. </p>
<p>However, like any other bachelor’s degree, one can apply to graduate schools with a BSN as long as the prerequisites for that program have been completed. This may or may not require taking some extra classes after graduation. </p>
<p>Although I know an MD or two that were nurses previously I’m not sure I get the leap. I’m a Nurse Practitioner and worked for some time as an RN, including in oncology and as a cancer navigator. The commitment, mentally, emotionally and physically, is substantial. Was your plan to work as an RN and go to law school? Or work as an RN and go to medical school?</p>
<p>Fine my plan is to work as an RN and go to law school. I love law and I read some law dictionaries and I am an avid leader in the mock trial program at my school. I am also taking mostly social science courses for my senior year of high school including AP European history sociology war and peace and world affairs. But I am confused on one thing. How can there be such a great shortage of nurses but nursing school is so competitive to get into.</p>
<p>@anonguy67 in Ohio there is not a great shortage of nurses. Yes the nursing force is aging and we will need to replace the wealth of experience we will be losing, but IMO we need to do that by encouraging newer nurses to keep learning. There are many regulations, and rightly so, regarding nursing schools. It is not possible to just set up a school and crank out educated professionals of any caliber. Schools live and die by their graduation and board certification rates. New graduate nurses have an incredibly hard time finding their first jobs. The state of healthcare doesn’t allow the hospitals the luxury of 6-9 months to train them.</p>
<p>I do know an RN who went back and got her JD. She did not take her law boards, and she went over the course of many years because it interested her. Ironically she works for the State Board of Nursing making sure nursing programs are compliant with the state nursing code. </p>
<p>I’m still not sure where your desire to find the cure for cancer comes in if you want to be a lawyer. </p>
<p>To answer your question - no, I don’t think being an RN, with its 12-hour shifts and overwork, is a sensible job before and during law school. And it would take at least 18 months to become an RN, without a BSN, or 4 years with one, so “before and during” doesn’t make sense unless you are going to wait to attend law school.</p>
<p>A cure for cancer is more closely related to being a cancer researcher, not an oncologist. Very few medical schools are interested in students who “only want to do research” unless it is a MD/PhD program, who see patients only occasionally or solely as follow-up to clinical studies.</p>
<p>I agree with those questioning the RN -> oncologist question as well. It seems not that closely related, and even as an RN it’s not like you are going to dive into the highest level of nursing care.</p>
<p>You should really spend some time reading up on cancer research. Immunology in particular is a very difficult subject and has a lot of potential for research. Then again, your comment “I want to find that elusive cure for cancer” is ingenuous - cancer is not just one disease, it is many many diseases and the “cure” depends on the type of cancer. There is a huge jump between dealing with patient needs on a daily basis as a nurse, and doing research on curing cancer.</p>
<p>I suggest that you consider going to a six-year med program, if your grades are up to it, where you can get significant funding so don’t need to work. You’ll have to do 6 years + 2 years residency + 2 years oncology residency at the very least, and somehow also fit in pre-law classes (might have to do 8 years for pre-med, pre-law, and med school) if you still think you want to be a lawyer.</p>
<p>I don’t get the RN connection - do you think it is better money than being on a rescue squad or working in a hospital, so that’s why? Or do you really want to work with patients? You can’t work with patients a lot and cure cancer, there is not time for both. One of the frustrating things for researchers who are medical doctors is that they do not have time to see patients.</p>
<p>I would say the RN -> law school path makes more sense, and you could delay the law school and go for specialized oncological nurse training, working on clinical trials. I don’t see actually becoming an oncologist as a sensible part of your plan, unless you get rid of the RN part and focus on combined pre-med pre-law.</p>
<p>My desire to find the cure for cancer is because cancer is a big moneymaking industry. I believe the cure for cancer is being withheld from people. Just think if cancer was cured there would be no such thing as an oncologist and alot of nurses and researchers would be out of a job or they would have to find the next big disease to work on. Also the medias coverage and awareness of cancer often over shadows other dreadful diseases like schizophernia. They dont have a make a wish foundation for kids and teens with schizophernia so they have a reason to live and too not succumb to the paranoid voices inside their heads. Thats why I want to find that “elusive” cure for cancer.</p>
<p>Nursing is a great job, and any great job is good to have during law school. I assume you are talking about night school since going full time to law school leaves little time for a job, perhaps only 10-15 hours a week. I guess you could take a weekend shift or two.</p>
<p>I had a doctor in my law school (night) program, and alphabetically he was next to me, so I was aware when he wasn’t there, which was every Friday night. He liked to work the weekend at the ER, so just missed school on Fridays. He didn’t return for second year, which was rather ironic since there weren’t many Friday classes after first year. Anyway, most people worked full time who went to this program, and we had everything you could think of - those working in law, engineers, accountants, medical workers, home health care.</p>
<p>Your best preparation is going to be classes that require a lot of reading, and writing courses. Writing slowed down a lot of people.</p>
<p>@Anonguy67: Law dictionaries and mock trial have basically no connection with the practice of law. Your local district attorney or public defender would probably be happy to have you intern for them. You could go and work there for a summer, for example, interact with lawyers and clients, and get a feel for how a criminal practice actually works. Then you could make an informed decision at least as to law. My understanding is that internships at hospitals also exist, and if you have time you should try that too.</p>
<p>It’s probably not viable to work as a nurse during law school. There are some schools that offer night classes but there are few good schools that do. Even then nursing is a particularly intensive field, meaning you’d probably be too tired to compete effectively with your classmates (law school is strictly curved). You could work as a nurse and then leave it to go into law school full time, but that seems like a waste. You should really figure out which one you want to do and go for that full steam. Trying to do both at once is not a viable plan.</p>
<p>But I dont want to work as a waiter living off of tip money. Im going to apply to the nursing program at Uwm and then major in philosophy. Please tell what other “job” I could work that could help me pay the bills and make an impact on peoples lives. While im pursing law school because my family isnt rich and im going to have to get scholarships and pay back alot of loans if I even want to attend college. Im trying to make a better life for myself.</p>
<p>Making a better life for yourself is a great goal. The thing is that you seem to have two (or three or four!) different professional tracks at once. That is not practical. You don’t have to choose now but know that you cannot be all of these things at once or even closely spaced to one another. And you don’t have to study any specific course work in undergrad, like philosophy, to get into or succeed at law. But, a day shadowing a lawyer might convince you that it ISN’T what you think it is. Best. </p>
<p>My mentor is the county DA so I think I would know what im getting into. And I know plenty of nurses also including a family friend. And im genuinely interested in philosophy and NOT gonna major in it just so I can get into law school. Get your facts straight before you tell me what most of you conformist say about how being a lawyer is the devil. Im not in it for the money. If I was I would go into business and be an accountant haha.</p>
<p>As opposed to those of us who actually are lawyers. It sounds like you have it figured out. Why, then, did you ask for advice?</p>
<p>@Anonguy67: The best way to make a better life for yourself is to invest wisely. That means learning before you spend your money or your time. You seem singularly reticent to actually acquiring personal experience and you’ve argued with everyone who’s given advice. That leads me to suspect you aren’t here for advice, you’re here for validation. You came to the wrong place if you just want people to tell you how you’re special and going to succeed no matter what.</p>
<p>Law is a scary proposition. Half of those entering law school will never get to be lawyers and will owe six figure debt loads that will take them decades to pay back. Of those that do get to be lawyers, only half will have employment outcomes that provide them any substantive law practice. Nursing has a somewhat better outlook in terms of employment but the (relatively) low barrier to entry keeps salaries depressed (at basic RN levels, obviously if you advance to NP the salary outlook changes). Oncologists have great employment but you’ll need to spend 10 years getting there (4 college, 4 med school, 2 years specialty training) and then do a residency. You can do any one of these. You can’t do all of them. You probably can’t even do 2 of them. Pick the one you want and go for it.</p>
<p>How about a health care policy career? Genetics counselor? </p>
<p>
It sounds like you are still in high school. It is great that you have lots of interests, and are considering a variety of possible career paths. College is a time to explore a wide variety of interests. But no need at this stage to plan everything out so far in advance. All you really need to be focused on now is which colleges to apply to, and which major(s) to consider first, keeping in mind that lots of college students change their mind about their major. </p>
<p>You mention nursing and philosophy as potential majors. Pre-professional majors like nursing tend to have many requirements for graduation, making it impossible to have a double major and still graduate on time, unless you are coming in with a lot of AP credits, or take a lot of summer classes. In a nursing program, you would have room to take a few philosophy classes, but not enough room to complete a major (not to mention the distribution requirements needed for the College of Arts & Sciences, which will differ from those in a School of Nursing.) I’m an engineer, and I’ll give you the same advice that I give prospective engineering majors who are interested in another major as well. In pre-professional programs like engineering or nursing, it is extremely unlikely to graduate on time if you don’t start out in that major, because of long chains of prerequisites. However, if you start out in nursing (or engineering) and decide that you don’t like it and switch to another major after a year or two, it is still possible to graduate on time with a major in, for example, philosophy. </p>
<p>The good news about an interest in law is that you can major in anything and still go to law school. Unlike medical school, there are no prerequisites. Just concentrate on getting a good GPA in whatever you do study, whether it is nursing or philosophy, or some other subject that you discover while in college (public health?), and then do well on the LSAT. Law school will always be there if you decide to apply, whether it is 4 years from now or 14. </p>