<p>I am freshman in my first quarter of college. Currently I am a chem major (pre-med track). I've always wanted to be a doctor all my life, but now that I'm in college, I am beginning to realize that I hate my classes. I honestly don't think I can do this for another 4 years. I am interested in nursing. The main reason I want to be a doctor is the patient interaction. I feel like I can get all the patient interaction I want as a nurse, with much less schooling, and classes that I actually enjoy (such as a&P). The only negative is that if I switch to nursing I will have to graduate in 5 years instead of 4. Do you think this is worth it? Is one more year a big deal?</p>
<p>
The only person(s) that can answer whether it is worth it or not is you and whoever is paying for your school. IMHO - The actual question should be do you want to work as whatever job you can get with a BS in Chemistry or do you want to work as an RN with a BSN? Another question should be can you transfer into a nursing program? How well are you doing with your grades in the classes that you don’t like? Good luck!</p>
<p>Make a list of the pros and cons, after talking to advisors at your college. </p>
<p>Also talk to an advisor to see if there is a way to graduate in 4 years with nursing. If your college would require a 5th year, and that is a dealbreaker, you could always transfer to college with a nursing program that would let you graduate on time. There are many programs where students enter the nursing major after the first year or after the second year, and at least one hospital-based nursing school that only offers nursing education for juniors and seniors. Those programs require that you complete science pre-reqs before you enter their program.</p>
<p>One more year isn’t a big deal, especially if it saves you 4 years of medical school! Also, you’ll probably get better and more frequent patient interaction as a nurse. Good luck.</p>
<p>One year doesn’t matter much when it’s about your interest. Doing a pre-med for 5 years and repenting the whole life, it’s better to lose a year and go for a career where your passion lies. Losing a year will not affect much to your career, if their is no financial concerns associated.</p>
<p>Well, what is it that you hate about your current classes? Is it chemistry in particular? You mention really liking anatomy/physiology; so are there just particular sciences you enjoy more?
I was a nursing major myself, got accepted into and began a BSN program, and one reason I left was because in the actual program the science was stripped out or ignored (my pharmacology professor mentioned one sentence involving chemistry, prefacing it so as to not scare all the ‘chemophobes’; anatomy wasn’t expected to be remembered, etc.); much of the content we were lectured on in the first term seemed rather subjective; and in my opinion, there was little opportunity to actually help people- I saw this not just as a beginning nursing student, but realized I would be very limited with the career.</p>
<p>Yes, you get to help people in one sense. But it really is the doctors and scientists who are figuring out the deeper problems; and I wasn’t happy with any less. Some people want less responsibility or more practical/task driven goals, and that’s fine. But for those who want something different, they will not be happy with this.</p>
<p>I’ve left the program and am pursuing a science major. I am so glad I did. I tell my pre-nursing friends and others considering nursing vs pre-med that if you love science, you need to go the medical route. This has been my experience though.
The first year or two of med school is mostly a core of science courses, and a science major would best prepare one for that.</p>