Can you graduate from nursing school then go on to medical school?
Discount Medical Scrubs
I got into a terrific nursing school but I'm having second thoughts about it since I heard it's an extremely stressful job and it's underpaid. Therefore, I was thinking about going on to medical school and then on to becoming a radiologist. I was wondering if it was possible if you could go to nursing school, get your RN license and then if you wanted to pursue higher, you could directly go on to medical school? Nursing is definitely what I would also want to pursue because it is something that I could fall back on if medical school does not work out. Thoughts? Thanks!
Tags: becoming a radiologist, discount medical scrubs, medical school, Nursing School, rn license, second thoughts, stressful job
October 23rd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Nursing doesn’t have a reputation for being underpaid. There are nurse specialties that pay over $100K such as Nurse Anesthetists and Advanced Practice Nurses (nurse practitioner). It’s not nearly as stressful as being a physician.
Getting into medical school requires a couple things: a bachelor’s degree in anything (it could be nursing if you want or it can be studio art or anything else), exceptional academic performance (really good grades), good scores on the MCAT, and specific pre-requisite undergraduate courses in the sciences and math.
Your BSN would include some of those science classes but not all of them. You would want to make sure you follow a pre-med advising path to complete all of the pre-reqs.
"higher" from a BSN is usually the MSN and then a doctorate in nursing. Medical school isn’t "higher", it’s different.
October 23rd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Yes, you can get a RN degree and then apply to medical school. As for how much extra work you’ll have to do? That depends. Some of the classes that you had to take for your RN may count towards your prerequisites for medical school, but different schools have different requirements. You’ll also likely have to study some science on your own so you are prepared for the material on the MCAT. More than likely, you’ll need to take a few extra classes to satisfy the admissions requirements for the medical schools you consider, but yes, an RN degree will likely prepare you well for medical school.
Talk to an academic adviser at your school and do some research into the medical schools that you’re interested in. They can give you a much more specific picture as to what you’ll need.
Good luck!