Medical School/Nursing School

[LSUfan1]

I recently applied to the University of Missouri at St. Louis for the Nursing program. I will be accepted shortly as I have more than enough transfer credit with a 3.3 GPA.

Here is the thing: The soonest available Nursing class opening is in 2008. Should/Can I take a pre-med route, and then take the Nursing opening should one come available ahead of schedule. By doing this, I figured that I could then apply to Medical Schools if the Nursing programs don't open up any sooner and I finish my pre-med course work.

Anyone?

[Skipbidder]

[ QUOTE ]
I recently applied to the University of Missouri at St. Louis for the Nursing program. I will be accepted shortly as I have more than enough transfer credit with a 3.3 GPA.

Here is the thing: The soonest available Nursing class opening is in 2008. Should/Can I take a pre-med route, and then take the Nursing opening should one come available ahead of schedule. By doing this, I figured that I could then apply to Medical Schools if the Nursing programs don't open up any sooner and I finish my pre-med course work.

Anyone?

[/ QUOTE ]

You are probably going to have to up that GPA quite a bit during your premed classes. What the hell kind of nursing school has all its openings booked solid for 3 years?

Well I wouldn't start med school if you aren't interested in actually becoming a doctor...that seems kinda silly. They are two totally different routes. Have you thought about maybe getting your EMT/medic license so you can work and get medical experience at the same time? That is much easier that going to med school. Are there really no other nursing schools with availability?

[adamstewart]

So let me get this straight: you want to go to Nursing School, but have Medical School as a "backup."


You sound smart. Sounds like you shouldn't have any trouble either way. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]


Adam

[gamblore99]

I am canadian and plan on going to med school here. It is very very competitive, and as a back up, me and a lot of other people plan on going to the U.S. for med school. Just how easy is it? What kind of University grades are necessary to get in? (for anything half decent)

[CD56]

[ QUOTE ]
I am canadian and plan on going to med school here. It is very very competitive, and as a back up, me and a lot of other people plan on going to the U.S. for med school. Just how easy is it? What kind of University grades are necessary to get in? (for anything half decent)

[/ QUOTE ]

im an MSIII here in NY, basically to get in you have to have something that makes you stand out of the huge applicant pool and gets you an interview, either a great GPA, a great MCAT, or some solid reseach with good rec letters, after that just buy a suit and interview well

i only had a 3.4 in undergrad, but i got a 35 on my MCATs and had good letters of rec

don't go to med school unless you really want to, it's a pretty rough life, and the kids that drop out do so not because they're not smart enough, but because it isn't worth it to them

[Matt Flynn]

If your dither is between nursing school and med school, consider becoming a physician assistant. You will have prescribing authority and the ability to see patients on your own. It is two years after a premed-type bachelor degree, then you learn on the job. There is very high demand. Salaries range 60-180K with most senior ones making around 80-100K. You can be in primary care or specialize. Satisfaction is generally high.

Nursing is in high demand, but the jobs mostly suck. Way too much paperwork and supervising often-undertrained nursing assistants. Also too many patients at once. If you like the ICU, though, that's a great nursing job. Tremendous responsibility.

Med school and residency takes 7-10 years for most docs and is exhausting. I would strongly advise against going to medical school if your intent is to go into primary care. With the proposed Medicare cuts and additional paperwork burden coming (hard to fathom it could get worse, but along comes "pay for performance" and the Medicare drug benefit), it is not clear whether many primary care practices will survive: at some point they will either have to adapt procedures to make up the revenue shortfall caused by low pay for office visits or they will go bankrupt. E.g., in a typical well-run hardworking internal medicine practice, the physicians make the marginal 30% of the revenue that comes in and make 100-170K for a 50-hour week. The current Medicare pay scale plans would cut Medicare by 26% over the next 5 years. All the other insurance plans peg to Medicare and will drop their reimbursement. Physicians do not control how much they get paid. So it is simple economics. You will see more boutique practices and more conglomerate healthcare with each doc supervising 2-3 physician assistants and serving as backup for nurse practitioners, carrying full liability for anything those supervisees do or do not do with little control over the process.

Interesting point: legal liability costs are not the biggest problem. Bureaucracy imposed by the givernment and insurance companies costs more. My practice is typical for my specialty: with two providers we have essentially 12 full-time employees. In 1970 the average was about 4.5. That is the bureaucracy cost difference, and it is tremendously expensive at an average of 40K/year per employee.

Also, I would not underestimate the growing hatred and mistrust of physicians in the U.S.

Not saying don't do it, but be realistic about what you are getting into.

[The Truth]

Getting into medical school is not an easy thing. I am working on my application as we speak. I am senior in college. My gpa is 3.9


Here is my understanding:

On average, 33% of total people applying to medical get accepted.

Average GPA of someone getting accepted is 3.7 or so.

You must be in the top 1/3 of country on the mcat. This translates to about a 30. You can get in with a 28, but its kinda chancy. My advisor reccomends not even applying without a 27.

Other experiences and letters of rec are good, but MCAT score is the biggest factor.

GPA and other things all combined are not as important as your overall MCAT score.

You can go overseas with much lower scores.

blake

[CD56]

dont go overseas, it will haunt your career for as long as you practice, it is extremely hard to get a decent residency spot with an overseas degree, and any of the more competitive fields are pretty much off limits

you are better off talking to the admissions offices of US schools and finding out what it would take for them to accept you

[7ontheline]

[ QUOTE ]
dont go overseas, it will haunt your career for as long as you practice, it is extremely hard to get a decent residency spot with an overseas degree, and any of the more competitive fields are pretty much off limits

you are better off talking to the admissions offices of US schools and finding out what it would take for them to accept you

[/ QUOTE ]

Wise words.