Nursing to doctor?

[kevinb]

Okay so as some of you know me and my gf will be pursuing careers as nurses. We will be getting our CNA certification this summer and will be off to nursing school either this fall or next spring. I'm definitely going to be a nurse, however part of me wants to pursue a degree as a doctor. Not in a hospital, just a family practice one. My question is to anyone who can help me and the question is, after I get my B.S. RN degree after 4 years would I be able to extend that for another 3-4 years and become a doctor or will I need to go to school to be a doctor from the start?

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

I am very familiar with the process to become a physician and am unsure of what you are asking. I think you are asking if you can extend an RN into an MD through work experience? This cannot be done and you will have to complete 4 years at an accredited medical school if you want to be an MD. You can certainly do this after getting your RN though; in fact, that experience will greatly boost your application. However, if you want to work in family practice, you may want to look into becoming a nurse practioner which takes considerably less time and money but will still allow you treat patients independently.

[kevinb]

My question in less confusing context would be,

"When I finish nursing school, would I have to go and do everything all over again college wise, taking 7+ more years, or could I build off the RN bachelors and only need another 3-4+ year?"

Hope that's less confusing.

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

Okay, I understand now. College-wise, the short answer would be mostly no. There will be a list of prereq undergraduate courses that are mostly the same but will sometimes vary slightly from school to school. Example: I believe Johns Hopkins requires 2 semesters of Calculus based Physics but most other medical school only require trig based physics. Many of the courses required to get your RN should overlap with the required medical school prereq courses but there may be a few you will have to take (maybe another semester or two at most of undergraduate school). I highly recommend starting studying for the MCAT at least 2 years before you plan on taking it so factor that into your time as well.

[Royal Hijinx]

I am a RN (for the last 9 years) and I have a BSN. In about 4 months I will be a nurse practitioner. To be honest, it is not worth the time or money to become a general practice MD after you are a RN.

You would have to finish medical school pre recs which would likely not be part of your BSN program, go to 4 years of medical school, one year of internship THEN residency. So, you are out much more than 3-4 more years. In many states a NP can practice independently, and you can specialize as well. There is talk of a Doctorate becoming a requirement for NP, but that has not happened yet, for now it is a Masters level certification.

Also, RN and MD are very different careers. I would get your RN, preferably with the BSN as it affords better job opportunities, and see how you like it. If you are looking at a BSN as a stepping stone to MD, do yourself a favor and do not become a nurse, you will likely be disappointed.

[kevinb]

For the longest time I wanted to become an anesthesiologist, but after seeing how long it takes to become one that idea quickly drown. I'm mainly looking at the MD for the yearly salary perspective, don't take that as I just want to be one because I want lots of money, because it isn't like that. I love helping people and have always envied my family doctor for his hours, and benefits, vacation time, etc. Around here RNs at hospitals make about $50-60k a year usually, where MD are $100k and up depending on the type of doctor. I want to be able to afford things that I like (cars, snakes, etc) while stil providing a good life for my future family. Both my gf and my family live paycheck to paycheck, and that's NOT how I want to ever be. I look at the MD and know with that title I have a bit of a saftey net if there was ever a big issue requiring loads of money. Me and my gf have expensive dreams and I would just hate for $$$$ to be the reason we can't fulfill them.

[Royal Hijinx]

Look at NP salaries, they are very comparable to general practice MD salaries. If you really want anesthesia, CRNAs make well over 100K/yr, and that is 2 years beyond a BSN (Masters level). 50-60K is honestly a bit low for a experienced RN as well.

Also remember that the longer you go to school the more student loans you have to pay off, and even as a MD you do not start out at the top of the pay bracket.

[Mike41793]

50k-60k would be Starting salary for a nurse in CT. And on the low end at that if you have a BSN. Some of the more experienced nurses at my work are in the 70k-80k range just bc of experience. Another option that comes to mind that you may wanna look at is becoming a Physicians Assistant. PAs are almost the same as doctors and can proscribe medicine. There are some programs out there that are 5 years but some take 6 years. As a PA you could easily make over 100k if you live/work in the right state. As far as becoming a PA versus getting a BSN, it will be MUCH cheaper to get a BSN because you an usually start at a community college for the 1st 2 years then transfer to a 4 year university. PA programs arent as common as nursing programs so thats another thing to consider.

[Royal Hijinx]

The thing with a PA is the you ALWAYS work for a physician, under the physician's license. NPs have their own license, and in many states can practice independently. Just something to consider there. PA and NP salaries are about the same.

[kevinb]

After looking at the big picture I think I will be pursuing NP.

Thanks for the help everyone.