Right now, I am currently on break from school. I broke the news to Trevor today that I am still going to apply for medical school. I am really nervous about this decision for the following reasons, and I need to hit up Laurie Goll, who is the Pre-Health Advisor at Marquette to talk about if it really is feasible for me to apply to medical school...I am realizing more and more as I go through this program how much I really want to be a doctor instead of a nurse practitioner, since I will be responsible for supervising NPs and PAs in the medical realm, as well as directing orders to give to nurses. I don't want to sound like I'm really on a power trip here, but I really want to be a part of the medical community since I like having a lot of responsibility and people who need my guidance and support in their careers.
Anyway, there are a couple things I need to talk to Laurie about: 1) If my MCAT scores from 2008 will still be feasible for applying for D.O. school in 2011 2) If she will read my first draft of my personal statement when I am finished with it 3) If she, once again, could possibly give me any recommendations on who to shadow as far as a D.O. goes (since my mom's physician won't allow me to do so :-/ ) 4) any other general advice she could give me besides "apply early." 5) and who to ask for recommendations, now that I have a couple of nursing classes under my belt, should I ask any nurses to write for me?
Another thing that is a problem is the "Memorandum of Understanding" I signed regarding the program I am currently in, which says basically that I intend to keep going in the program until I reach my MSN. What will happen if they find out I applied to medical school without telling them? That worries me.
If you were in a great program, dear readers, but you were not sure if you wanted to complete the program or not, what would you do?
Speaking as a new NP who has thought about medical school lots of times (mostly when I deal with lack of understanding of the NP role). I would really talk to NPs in the job which you would want to do. There is a lot more autonomy then one would think. You will be well established in the NP role well before you would even start residency. As I left work today, I had the power to tell lots of nurses what to do and how to manage patients. Started medications that I would have only dreamed about starting as a undergrad nurse. Being a nurse is a great training ground for medical school though if thats the route you decide to take. As a NP, I find that I am a lot more hands on than the physicians and really get to spend time at the bedside in the hospital setting and I like that as a NP. A lot of times the physicians are split so many ways. The job market is right for NPs. But I also know you have to follow your heart. Let me know if you ever want to chat.
ReplyDeleteJulie Harnden
Thanks so much for your reply (9 whole years later)! And yes, I agree that NPs play a vital role in health care.
DeleteI decided to apply for medical school after my second year of working as an NP since I decided once and for all that I wanted to be an attending physician, and to fill the gaps in my knowledge. I was frustrated that I didn't have the final say for my patients, which I know that I would have had in a primary care role, but I wasn't interested in primary care at the time. Halfway through my medical school career, my eyes opened a little bit more to primary care, and it is something I am definitely considering but am gravitating more to hospital care.