Undergrad

[kswizzle2121]

Hi everyone, 

 

I am going into my first year of undergrad. I am currently enrolled in the biomedical biology program but am wondering if it might be better to transfer into the nursing program. My goal is to become a doctor, not quite sure what branch - maybe psychiatry.

 

I've heard that nursing students are looked down on during med school interviews as they are training for one profession and attempt to go directly into medicine after that. Is this true? 

 

Also, does anybody know if typically whether a nursing program or a pure science program (such as biomedical biology) brings down your marks more?

 

Thank you so much.

[Birdy]

If you are interested in being a nurse if med school doesn't work out, switch to nursing. The schools *do not care* what undergrad you pursue, though, so it doesn't matter at all from a program selection point of view.

 

Nursing as an undergrad can create a few problems (particularly around course load and grading) when it comes to applying to med school. They are sometimes seen as not full time, when it comes to numbers of classroom credits or the numbers of courses for which you receive grades, and there have been a few posters here who have run into issues with that.

 

I know several people from a variety of other professions, health care amongst others, who are in med school. It won't be held against you. But I do suggest that you not switch to nursing unless you actually want to be a nurse.

 

It's also not a matter of what 'brings your marks down' more. Nothing brings your marks down except you. You don't start with 100% and lose points; you start from 0% and earn your marks. Study things you are interested in studying, and you will do better. There is no program preference for medicine.

[HappyAndHopeful]

Hey!  To answer your first question, I can't see how any program would be "looked down on" during an interview.  In the MMI especially, most interviewers don't know what undergrad program you're in.  In terms of nursing versus pure science, I would stick to science.  I was in nursing in my first year, and thought that was a good option because it gave me something to fall back on if medical school didn't work out.  However, I ended up switching to a science program after my first year, because although the nursing classes weren't difficult, it was hard to get a good GPA in them, if that makes sense.  Also, most nursing program are very structured and don't give you a lot of flexibility in terms of choosing electives, so I would not have been able to satisfy Ottawa's prerequisite requirements or take classes in preparation for the MCAT if I stayed in nursing.  So, I would say that unless you truly want to be a nurse, I suggest staying in the program you're currently in.  Best of luck  

[wifflball]

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[rmorelan]

the only main issue with a nursing degree is often they have practical credits which are just pass/fail. Medical schools have a hard time processing those unfortunately - so you need to check the program to see how they are laid out - if you have less than 4.0 credits (that is 8 standard courses) per academic year then many schools cannot process that year. That can limit you unfortunately - or force you at least to take extra courses during that year to make up the difference. At least you need to be prepared to deal with it

 

I know many nurses that have become doctors. Sometimes they have had to take extra years to do it.