Guest mkur13 Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 Hi Everyone, I am currently in my first year of nursing in Calgary. My plan was to complete a Nursing degree as my undergrad degree, fulfill prereqs on the side, and then apply to med. I am currently not enjoying nursing but continuing with the hope that it will get better. I have come to a crossroad of deciding whether to continue on with my plan or to enter into a bachelor of science in which I could get my pre reqs done and go from there. I am hearing in many posts that med schools want people who arent just average science pre meds, they choose people who are unique. I am kinda confused on what direction would be best in order to be accepted into medicine??? Anyone have any suggestions??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 007 Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 I would look at why it is you aren't enjoying nursing and whether or not those aspects of the program will change in your upper years. You are best off doing what interests you and what you will do well in. Although med schools may want unique individuals, that uniqueness doesn't have to come from your choice of program. If you are hating nursing and have to work a lot harder at it to do well as a result, then you may not have time to do some really cool extracurriculars, whereas if you did a science degree that you enjoyed, you might be able to explore other things at the same time. Good luck with your decision! 007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bananacreampie Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Hi mkur, I do have friends that are currently in med school and did a nursing undergrad so it is definitely a viable option, however, if you don't enjoy it, it probably isn't worth it. As a U of C student, my suggestion is to jump over into the faculty of kinesiology. You can still do a BSc, complete almost all pre-reqs as part of your degree, not be part of the main stream science crowd and take some really great courses. Did you know that in knes you get to do human anatomy labs and a full year of human physiology. It is one of the best programs for knes in the country. There is so much research going on as well at the HPL (human performance laboratory) and in conjunction with the faculty of medicine, if you would like to get involved. As you can tell I really like what I do, so it is just a suggestion for you. There are actually five different majors n knes, so there might be something that you are interested in. Any more questions, let me know, also there is a joint degree knes and nursing that you might not have known about. ciao, bananacreampie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest byjude Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Having a unique background is an asset, but not if it's just something you've stuck with for the sake of being unique. If you did the same as everyone else, but did it with a passion, that would probably show when it came time to interview. For instance, if you take courses that you enjoy, odds are it is easier to put the work into those courses and get better marks. But more importantly, your enthusiasm will show in the way you discuss your experiences in application essays and in an interview. If what you dislike about nursing is something that might be related to your first year of studies, then it's worthwhile sticking with it. But if it's something inherent to the profession, or something that will be a constant throughout your degree program, then it might be worthwhile exploring a different program that interests you. This doesn't have to be a science program; most programs in the arts and sciences should provide you with enough free electives to take your prerequisites, although you'd probably get more credit towards a degree for the nursing courses you've already taken if you switched to something similar (like bio sci, kinesiology, etc). Ultimately, my advice would be to not stick with a program you don't like just because it *might* give you a competitive advantage when you apply to medicine. If you really don't like it, chances are you'll pay for that advantage in marks or free time or stress. If you're still not sure, I would suggest talking to other people who know your program better, upper year students or a program counsellor, and tell them precisely what it is you dislike about the program. They may know better whether your concerns might go away after first year, or if it sounds like nursing just isn't for you. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NurseEpi Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Hello, Having also completed my degree in nursing, I can assure you that it gets much better after 1st year. I didn't enjoy my first few semesters either, but as time went on and I had increasing opportunities to interact with patients as well as other health care professionals, I enjoyed it much more. I guess it depends on why you aren't enjoying in the first place. Prior to doing my nursing degree, I had already completed a 4-year science degree in bio-medical science. For this reason, I found a lot of the material covered in 1st-year nursing to be very repetitive and not very stimulating and I was anxious to get out there working with real live patients. If the reasons you are finding your program boring right now are similar, then it might be worth sticking it out for at least one more year. Perhaps you could take an elective or 2 in some of the areas of science that interest you. I do not profess to be an expert in med school admissions, but I do think that (and it's been said many times in this forum) the most important thing to do is to choose a major that truly interests because you'll be much happier during your undergrad and will likely get better grades. I'm not feeling particularly well-articulated this morning (no coffee yet) but if you'd like to talk more about the nursing option, just let me know. Take care, NurseEpi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mkur13 Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 All your ideas got me really thinking, and now I have some decisions to make. Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blackbox Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 As a current nursing student, hopeful med student, I wanted you to know that you are not alone! I can also say that my first year wasn't anything special, and that it didn't seem to reflect why I got into nursing in the first place. I want to pass on to you, and others in your position, that it gets much better after first year! (and thats an understatement). I know that once I started learning pathophsiology, pharmacology, and some lab skills that I enjoyed the program much more. And nothing, absolutely nothing, beats putting your knowledge to work with patients/clients. I say props to you for taking on nursing... I believe that it is the right choice for me before med school and I hope that you feel the same (we need nurses even if it's short term!) one of the incentives that you might want to keep in mind is that you will have a terrific back up profession if you decide that med school isn't for you, or while you wait to be accepted. find something that you love about being a nurse, and keep your eye on that prize! it's okay to feel like you have to jump through a few hoops to get to where you're going. The BSN is really just a foundation of knowledge...and a broad scope of knowledge at that. it's alright not to like parts of what you're doing in the curriculum because once you graduate your options are only as limited as your imagination. BSN is very flexible, and that is usually reflected in the latter 2 years of the program where you can take some very interesting electives! what I'm trying to say here is... look at the big picture and decide if what you are doing now is part of your plan. think about who you want to be in 5 years...is this a step in the right direction? BSN or BScwhatever are both "in the right direction" for meeitng the needs of the med school. but which one will meet your needs? good luck Kyle:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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