PuzzleMaster Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Now honestly, would a supreme GPA in a BScN degree from McMaster and top MCAT be any good for a med. school application? Does a BScN encompass those prereq's of which I hear so much about? Have any of you taken that route? Would you kindly tell me your stories? Appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonesRN Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Now honestly, would a supreme GPA in a BScN degree from McMaster and top MCAT be any good for a med. school application? Does a BScN encompass those prereq's of which I hear so much about? Have any of you taken that route? Would you kindly tell me your stories? A supreme GPA and a top MCAT would definitely be helpful in a med school application. There are certain schools that don't require any prereq's (some being Mac, NOSM, U of C and Dal I believe) Unfortunately, a BScN doesn't include many of the prereq's that many of the med schools require (e.g. biology, inorganic chem, organic chem, etc). My advice would be to look at the specific schools that you're interested in applying to and find out their particuar admission requirements. This will give you a much better idea as to which schools you're eligible to apply for now and which ones would require prereq's. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuzzleMaster Posted May 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Thank you, Those are subjects that I would like to study. Perhaps I'll take them outside of the degree. I would also like to contribute to research but it's difficult to know where I'm needed. I respect that only the best should be involved in the cutting edge of science and medicine. I wish I had a magic mirror to tell me what to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapers Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Hi Puzzlemaster, I'm currently completing my BScN. From what I've found and heard, it is quite possible to do nursing before medicine, but it's certainly not the typical route for a few good reasons. As Tones said, your nursing degree will very likely not have enough flexibility (ie/option courses) for you to complete the prereqs inside the actual degree. That said, you could take summer courses, or overload during the year. Or, you could scrap the prereqs and just try to learn everything yourself for the MCAT.Besides the schools already mentioned, Western doesn't require the prereqs either. Plus, there are schools (ie/ Toronto and Queens) that don't require an extensive list of prereqs/require more general prereqs such as "one full year of life science" which with a little planning ahead, can be completed within your nursing. However, if you're interested in studying bio,chem, physics, etc, and you're I'd say stick with a 'traditional' science degree. Plus, there will be more opportunity there for the type of research you're looking for. kapers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Just to add: Dal doesn't have any pre-req's. MUN doesn't require a pre-req besides one year of english. The only problem is the OOP issue. But if you have a strong application, then they might be worth considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medisforme Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 i agree with most of the above posts. i think a lot of RN's (myself included) that go into medicine are more of the non-trad variety (myself included) who only got interested in medicine once they gained some experience in the clinical setting. for myself, since nursing included 0 pre-reqs i had to go back to school for two years (59 credits) and start from scratch (bio1, physics, 1 chem 1 etc...). i would honestly only advise the nursing route if you want to gain health care/work/life experience after graduating as opposed to immediately applying to med school in your 3rd/4th years. If you want to do that for nursing you will have to waste most of your summers and the free time during the regular semesters taking pre-reqs. It is likely (from experience) that you will also need to study longer for the mcat since you will not be quite as familiar with the material compared to a science major. Doing these things is fine i guess, but you miss out on so many cool life experiences (ie. i backpacked europe then south america in two successive summers, and spent a year working in south america). So in summary, the nursing route is either a) the longer route to medicine (but very rewarding in itself) or the more stressul route to medicine (from cramming in all the pre-reqs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapers Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 As a future BScN . . . do you think shadowing an MD is worth it? Or will I see enough of doctor's work during clinicals, work, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonesRN Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 As a future BScN . . . do you think shadowing an MD is worth it? Or will I see enough of doctor's work during clinicals, work, etc? Sure! I think it would be a valuable experience and give you the perspective of how the MD role functions differently from the role of the nurse. Of course you will work directly with physicians during clinicals/work but you may be busy with other tasks/work functions to really delve into the actual physician role. I think shadowing will give you a better experience overall if you can fit it into your schedule. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beekeeper Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 I definitely agree with Tones as the roles of physician and nurse are complementary and quite different. In addition or in lieu of shadowing, you may wish to look into a summer employment position that a few hospitals (LHSC, for example) offer nursing students. I took a position last summer at LHSC in the Clinical Neurological Sciences program and the neat thing about it was it focused more on administration/research than direct patient care. I sought out many opportunities to hang out with the NPs/MDs in neurosurgery, attend grand rounds, etc. and found the experience incredibly rewarding and invaluable. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapers Posted June 5, 2008 Report Share Posted June 5, 2008 Thanks!! I've actually heard of the LHSC summer program before . . . it sounds like a really great experience! But I don't know if it'll work out for me because after second year and third year may is taken up by consolidation, and to get the summer position, you have to start in may, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEABOI Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 Sorry to bring back such an old topic from the grave but I just wanted to know if doing a BScN and then applying to medical school would be reasonable for someone who's finished their BSc undergrad and has the prereqs. I finished my undergrad with an abysmal GPA for med and it's really the only thing holding me back but I fit the requirements for the BScN program. I just want to know if it's possible. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 Sorry to bring back such an old topic from the grave but I just wanted to know if doing a BScN and then applying to medical school would be reasonable for someone who's finished their BSc undergrad and has the prereqs. I finished my undergrad with an abysmal GPA for med and it's really the only thing holding me back but I fit the requirements for the BScN program. I just want to know if it's possible. Thanks! Definitely possible. It's actually a good choice (IMO) for a second undergrad since you will definitely get a job after graduation in case your attempts to get into med school become unsuccessful for a cycle or two. You can keep applying to med while working as a nurse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEABOI Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Definitely possible. It's actually a good choice (IMO) for a second undergrad since you will definitely get a job after graduation in case your attempts to get into med school become unsuccessful for a cycle or two. You can keep applying to med while working as a nurse. Thanks for the quick reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medisforme Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 As has already been said, the best thing about having a BScN degree is that you can repeatedly apply to med school from a position of relative safety. A lot of people say they only plan on applying to med school x # of times because they want to move on in their career. Since nursing is a career in itself you can just apply every year until you are accepted (you may need to be patient). Personally, I had to apply 4 times before acceptance to med school, but my rejections really didn't have a devastating effect since I was working full time at a job I enjoyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle_MD Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 Hey! I finished the accelerated BScN program last year and have been working as an RN for the past year. I didnt purposely get into nursing with the intention of using it as a stepping stone into medicine, but my experiences in nursing definitely influenced my desire to now become a physician. There are many RN/nursing students on here who have gotten into medical school or who are trying to. I think nursing is an excellent foundation for medicine because we acquire superior patient care skills, as well as clinical judgment and critical thinking skills - these are of course essentual to any physician. As its been said already, nursing doesnt provide with you the pre-req courses so you have to decide what you want to do on that one - personally I am focusing on schools without pre-reqs for now but will likely start doing some science courses in the fall, once I have retaken the MCAT. Best of luck to all the non-trads out there!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle_MD Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 As has already been said, the best thing about having a BScN degree is that you can repeatedly apply to med school from a position of relative safety. A lot of people say they only plan on applying to med school x # of times because they want to move on in their career. Since nursing is a career in itself you can just apply every year until you are accepted (you may need to be patient). Personally, I had to apply 4 times before acceptance to med school, but my rejections really didn't have a devastating effect since I was working full time at a job I enjoyed. These are excellent points medisforme - and this gives me great hope as an RN and second time applicant!!! So glad it finally worked out and your hard work paid off!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiki0589 Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 I'm also planning on doing a second degree in accelerated nursing.....my first undergrad in Life Sci was really broad and my GPA was not soo great! This time around I know that I want a career in health care and something that opens a lot of doors but I don't want to completely shut the door on med school either. It's really nice to see that other people are in the same boat! Out of curiosity, has anyone done an accelerated nursing program after completing BSc and gotten into medical school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aryastark Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 I'm also planning on doing a second degree in accelerated nursing.....my first undergrad in Life Sci was really broad and my GPA was not soo great! This time around I know that I want a career in health care and something that opens a lot of doors but I don't want to completely shut the door on med school either. It's really nice to see that other people are in the same boat! Out of curiosity, has anyone done an accelerated nursing program after completing BSc and gotten into medical school? A friend of mine did a BSc, MSc, and then an accelerated nursing program. He just got into Mac for med school, and definitely said the clinical exposure helped his application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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