Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree

[steelie]

hi everyone,

 

I am almost in the same situation. I did my undergrad in engineering and finished PhD in 2006. After 2 yrs of postdoc research, I decided to switch to health care! I plan to apply to med school this year and thinking of applying to compressed BScN or MSc physical therapy as a backup (just in case I cannot get into med school). MSc PT may be better at the financial side, since I have a good shot at getting Ontario Grad Scholarship, but nursing seems more versatile. Comments or suggestions?

 

I guess it all depends on your engineering gpa and MCAT scores, and where you wanna go to med school. It's hard for me to give suggestions without knowing that info. If your enigeering gpa is high and competitive for a few schools then maybe doing the MSc isn't such a bad idea. As one poster already mentioned, you may find it difficult to apply while in your first year of the MSc though - so you may be locked in for 2 years. The good news with the Physio MSc is that you can work when you graduate if meds doesnt work out. On the other hand, I see many benefits with the nursing program and would probably suggest that route over the MSc, just because I have gone through it and am now in medicine because of how well I did in the compressed program. Some of the benefits doing the nursing degree are that you can apply in your 1st year to meds; have your 1st year of nursing count toward schools like ottawa, queen's, western; and gain such valuable bedside experience.

 

To everyone out there worried about financing a 2nd undergrad, I really hope this isn't what makes your ultimate decision to not enter the nursing program. There are a plethora of sources available to help finance your education... and if that means going in the hole in order to get to where you wanna be, then so be it. If you want it badly enough... you shouldn't let money get in the way, esp. when you'll be making 6 figures easily in 6 years time.

[slawrence]

Hello,

I've recently decided to go with the 2nd undergrade route as well - I completed a Bsc. in Psychology (cgpa 3.1) - I'm looking into the accelerated BScN programs offered through York and UofT - do you guys know if the accelerated program might be an issue with GPA calculations? - The program is 2yrs (Fall, Winter, Summer).

I know Western and Queen's will consider a 2nd undergraduate degree "separately" for admission purposes, but is there any restrictions re: criteria for 2nd Undergraduate degree?

 

Thanks for your help!

[steelie]

Hello,

I've recently decided to go with the 2nd undergrade route as well - I completed a Bsc. in Psychology (cgpa 3.1) - I'm looking into the accelerated BScN programs offered through York and UofT - do you guys know if the accelerated program might be an issue with GPA calculations? - The program is 2yrs (Fall, Winter, Summer).

I know Western and Queen's will consider a 2nd undergraduate degree "separately" for admission purposes, but is there any restrictions re: criteria for 2nd Undergraduate degree?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

I don't know about any "gpa restrictions"? For the med school I was accepted to, I had to complete a certain number of credits to make sure I was considered completed a 4 year degree, even though it was a 3 year program. I guess it all depends on what med school you're applying to and how the adcom's consider these accelerated degrees. My assumption, and my experience with Lakehead's nursing program, is that if you complete "x" number of credits (no matter how many years it takes you) the degree should be counted as a "regular" 4 year degree. The whole idea of these compressed programs is to squish 4 years of material/courses into 2 or 3... so in theory you're getting the same # of credits as the traditional 4 year RN program, just in a shorter time. If you have questions about specific med schools I would suggest calling their adcom's and clarifying this before making any decisions about where to enrol for the fall.

[goldenhamster]

Folks, thanks for all your inputs.

 

Goldenhamster

[silvrsleuth]

Hello,

I've recently decided to go with the 2nd undergrade route as well - I completed a Bsc. in Psychology (cgpa 3.1) - I'm looking into the accelerated BScN programs offered through York and UofT - do you guys know if the accelerated program might be an issue with GPA calculations? - The program is 2yrs (Fall, Winter, Summer).

I know Western and Queen's will consider a 2nd undergraduate degree "separately" for admission purposes, but is there any restrictions re: criteria for 2nd Undergraduate degree?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

would you be able to get your science pre-req out of those programs? or do you have them already?

[steelie]

I went through the Lakehead program and the only "science" courses that the students had to take were 1st year Biology and Chemistry, although the chem course was for nursing students and it wasn't very difficult.

[sticky1]

Does anyone know is it hard to get in the compressed Nursing program at UWO? What criteria do they look for admission? Are these nursing programs female dominated or are there males also?

[globy321]

Speaking from experience, nursing will only help you in your pursuit to become a doctor.

 

From the applicant's perspective, nursing will immerse you in medicine, which should be the field you're passionate about if you want to get into med school so badly. So if you don't get accepted to medicine, there should be a burning desire to get into clinical practice.. to develop bedside care, to assess patients, to work alongside physicians and other HCP's, and to get exposed to various areas of clinics/hospitals you will eventually work in. This is much more appealing to me than playing with enzymes in a lab all day x 2 years.

 

From the school's perspective, they should recognize that you have chosen the best stepping stone for a career in medicine by going through nursing. Having completed the degrees you have mentioned plus the nursing degree shows that you are dedicated to your goal of becoming a doc.. and will do anything to get there. It would be much worse if you started some of these programs and didn't finish them. Plus, if you get to the inteview stage, you will have so much clinical experience to draw on for scenario/ethical questions that will give you a leg-up on other students. I know with the med school I got accepted to, there is a very high % of students that have a nursing ugrad degree. This cannot be a coincidence.

 

If you go with the nursing route instead of the MSc route where will you get the references for med school. If you go with the MSc route you have at least one reference letter from your supervisor. If you go with the nursing route is there people who you can ask for references for med school?

[sticky1]

I am missing a 0.5 anatomy course for western. What should I do?

[future_doc]

I am missing a 0.5 anatomy course for western. What should I do?

 

Why not discuss it with Western directly?

[sticky1]

They said I could take it at another university but not sure which university has distance studies in 0.5 anatomy course?

[steelie]

If you go with the nursing route instead of the MSc route where will you get the references for med school. If you go with the MSc route you have at least one reference letter from your supervisor. If you go with the nursing route is there people who you can ask for references for med school?

 

Professors, lecturers, clinical instructors, clinical preceptors.... the way I see it, there are more options for references with nursing than with a MSc.

[silvrsleuth]

They said I could take it at another university but not sure which university has distance studies in 0.5 anatomy course?

 

athabasca and TRU? not sure, though...

[northernnurse]

I had considered this as an option, since U of T offers a compressed 2 year nursing program, and I'm considering it more as people respond to this thread.

 

However, I was concerned that this approach might look bad on a med application ("first, you did an undergrad you didn't use... THEN, you became a nurse... THEN, you tried to become a doctor?" how do you know THIS is what you want to do?"). However, I'm extra concerned, because I'm grad student... they might think that's a few too many degrees!

 

any thoughts on this? would it look more "together" to re-do the science pre-reqs rather than doing another degree? or would that look better?

 

I disagree with this post completely. Anyone who enters med school theoretically got an undergrad they didn't use (or almost got one in the case of those who were admitted with 3 years undergrad). If you complete a nursing degree next, you clearly were not sure which path to take while in undergrad, which is EXTREMELY common. It is likely that a person who completes a nursing degree extremely well and is interested in medicine, may consider a career in that field (ie apply to med school).

 

Another consideration is that this person has ALWAYS wanted to be a doctor and has just not been successful at achieving the marks required to be accepted with the competitive admissions. Completing that second degree was simply a way of increasing their GPA.

 

I graduated from a nursing degree as my primary undergrad. I applied to NOSM and was placed on the secondary weightlist. I was told by admissions (when I asked how I could change my rejection) that I needed to improve my GPA, therefore, I am currently enrolled in the Physician Assistant program. When the admissions committee looks at my previous degrees when I apply to med school next year, I highly doubt the adcoms will believe my multiple degrees show lack of purpose. I see my path as a clear indication that my goal is to be a physician...it just took me longer to get there than others.

[dstevens]

I was research NSERC URSA applications & funding for my research endeavors and found that BScN students are not eligible for funding as they are considered a professional undergraduate degree. Others degrees that have this title are MD, Social Work, Pharmacy & Law. Talk about deflating my excitement to get into research! My chances have severely dwindled regarding a paid position.

 

Source : http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/students-etudiants/ug-pc/usra-brpc_eng.asp

 

Derek.

[medhelp4]

it dosent really matter