astrodranco Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 So my friend works in the UBC Nursing dept and said that they are now co-ordinating with the Faculty of Med during the med school application process. She said there's concern that students are enrolling in the nursing program with no real intention of being a nurse, and that the Faculty of Medicine is starting to take it into consideration when a current nursing student applies to med. She didn't know if it was an automatic red flag, or if it was something that they're really not going to start paying attention to until future application cycles. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 I have no idea about UBC in particular, but as a general rule I think that Medical Schools are going to take the strongest candidates they can regardless of their background or back up plans. Medical schools are primarily concerned with turning out the best physicians they can. Nursing/Pharmacy/whatever other school losing students to med is a distant second to this fact imo. Besides, it's really hard to judge if someone "wants" to become a nurse. It's a perfectly good back up plan if you don't get into medicine, which medical schools understand and encourage. Unless you go into a med interview and flat out say you never ever want to be a nurse and you only did it to get into medicine, then you will probably be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 You are not going to change your entire life b/c of one random comment. NLengr makes sense. It is about how you market yourself with sincerity when you get to the interview stage. Carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathan Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 There's nothing wrong with backup plans, since not everyone can get into medicine. If nursing was your backup plan, at least it shows you have an interest in medicine/health care beyond the money and respect of being a doctor. However if nursing was never something you'd want to do and was solely a ploy to get into medicine, then I could see them having a problem with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 That would be the worst ploy ever. Nursing won't give you any special advantage to get into medical school. And if you don't get in you are stuck doing something you hate with only moderately good pay compared to many careers in private industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Rock Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 What would this collaboration benefit anyway? Med schools will not care one iota if nursing students drop out of nursing school or never practice as nurses. And nursing schools can't expel people who apply for medicine. I suppose nursing faculty could try to black list those candidates at the hospitals, but that probably wouldn't work as there is little love for academic nursing among most hospital units. On another note, it's probably more likely that a person who starts nursing school and switches into medicine will get a job faster as a doctor anyway, since they upped the number of nursing school spots, made the new rounds of cutbacks and older nurses decided not to retire because of economic reasons. Serves the system right if the cream of the crop switches careers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaM Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 I've met several students who went into nursing with no intention of becoming a nurse and I think that it's valid to question that. Nursing programs want people who are going to become nurses, not people who want to become doctors. They are putting in an investment in the student and want to know that they are going to get a nurse out of it in the end. I'm sure UBC will never openly admit this, but it would not surprise me in the least if it is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 That's something the nursing schools should be concerned with, not medical schools. Medical schools should be accepting the strongest candidates. Period. If nursing schools don't want to lose people to medicine, then it's their responsibility to screen them out BEFORE they start nursing, not to have the medical school screen them after they are finished. The same is true for pharmacy imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Rock Posted October 3, 2009 Report Share Posted October 3, 2009 Here's another perspective: the rate of attrition of nursing students into medicine cannot be all that high. Presumably the people who do this are among the better students from day 1. Having these people in the nursing program will elevate the overall quality of students in a nursing program by influencing their peers and by keeping the weaker students out. Therefore, the graduating nursing population--and subsequently our medical society as a whole--is in fact better for having had these surreptitious backdoor-out-of-nursing-and-into-medicine people involved. Furthermore, I've found that the small number of people in my class who were first nurses or who went through nursing school bring a useful character to our class. This variety in pre-medical training among med students is really valuable for seeing different approaches and personalities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medisforme Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 So my friend works in the UBC Nursing dept and said that they are now co-ordinating with the Faculty of Med during the med school application process. She said there's concern that students are enrolling in the nursing program with no real intention of being a nurse, and that the Faculty of Medicine is starting to take it into consideration when a current nursing student applies to med. She didn't know if it was an automatic red flag, or if it was something that they're really not going to start paying attention to until future application cycles. Thoughts? I don't see how this is going to fly since you really can't "prove" that someone entered nursing with no intention of ever being a nurse. The only way you could technically prove it would be to wait until they graduated and then see if they chose to enter the nursing profession and by that point the nursing school would have no control/power over this individual. Being an RN myself, I have noticed a large number of nurses (including academic ones) have an inferiority complex with physicians and feel they have to prove to everyone that they are skilled health professionals. I doubt this is what is happening here (the school getting pissed about students trying to leave nursing for a "higher" profession) but you never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physiology Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 People follow different paths to get into medical school. Everyone brings something unique and special. My opinion, just let things be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destiny Gundam Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 agreed those backgrounds determine whether you'll be a surgeon, internist, psychiatrist, medical geneticist, or what have you. if everyone is the the same that'd be so boring it's so fun for us now coz we can totally see everyone becoming something different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodlucktoyou Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 So my friend works in the UBC Nursing dept and said that they are now co-ordinating with the Faculty of Med during the med school application process. She said there's concern that students are enrolling in the nursing program with no real intention of being a nurse, and that the Faculty of Medicine is starting to take it into consideration when a current nursing student applies to med. She didn't know if it was an automatic red flag, or if it was something that they're really not going to start paying attention to until future application cycles. Thoughts? As an RN student I have to say that there are rumours EVERYWHERE. To base a decision on this would be a mistake. I am in my 3rd year of nursing and just recently decided that medicine would be a better choice for myself. Ive dabbled with the idea, but that was about it. When basing any undergrad decision it has got to be the best decision for you. I picked nursing cause I like the field and I am doing very well, and so I may make the grades, and if not I will have a job that I will otherwise enjoy. True, nursing instructors will castrate you on the unit if they discover that youve applied for medicine, but that is the risk you might have to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodlucktoyou Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 I've met several students who went into nursing with no intention of becoming a nurse and I think that it's valid to question that. Nursing programs want people who are going to become nurses, not people who want to become doctors. They are putting in an investment in the student and want to know that they are going to get a nurse out of it in the end. I'm sure UBC will never openly admit this, but it would not surprise me in the least if it is true. With your question in mind, nursing departments are aware of this. In my third semester, we were asked to raise our hand if we were medicine hopefuls. From the 32 people in the room about 25 put their hands up. The instructor said that this was true of most of her students. They do invest in us, but we also invest our time and energy into nursing. With horrible hours and even worse instructors it is a give and take. I think that for the most part, nursing schools want to pump out as many graduates as possible irregardless of their intentions. Also, by graduation our life will be nursing. Out of that 25 people 5 may apply and 1 might get in. They know this, but they dont care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physiology Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 The moment you try to restrict human beings in pursuing their aspirations and dreams, it becomes controversial. The BC government tried to restrict billing numbers for physicians who wanted to practice in Vancouver in the early 1990s. Or look at McGill - they have this PREM system in place. There is a quota set on the number of physicians who can become university affiliated once they finish residency. Anyway - as a nursing / pharmacy / PT / OT student, it is YOUR right to choose your future and career. I'm surprised that many students raised their hands when asked if they wanted to go into medicine! Your instructors may be opposed and there will be tonnes of posters on here who are opposed, but it's your life. Do what you want with it. Imagine that 20 years ago, physicians would have laughed at you and been extremely derisive if you gave a heart attack patient a beta-blocker or that proposed that stomach ulcers were associated with a bacteria that could grow in the acidic stomach... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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