Nursing to Medicine (2 Viewers)

[Mazar97]

Would it be a good idea to do a bachelor of nursing first and then post graduate Medicine or should I stick to doing biomedical science for an undergraduate degree.

 

[c8]

Unless you have a genuine interest in nursing then why would you pick it? Same goes for biomed. The general consensus is: don't pick a degree unless you genuinely want to do it, ESPECIALLY the premed degree (science, biomed, med sci and sometimes even nursing, radiology, physio). That's not to say that if you don't like biomed but chose to enrol because it's one of the "premed" courses that you won't do well, it's just that it usually is easier to get a higher GPA in a course you actually like. That being said though if you really are down to nursing vs biomed, I'd probably chose nursing because it has better career prospects if you chose not to do medicine. There's also a competitive environment in biomed that you may want to consider, lots of students are cutthroat in those courses because they want to do medicine as well.

 

[Mazar97]

Unless you have a genuine interest in nursing then why would you pick it? Same goes for biomed. The general consensus is: don't pick a degree unless you genuinely want to do it, ESPECIALLY the premed degree (science, biomed, med sci and sometimes even nursing, radiology, physio). That's not to say that if you don't like biomed but chose to enrol because it's one of the "premed" courses that you won't do well, it's just that it usually is easier to get a higher GPA in a course you actually like. That being said though if you really are down to nursing vs biomed, I'd probably chose nursing because it has better career prospects if you chose not to do medicine. There's also a competitive environment in biomed that you may want to consider, lots of students are cutthroat in those courses because they want to do medicine as well.

Nursing is like my back up plan if Medicine doesn’t work out too well. I just thought biomed would give me a better background knowledge for medicine.

 

[quickoats]

I have heard of people doing the BNurs -> MD pathway (it’s actually a proper pathway at UQ for their conditional medicine program), so it's definitely possible. Both BNurs and BBiomedSc are sufficient for the graduate medicine pathway, and take the same time (3+4), so the choice is really up to you.

Nursing would probably be a better choice, as it is a vocational degree which feeds directly into an occupation (a nurse), rather than biomedical science lending itself to research (which it may be hard to find a job in), in the case that you don't get into medicine. Another benefit to doing a nursing degree is the nature of the work itself - you will be able to do locum/casual work in a hospital (which can earn you quite a bit, factoring in overtime and shift pay), whereas biomedical science jobs are more likely to be 9-5 Monday to Friday jobs. This means you will be able to work while studying for the GAMSAT (if it doesn't go your way the first time round) or during medical school breaks/on the weekends.

The one thing biomedical science may have over nursing is the higher exposure to science units and lack of OSCE/practical/clinical examinations, which may help with the GAMSAT and assist you with getting a high GPA (just rote learning all the information. This doesn't mean that you cannot get a high GPA in nursing and get a high GAMSAT score from external study.

If for some reason, nursing does not appeal to you at all (in this case, you may want to reconsider your desire for a medical career), then the biomedical science pathway is still very much doable.

^^ just noting that 'radiology' is not a 'premed' degree, it is a medical specialty. Also, no background knowledge is required for graduate medicine (except some MD programs may have prerequisites which will most likely be covered in the nursing degree anyway - as seen in the UQ provisional pathway).

 

[c8]

I have heard of people doing the BNurs -> MD pathway (it’s actually a proper pathway at UQ for their conditional medicine program), so it's definitely possible. Both BNurs and BBiomedSc are sufficient for the graduate medicine pathway, and take the same time (3+4), so the choice is really up to you.

Nursing would probably be a better choice, as it is a vocational degree which feeds directly into an occupation (a nurse), rather than biomedical science lending itself to research (which it may be hard to find a job in), in the case that you don't get into medicine. Another benefit to doing a nursing degree is the nature of the work itself - you will be able to do locum/casual work in a hospital (which can earn you quite a bit, factoring in overtime and shift pay), whereas biomedical science jobs are more likely to be 9-5 Monday to Friday jobs. This means you will be able to work while studying for the GAMSAT (if it doesn't go your way the first time round) or during medical school breaks/on the weekends.

The one thing biomedical science may have over nursing is the higher exposure to science units and lack of OSCE/practical/clinical examinations, which may help with the GAMSAT and assist you with getting a high GPA (just rote learning all the information. This doesn't mean that you cannot get a high GPA in nursing and get a high GAMSAT score from external study.

If for some reason, nursing does not appeal to you at all (in this case, you may want to reconsider your desire for a medical career), then the biomedical science pathway is still very much doable.

^^ just noting that 'radiology' is not a 'premed' degree, it is a medical specialty. Also, no background knowledge is required for graduate medicine (except some MD programs may have prerequisites which will most likely be covered in the nursing degree anyway - as seen in the UQ provisional pathway).

Oop sorry I meant the other one diagnostic radiography or something like that. I thought it was a pretty common course for those who don't make it to med and use it as either a stepping stone to med or alternative career.

 

[quickoats]

Oop sorry I meant the other one diagnostic radiography or something like that. I thought it was a pretty common course for those who don't make it to med and use it as either a stepping stone to med or alternative career.

Most common choices I’ve seen people do are medsci/biomed, nursing, pharmacy, and physio (idk why but VERY popular).

The other applied science/allied health degrees (speech path, radiography, OT, podiatry, dietetics, oral health etc) aren’t too popular as a med stepping stone from what I’ve seen - maybe they’re a bit too niche (and in the case of podiatry, feet). Optometry and dentistry aren’t too popular as a med stepping stone either because they take 5 years - and the marks you need to enter dentistry will most likely get you into med anyway. With optom being a vertically split degree nowadays, I have heard of someone exiting after the 1st degree (Vision science) to do graduate medicine. Regarding dentistry -> medicine, dentists who go to med school are most likely to be oralmaxfax guys (surgeon that requires both degrees) rather than people trying to do med.

Although it’s definitely possible to get into graduate medicine with any of the above degrees, I just haven’t seen many people using then as stepping stones.

 

[iStudent]

Would it be a good idea to do a bachelor of nursing first and then post graduate Medicine or should I stick to doing biomedical science for an undergraduate degree.

I think it would be a great idea. In addition to everything mentioned above, the skills you learn as a nurse would supplement the work as a doctor quite nicely, especially the clinical side of things. Also find that doctors who were nurses before they started medicine have really good communication skills and rapport with not only patients but other staff members.

 

[Kat92]

Hi Mazar97,

I am actually undertaking a similar path at present as currently studying Nursing looking to one day maybe study medicine. However, if I don't get into medicine I've been contemplating upon getting my Nursing Undergrad to go on and study to become a Nurse Practitioner to have that autonomy and ability to be able to diagnose certain conditions.

It certainly does open doors but your Undergrad does not need to be in the same discipline area at all to do medicine. Essentially, follow your heart and go down that path and see what happens from there.

 

[Kat92]

I think it would be a great idea. In addition to everything mentioned above, the skills you learn as a nurse would supplement the work as a doctor quite nicely, especially the clinical side of things. Also find that doctors who were nurses before they started medicine have really good communication skills and rapport with not only patients but other staff members.

I've noticed that as well! In particular I had a doctor who was previously a nurse and he even fixed the IV pump for me before going to write his notes.

 

[Mazar97]

Hi Mazar97,

I am actually undertaking a similar path at present as currently studying Nursing looking to one day maybe study medicine. However, if I don't get into medicine I've been contemplating upon getting my Nursing Undergrad to go on and study to become a Nurse Practitioner to have that autonomy and ability to be able to diagnose certain conditions.

It certainly does open doors but your Undergrad does not need to be in the same discipline area at all to do medicine. Essentially, follow your heart and go down that path and see what happens from there.

If I don’t get into medicine, I wouldn’t mind expanding my nursing career because I’m interested in it.

 

[Kat92]

If I don’t get into medicine, I wouldn’t mind expanding my nursing career because I’m interested in it.

Likewise, nursing certainly does offer that scope!