What should I do? Nursing Vs Medicine

Hi,

I've been offered a place at KCL for grad-entry nursing, but for the last year leading up to my application and working as a HCA, I have medicine in the back of my mind.

I don't know whether it's a case of grassisgreeneritis or not, but I feel genuinely stuck about what to do as I feel it's a great achievement to have this offer at King's in the first place. Although I love patient contact that comes with nursing, I often feel more drawn to the medical side of things (diagnosing, interpreting test results etc) but I know if I wanted that I could also go down the NP route down the line.

Is there anyone else who has or had an offer for nursing but turned it down at the 11th hour to study medicine instead? My degree is humanities based (as are A Levels) and if I did choose medicine, I'd look into an access course and apply for GEM 2017.

Or should I go ahead with nursing, and, if once I qualify still feel the draw to medicine, apply for med school then?

Sorry for the ramble, would just be helpful to hear thoughts from others who might have been where I am now!

Reply 1

chrisjp92

I am in exactly the same position as you. I'm a graduate with a place to study nursing in September and I have also been working as a Hca for the last year and a half. I applied to medicine this year but didn't get in. Obviously I was really upset but consoled myself with the idea of having this nursing place and looking forward to do an NP masters after graduating.

I can't however get the idea of wanting to do medicine out of my head. I'm very concerned that nursing will not cater to my specific interests (diagnosing and treating patients as opposed to hands on caring of them) so I think I'm going to apply for 2017 grad entry medicine while still going ahead with nursing as a safety net. Especially as this is the last year of not having to pay fees!

I would also be interested to hear I anyone has actually started nursing and made the jump to medicine.

Reply 2

bethang1995

Original post by chrisjp92

I'm a current student nurse, graduating in June 2017 and applying for graduate entry medicine this incoming year for entry in 2017 also. In my experience personally, nursing is an amazing foundation for medicine regarding anatomy/physiology, clinical skills and also how to actually engage with the patients. You will love nursing, and you will get the chance to be involved with the multidisciplinary team and work with the doctors, any I have ever been in contact on placements have been more than keen to help me learn things from a medical aspect also. I hope this can be of some help in your decision & good luck whatever you choose :smile:

Reply 3

thtgreeneyedgirl

I'll be a student nurse in Sept also - if you really feel medicine is for you, why not sit the UKCAT, see how you do and go from there? I People on here will say don't go as that place could be given to someone else - but you've done well to secure a place at King's and said yourself you love the patient contact. So if I were you I'd still start your training AND apply? I have no idea if it'll look bad you being a student nurse when you apply or not, but I think it's worth a shot - you might regret not applying in future!

Once you start training you might realise that nursing is a better fit for you afterall - plus you can always look into Nurse Practitioner/Physician Associate when you qualify. :smile:

Reply 4

MelM91

Original post by chrisjp92

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels like this! Sorry to hear you didn't get into med school this time round. I'm also going to start nursing but will apply for GEM 2017 entry - my worry now is who to use as a reference as I'm not sure my ward manager would be impressed if I asked her for a reference for med school after she's given one for nursing :s-smilie:

Reply 5

MelM91

Original post by bethang1995

Another nurse looking to get into med school :biggrin:

I agree with you on the foundation - I've already gained so much confidence with patients from working as a HCA. Have you told anyone on your course or tutors that you want to go to med school? Were they supportive?

Reply 6

MelM91

Original post by thtgreeneyedgirl

Thank you!! Yeah I think this is what I'm going to do - sit the UKCAT, see how I do and go from there and if I don't do well, there's always the following year. Yeah I'm not sure from a med school's POV how an applicant who has just started training to be a nurse will go down, but like you said it's worth a go :smile:

Reply 7

thenextchemist

Original post by MelM91

You can't train and apply
Only a very few medical schools accept this, I say don't take the chance.
Why don't you instead, take the UKCAT at the beginning testing dates (before September) to see what score you get

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Reply 8

MelM91

Original post by Bloom77

Thanks and yeah I'm planning on sitting it either July or August. How come some schools don't accept applications if you're training (and where can I find out the oens that do/don't?) I know a girl who was studying pharmacy who got a place while she was still at uni. :s-smilie:

Reply 9

ForestCat

Original post by MelM91

They will clearly state if they accept applications from people in their first year of another degree, or if they don't. Most won't accept applications from students unless they are in the final year of a degree.

A general note though, yes its great that you would be happy in one or the other. But I think you need a very good reason to apply for 2017 entry if you will have only just started a nursing degree. Nursing isn't a stepping stone to medicine and IMO you should only take up the place if you actually want to be a nurse. A, for your own mental wellbeing, so you're not always going 'what if'. And B because it doesn't go down well if people think you're only using it as a way in to medicine (which is what it will look like if you apply for medicine straight away).

If you decide to go straight for medicine, then great. You most likely wouldn't qualify for an access course because you've already got a degree, but there should be a few places where you can apply straight for GEM with your humanities degree. If anything, doing chemistry a-level would probably open more doors than the access

Reply 10

MelM91

[QUOTE=ForestCat;65084315]They will clearly state if they accept applications from people in their first year of another degree, or if they don't. Most won't accept applications from students unless they are in the final year of a degree.

A general note though, yes its great that you would be happy in one or the other. But I think you need a very good reason to apply for 2017 entry if you will have only just started a nursing degree. Nursing isn't a stepping stone to medicine and IMO you should only take up the place if you actually want to be a nurse. A, for your own mental wellbeing, so you're not always going 'what if'. And B because it doesn't go down well if people think you're only using it as a way in to medicine (which is what it will look like if you apply for medicine straight away).

If you decide to go straight for medicine, then great. You most likely wouldn't qualify for an access course because you've already got a degree, but there should be a few places where you can apply straight for GEM with your humanities degree. If anything, doing chemistry a-level would probably open more doors than the access

Hi thanks for your advice :smile:

I'm going to defer my place at uni for now - I think using this year as a gap year to see if I can into medicine and do more work ex is the best route!

Reply 11

ForestCat

Original post by MelM91

Hi thanks for your advice :smile:

I'm going to defer my place at uni for now - I think using this year as a gap year to see if I can into medicine and do more work ex is the best route!

Just a small note. You can't defer a place and reapply for something else via Ucas. But there is nothing to stop you using your fifth choice for nursing.

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Reply 12

MelM91

Original post by ForestCat

Just a small note. You can't defer a place and reapply for something else via Ucas. But there is nothing to stop you using your fifth choice for nursing.

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Thanks for clarifying that - I've decided to reject my place for nursing this year and try for medicine, using my fifth choice for nursing (would I still be likely to get an interview for nursing with a medicine-orientated PS?)