Nursing school vs. medical school?

Question

this might be a very stupid question :) I always hear nurses complaining about how hard is nursing school, and always heard docs comlaining about how difficult med school is, so besides the fact that nursing school lasts for 4 year (sorry if I'm wrong, but what I'm trying to say is that it takes shorter to become a nurse than to become a doctor) and becoming a doc takes up to 11 year, how much harder is med school than nursing school? I know they're totally different, but I just mean the level of difficulty.

Thanks in advance!!!!!

Answer 1

I am a first year med student with friends in the nursing, dental, and pharmacy colleges at my same university. And there really is no comparison between our workload and their's. The only person that can actually compare is one that participated in both. What makes nursing school hard is that you are usually young and inexperienced when you are learning the difficult procedures that are required. Med school is just hell. The classes are much harder and much more time consuming. And a lot more is demanded and expected from you. Med students have to learn the whys and hows of everything (procedures, drugs, diseases, etc.), whereas nurses, etc. only have to learn what to do (its not always necessary for them to know why they are doing something), unless they are an RN or something, but they still dont carry the workload or responsibility or diversity that physicians do.

Edit: Shellie stop breaking my balls. I gave an oversimplification of the jobs of physicians and nurses. But the truth is that most nurses are not concerned with why they have to do things. They dont care to know how a certain drug lowers the blood pressure, just that it does. What would be the purpose of a separation of nurses and doctors if everybody knew everything that everybody else knew? There would either be no point in having nurses or no point in having doctors. They dont do the same job or know the same information because that would be pointless and redundant.

Edit: Where did all the hatred come from? Everything I said is true. If doctors and nurses knew the same things, there would be NO NEED for both of them. Everybody would just work together and be equal, but thats not the case. I cant speak for the others who have commented, but I said nothing offensive toward anyone. I gave an honest and oversimplified assessment of the two colleges and got ballbusted by someone putting words in my mouth. I have friends in my class who used to be nurses or are still, so these people have experienced both sides. Two have quit med school because it was too hard. And the other two have had to quit working all together to concentrate on school.
The answers I gave came from the mouths of nurses in med school (as I said earlier that the only one who could compare is one that did both). So from 4 nurses in med school and every doctor in the world, medical school is harder than nursing school. And for any future confrontations, I love my nurses and could not live without them. And I will be a great doctor, so it is your loss for not coming to me. But if you come to my ER on the verge of death, you will walk out smiling after receiving the best care my buddies and I could give you. That is until you see your hospital bill......Lets try to keep these convos civil from now on, and that goes for both sides. Theres no need to insult anyone on here. Everyone is allowed to share their opinions and thats what the asker wanted. Not a huge debate about who sucks more.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Nursing Vs Medicine

Answer 4

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RE:
Nursing school vs. medical school?
this might be a very stupid question :) I always hear nurses complaining about how hard is nursing school, and always heard docs comlaining about how difficult med school is, so besides the fact that nursing school lasts for 4 year (sorry if I'm wrong, but what I'm trying to say is that it...

Answer 5

IMO they are both the same in difficulty only med school takes longer. Unlike some posters are claiming nurses do know the reason why they are doing things and how drugs work. I am constantly tested in my nursing school on drug actions, interactions, adverse reactions safe dose ranges ect... Nurses though do provide more direct care unlike tv would have you believe. Nurse are almost always the ones teaching about how to prevent disease how to treat disease and how to take your medications. Doctors spend 5 minutes with you nurses are there with you during your whole stay. Pick whether you want to be more of the final sayer (a MD) or a provider of care and compassion.
edit:
Medstudent obviously has not been in med school very long or he would realize nurses are the one that call the doctor when lab values are out of wack or when a pt is decomping and a nurse double checks to make sure meds are ordered correctly. we are the ones that have pt deep breath and cough and ambulate and monitor their condition throughout the night, not doctors. Hopefully medstudent when you become a doctor you will be nice to your nurses cause they will make your life as a doctor living poo if youre not.
Edit: shellie, i just love their comments, hopefully i will work with them once they graduate and will have the pleasure calling them ever 5 minutes during the night to ask them what i should be doing because i obviously do not care why or what i do as a nurse :))))))

Answer 6

You are comparing two very separate careers. Though both focus on health and people. Those are the only two similarities. A doctor is not just a nurse who went to school longer. They take different classes, learn different topics and see the patient in totally different ways. One is not better than the other, one is not harder or easier than the other. They are two different paths, but doctors and nurses do join together at the end to work as a team in caring for a patient. So to answer your question, their is no answer.

Answer 7

Neither is impossible. What you should know is that doctors diagnose and prescribe and nurses give care and nurture. Although these two careers are closely related, they are completely different. You need to ask yourself which suits your personality. I'm thinking you need to test out the medical field first, before you try and decide your career goal.

Wild Cat, You're statement about nursing only needing to know what to do is absolutly wrong. Don't let your head get to big to fast, you're not a doctor yet.

It's a real good thing you guys are still students! Wait until you hit the "real world", and see how you view "most nurses" then.

Thank you laura, well said. Can you believe their ignorance?

Answer 8

I'm sorry Dr Biscuit, this is not directed towards you. These med students are rude.
I would like to know where and under what name will wild cat, medstudent, and george will be practicing? I just want to know where NOT to go. I wouldn't ever want to be treated by or work with doctors that don't respect nurses or reconize that without them, they'd fall on their faces. They would be sued within a month. Nurses play a major role, are not peons, are required to know who, what, why and when for everything they do and every med they pass. Without all this knowledge we wouldn't ever be able to tell the dr what is going on with the pt. Check your facts before you get so cocky. Shellie and Laura are 100% correct.

Answer 9

You are comparing two very different courses of study here, while of course they are related. The course load in Medical school is far more difficult, far more advanced and far more broad reaching. Medical students have to meet very tough standards academically to even get in and so for the vast majority of nursing students they wouldn't have acheived the academic requirements to get into med school in the first place. Everyone's definition of difficulty depends on their own ability. A nursing student would definitely find medical school course work extremely difficult, but a medical student would not have any difficulty with a nursing school workload. I don't mean to insult anyone, just that's the way it is.

Answer 10

The nursing field is way over dramatized. Everybody thinks of nurses as people who want to care for everyone, and they are the ones who comfort the patient when the mean old doctor scares them and makes them mad. what a load of crap. Wildcat has a more realistic idea of the nursing field than most people. Unless a nurse pursues a higher degree, they are simply looking for a meaningful job where they have few responsibilities and dont have to think. That is what nursing is. A job where you can feel good about what you do, but you dont actually do anything yourself but follow orders from the people who know what is going on.

Maybe the nurses are geniuses who didnt want to be doctors because of the stereotypes where you come from, Shellie, but in the real world, they are necessary parts of the hospital that just play a minor role.