Pre-med? Nursing? Please Help!

[Whalelover]

Hi, I am a freshman in college with an Art History major on a pre-med track. I am currently seriously struggling with Chem1. I have a D in the class and I'm on the verge of dropping the class. I've always really wanted to become a surgeon but, if I'm already struggling with Chem1, how am I going to get through all the other harder Chem classes?... Becoming a doctor is my dream but I'm trying to be realistic and finding other routes that would fulfill my dream of wanting to work in the medical field. I found nursing as another option and I really do like the idea of it. I'd like to go to grad school and become a PA after. But here's the problem. Today, my mom's doctor called me because my mom told her about me changing to nursing. The doctor told me not to switch and that I should continue being on pre-med. She said it does not matter if I get C's and that I should not already be afraid of the path. I agree. However, if I end up dropping my pre-med track, I will have my bad grades in chemistry classes in my record that would hurt my gpa when I try to apply to Nursing school. I don't know what to do and everyday I'm persuading myself that nursing would be a better option for my but I also love the idea of becoming a doctor. Has anyone every had the same trouble? Also, if I want to become a surgical nurse, what would I have to do to become it?
Thank you

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[Tyrone.]

Hi, I am a freshman in college with an Art History major on a pre-med track. I am currently seriously struggling with Chem1. I have a D in the class and I'm on the verge of dropping the class. I've always really wanted to become a surgeon but, if I'm already struggling with Chem1, how am I going to get through all the other harder Chem classes?... Becoming a doctor is my dream but I'm trying to be realistic and finding other routes that would fulfill my dream of wanting to work in the medical field. I found nursing as another option and I really do like the idea of it. I'd like to go to grad school and become a PA after. But here's the problem. Today, my mom's doctor called me because my mom told her about me changing to nursing. The doctor told me not to switch and that I should continue being on pre-med. She said it does not matter if I get C's and that I should not already be afraid of the path. I agree. However, if I end up dropping my pre-med track, I will have my bad grades in chemistry classes in my record that would hurt my gpa when I try to apply to Nursing school. I don't know what to do and everyday I'm persuading myself that nursing would be a better option for my but I also love the idea of becoming a doctor. Has anyone every had the same trouble? Also, if I want to become a surgical nurse, what would I have to do to become it?
Thank you

I wouldn't let one bad grade discourage you from doing something that you really want to do. You jumped around from nursing to PA to doctor, so I think the real predicament is figuring out what do you really want to do. Just because a nurse isn't a doctor doesn't mean nursing school is easy, and the same for PA school. From what I know they are all notoriously difficult for their own respective reasons. It's all subjective, really. Whatever you're in is going to have difficulty, and it's supposed to... otherwise why are we there? I would suggest looking at how you're approaching the material and if your studying habits need work, or maybe you need a better way to retain the information; it all depends on what is causing you to have a low grade, and only you can figure that out. Be honest with yourself.

Chemistry isn't everyone's favorite subject, and I understand it has its difficulties, but with any class you're going to have to put in time, and lots of it depending on how well you are at picking up the material. Also, do a lot of problems. When you become familiar with the process over and over again it makes it much easier when you're actually having to be tested on it. Sure, studying and doing a bunch of practice problems and reading isn't the funnest thing in the world, but it's the nature of going to school, and it'll only continue, so I would say be honest with yourself and see if you're really putting in the effort, and then you can go from there with study habits, maybe seeking office hours and other resources through your school, but if you're still having problems, all hope is still not lost! You can drop it and take a remedial course to get a foundation to build on. Having a solid foundation to build on these courses is important. I hope this helps. Also, many people actually FAIL multiple classes and get into med school, so don't get down. Just figure out what you're doing wrong and fix it. Good luck!

 

[Whalelover]

Hi! Thank you so much for your thorough response. I think I will take my third exam for chemistry and see how I do. I'm scared that I'll end up wasting my time doing something I won't be able to do. I'm scared of not getting a good MCAT score, getting a good gpa and getting into med school. I don't know if I can handle this. However, I am still aware that nursing school is not easy at all. I like the idea of becoming a RN and being able to work right away. Thank you for your response I really appreciate it!

 

[Tyrone.]

Hi! Thank you so much for your thorough response. I think I will take my third exam for chemistry and see how I do. I'm scared that I'll end up wasting my time doing something I won't be able to do. I'm scared of not getting a good MCAT score, getting a good gpa and getting into med school. I don't know if I can handle this. However, I am still aware that nursing school is not easy at all. I like the idea of becoming a RN and being able to work right away. Thank you for your response I really appreciate it!

You're a freshman, so the world is your oyster. College can be a great time to figure out what you enjoy and don't enjoy. You still have a long time before you need to worry about the MCAT, but having a solid foundation is important for whatever career you pick in medicine, because it's just going to continue to build off of what you learned in the past. Nursing and medicine work beside each other, but their two different approaches and disciplines to helping a patient. Maybe some shadowing would help. You have so much time, I wouldn't start to get stressed over so far into the future, but certainly getting a concrete idea of what you would like to do can help give you the motivation to do better because you'll make a plan and want it that much more. I am by no means an expert, but just hang in there with your studies and figure out which path you would rather go down. Best of luck

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Hi, I am a freshman in college with an Art History major on a pre-med track. I am currently seriously struggling with Chem1. I have a D in the class and I'm on the verge of dropping the class. I've always really wanted to become a surgeon but, if I'm already struggling with Chem1, how am I going to get through all the other harder Chem classes?... Becoming a doctor is my dream but I'm trying to be realistic and finding other routes that would fulfill my dream of wanting to work in the medical field. I found nursing as another option and I really do like the idea of it. I'd like to go to grad school and become a PA after. But here's the problem. Today, my mom's doctor called me because my mom told her about me changing to nursing. The doctor told me not to switch and that I should continue being on pre-med. She said it does not matter if I get C's and that I should not already be afraid of the path. I agree. However, if I end up dropping my pre-med track, I will have my bad grades in chemistry classes in my record that would hurt my gpa when I try to apply to Nursing school. I don't know what to do and everyday I'm persuading myself that nursing would be a better option for my but I also love the idea of becoming a doctor. Has anyone every had the same trouble? Also, if I want to become a surgical nurse, what would I have to do to become it?
Thank you

Ultimately there is little we can do to help you decide which path is best. Why are you doing poorly in general chemistry? Are you not understanding the concepts or is the math too rough? How are your other classes?

 

[ODea]

Go to study groups or go get tutored honestly until you understand it better, don't let one bad grade discourage you like a few people said above. I started off in a rabbit hole because of high school I took a college course, completely failed. A few years later I'm back at it strong, if I see my grades decline I join a study group if that doesn't help I get tutored.

Becoming a doctor will be a lot of hard work