Should I become a NP or MD?

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redence

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Alright so I'm a high school senior right now, and I'm really interested in the health field, specifically in the Dermatology field. My parents are both in the health field, mom's a NP, and my dad's a MD but still looking for a residency. They both went to foreign med school, but only my dad came out as MD, but he still doesn't have a residency in the U.S. They both are really pushing me to become a doctor, but currently I just like the idea of becoming a Nurse, then a Nurse Practitioner, so I could own my own practice/clinic. I feel like I'm too impatient for med school, and don't like the idea of the long schooling + stress + residency + high debt. Plus I don't like the high level science course that premeds have to take compared to Nursing, I don't like Physics either. My parents keep yelling at me saying NP's and PA's are underpaid and work long stressful hours compared to the doctors. They say that all they do is clean **** from patients, and do the dirty work of doctors. I come from an Indian family where most of my family are doctors, but my parents failed to become doctors, and I believe that they're just making me live their lives. They just like me to become a doctor for the status and the money. I don't really care about status too much, and I just want a good paying job that I could live a comfortable life with a family. Can a Nurse Practitioner make a good salary and live a comfortable life? What about owning a clinic? How are the working hours compared to the docs, who works more? I'm still young, and I want to shadow some doctors, pa's and np's. I could always change in college, who knows.

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you're a high school senior so I wouldn't worry about it yet. However, if you did want to do derm, PA I think is superior to NP. If you want med school, I believe it's easier to apply to fast-track programs from HS rather than reapply when you're in or done with college, so maybe look into that now if you want. I do regret not doing that, I am a psych NP and have fantastic job prospects but would have been cool to become a physician!
 
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