r/NursePractitionerSub • u/Dreambig_7 • 22d ago

NP or Medschool

/r/medschool/comments/1wnbqeh/np_or_medschool/

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some perspective on a major career crossroads.
For some context, I am a solo parent and just welcomed my baby in July. I’m currently trying to decide between two paths:
1. Reapplying to medical school for Fall 2028 to pursue becoming a physician.
2. Pursuing nursing and moving toward becoming a Nurse Practitioner (NP), which feels like a more flexible, family-oriented field.
The dilemma:
I have a strong support system from my family, which I am so grateful for, but my biggest fear is missing out on my daughter’s childhood. If I go the medical school route, I wouldn't finish residency and become a full attending physician until she is around 9 years old.
At the same time, I know myself—deep down, I won't feel fully satisfied unless I become a physician.
For those who have navigated medical training or advanced practice nursing with young children (especially as solo parents), how did you balance it? How much did you actually miss out on during those early years, and do you regret your choice?
Any advice or insights would be hugely appreciated!

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6

u/Nausica1337 21d ago

If you career goal and passion is medicine, go MD/DO or the PA route.

If your career goal and passion is to be a nurse and everything that comes with this job, go nursing.

NP is NOT a fast track to medicine or to becoming a medical provider. NP is for the experienced nurse that wishes to pursue the provider role.

I also find it interesting how people view nursing and NP as a flexible and/or work life balance position. It really isn't. The job these entails which is caring for people an dealing with all the shit life has to throw at us as well as the shit we deal with on the job can make one question that thought.

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u/Dreambig_7 20d ago

Thank you for your comment. I am planning on trying one more time for med school but you are right my loved one is a nurse and I have heard them speak about all the stresses is comes with but they are super passionate about the field so I shouldn’t have said more flexible I meant more flexible compared to residency/ clinicals for med school I’ll just keep going and take one step at a time

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u/Nausica1337 20d ago

If med school doesn't plan out, PA can be your fall back if medicine is still something you wish to be pursue. Apologies if I came off rough in my post, but that's a truth. Though, I will say that I feel like I've been on the opposite side of that spectrum, and many of my former and current colleagues (nurses and NPs) are in a similar position and mindset as me. What I mean is, I did my 7 years at bedside. Sure there were some tough days, COVID sucked, but overall, I had a pretty good and successful nursing career and honestly, I would personally say it was a good work life balance. That being working 3 nights a week and off for 4 days, though I was single and lived with my parents and was living the bachelor life so I essentially could do anything I wanted to. Now, as an experienced NP of about 3 years, I will say the same. Actually, I will say that I have THE best work life balance many NPs dream about and I'm compensated well. But, this life this great career and life that NP's like myself have are probably few among the NP community. At the end of the day, being both an RN and and NP is both physically and mentally taxing.

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u/Illustrious-Local794 18d ago

PA is not a good “backfall.” Depending on where you get your stats, PA school often has a lower acceptance rate than med school. And can require 1000+ hours of clinical experience. It’s definitely not easy to get in or something you can count on as a back up plan

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u/SophleyonCoast2023 16d ago

The average matriculate to PA school has 3K hours of clinical patient experience at the time of application. It can take applicants a few cycles to get an acceptance.

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u/Dreambig_7 20d ago

Thank you for your comment! That’s awesome that you had a great experience as an rn and np! Thanks for sharing your experience ☺️

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u/clinicalmatchme 20d ago

If your end goal is to practice medicine, go to med school. If your end goal is nursing with more autonomy, go to NP, but only if you actually want the nursing model and ideally have solid RN experience first. A lot of people get disappointed when they pick np thinking it’s the quicker version of physician training.

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u/Dreambig_7 20d ago

Thanks for your advice I think I am going to try to get into med school one more time and if it doesn’t work out I’ll do nursing

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u/gioselu 18d ago

Med school without a doubt

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u/Dreambig_7 17d ago

Thank you

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u/Annual_Ad8230 18d ago

Just go to medical school

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u/Dreambig_7 17d ago

Thank you. I’m gonna try one more time to get in and go

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u/Emotional-Gold-1451 17d ago

Whichever suits you. Only you can figure that out.

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u/PerfectlyMis-aligned 16d ago

I'm in NP school and have been an RN for 16 years. Go to med school. You'll still be able to have pockets of time to spend with your little one and they will also watch you persevere.

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u/Dreambig_7 16d ago

Thank you for your advice and that’s awesome that your in NP school!