How hard is med school in comparison to nursing school or undergrad classes?

To quote from the movie Terms of Endearment, "as hard as you think it's going to be, you end up wishing it were that easy". I believe this applies to both nursing and medical schools. They are two models of knowledge which overlap, so it is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. I will say this: The physician does have ultimate responsibility in prescribing the care. From what I've seen working at several teaching hospitals, medical school is more rigorous in terms of hours, memorizing, expectations, etc. I will never agree, as some state, that in a quality nursing program, it is ever easy. If you think it's easy, you were either at a low-grade program or you meant according to the science/medical aspect. As a nursing instructor, I've seen PhD's, engineers, and other professionals go through a nursing program and, although they did well, they never stated, "it was easy". I've even taught a doctor from India who was unable to continue as a physician here in the U.S. without going through medical school again. He decided to pursue the Nurse Practitioner program. He was incredibly respectful of the difference and never talked down about nursing as a "lesser" profession.  One other poster stated it well: Do what you love !

Having done both, I can tell you that med school is much, much, much harder than nursing school. The main reason is not that concepts learned in med school are so much harder but that there sheer volume of what needs to be learned leaves little time for anything else. You need to be very disciplined to avoid falling behind or is nearly impossible to catch up. In nursing school, I honestly didn't have to work that hard. In med school, you a lot of people who were at the top of their undergrad classes barely scrape by. I'm finishing med school in a couple of weeks and really, if I'd known what it involved, as opposed to what I thought I could handle, I'm not sure I'd have decided to do it. Only do med school if you're really, really sure that's what you want. The sacrifices are not worth it otherwise.

The first two years of med school are roughly equivalent to taking 24-28 credits of science courses per semester in undergrad. Most of the classes focus on memorization more than understanding complex concepts, so I'd say it's most similar to biology. 25 undergrad credits is a full schedule, but it is doable if you're reasonably smart and a good worker.  Also, it isn't like taking premed classes in which you absolutely, positively have to get A's in everything.  Lots of schools have pass/fail grading, and it's not essential to get top grades in the ones with letter grading.

The material is definitely tough in some classes in med school I wouldnt necessarily say harder material compared to undergrad. With the said, the QUANTITY of information is way way way way way way more than you will get in undergrad or nursing school. I know this because my sister did nursing school and I am in medical school. With that said they all have their own unique challenges.  Also keep in mind that the long term educational committment will be more with medical school(longer grad school, residency,fellowship). Decide what you want from your career and life which will help guide your decision.

The sheer volume of material will get you. Expect to face a semester's worth of college material in one week of medical school. there is no studying at the last minute and getting an A.  As long as you take anatomy, pharm, physio, and especially neuroanatomy and neuroscience before you start medical school, that should get you through the first two years ok. If you are having any difficulty in your biosci courses at all, you probably will have a difficult time in medical school. There is no room for studying anything more than once in medical school and definitely no time to be confused about a topic/concept.

Very different. Academically, yes, medical school is harder, and by a mile (I have both degrees - Nursing and Medicine) but the workload of doctors does not compare to what nurses do.

Not a fair comparison. Apples and oranges. It is a myth that nursing school is not as difficult or as rigorous as medical school, or that nurses are some lesser form of doctors. School is school and a better question might be to ask about the academic requirements of different schools rather than try to compare two different but similar fields of study.

I am sure there are people who throw themselves into any area of study with the same vigor as a medical student. For me, the difficulty comes if I'm not interested and I have to force myself to study. I would have probably found nursing much more difficult than medicine because I was less interested in it. And I would have failed my first term at Business school, even though I don't have trouble with math. Do what fascinates you and what you are suited for by personality. I am friendly and caring, but I am not nurturing. I would have been a terrible nurse, but I love being a physician.

One   cannot declare anything as difficult in comparison with another one. Because,   it might differ from person to person and the difficulty level usually   depends on the person’s ability. An individual who is pursuing Medical course   may find any other course to be difficult. So, the difficulty level may   differ and it cannot be valued by considering very few facts.