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Preparing for Nursing School?

Should I go to nursing school or massage school?

  • Hello, I'm currently in my last semester of my Master's Degree in Biology at a very good school in New York State. I decided late that I will be applying to medical school so I have to wait a year in order to take the mcats and apply to all of the schools that I want. I decided that during the year I will have off I will go to school either to become a nurse or a massage therapist. I know that it is advised to not work while in medical school but I will have no option since I am receiving no help from my parents. I would like to either become a nurse or a massage therapist so that I may work part time during medical school to help pay for my costs of living. The reason I am considering massage school is because I am already a yoga instructor and I plan to go into osteopathic medicine with a specialty in ob-gyn. I feel that having all three of these attributes will help me better serve my patients. Also, I feel that while massage therapy can be taxing on the body, it will be a more relaxing experience than nursing would. I assume that medical students would need a relaxing environment once in a while. I think it would also be particularly useful to practice massage on pre-natal patients as I hope to become an obstetrician. I like the idea of nursing because it may give me a boost on my medical school curriculum. I will be working closely with doctors in the medical field and will be gaining important experience as an RN and making more than I would as a massage therapist (I think?). I am currently a phlebotomist and I know that the nurses at my hospital work incredibly hard and the job is very taxing on the body, but the experience I will gain may be worth it. The massage school in my area has a 9 month program which costs $16,000 to attend. I looked at the curriculum and was immediately drawn to it due to my tendencies toward natural healing and homeopathy. I only worry that the amount of money I would make as a massage therapist would not make up for the tuition cost. I have had a difficult time determining how much massage therapists typically make as it seems to vary highly. The nursing school I planned to attend is at a local community college and will probably cost half of what I would be paying at massage school but because the nursing courses must be taken in chronological order, I will likely be there for at least a year and a half. I know that ADNs are less desirable than BSNs or MSNs but I will already have my Master's in Biology to help boost my credentials. The hospital that I currently work for is willing to hire ADNs who have a bachelor's and master's in subjects other than nursing so I hope that other hospitals would do the same. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Also, any suggestions for another affordable alternative that will take approximately 1-1.5 years to complete would be great! Thank you!

  • Answer:

    massage therapy is great for flexibility and im sure nursing is as well, but massage and running your own business, well, thats a full time job trying to market yourself. then if you work at a franchise like envy you will be pain 15 an hr and will also risk your body of injury(arthritis, rotator cuff tears ect). massage is 6 months but nursing will pay the bills!

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Have you considered Physical Therapy (PT) or PT assistant (PTA)? The income will most likely be greater than Massage Therapist (MT), the job opportunities more plentiful (and often covered by insurance), it is generally more recognized by health care professionals, it is a more respectable form of health care (sadly, MT's are still having to deal with the negative stereotype), and it is generally still considered "natural". There are excellent techinques within Massage that you can still learn as a PT. If you are going into osteopathic medicine, I strongly suggest looking into CranioSacral Therapy, which is a specialization that any health care practitioner can invest themselves (usually after initial training as part of keeping up with CE's). If you'd like to keep your foot in natural medicine while going for your goal - keeping with massage or physical therapy may be your best bet. I'd strongly suggest looking into the education requirements for PT or PTA. Extra tidbits on massage: massage can be considered to be a great part time job. However the cost of the requirements for continued education can often drain what you make! In general, most MT's can't work more than 30 hours per week without draining themselves after a short period of time. MT's working for chiropractors you can expect to earn roughly 20-30 dollars per hour fresh out of school. Any more than that is unusual, in general. Hope some of this info gives a little more perspective for you.

K

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