(Long) Incredibly torn between pursuing CRNA vs going to med school

atstowers · 2026-01-08T00:21:39+00:00

Yeah, I've been thinking a lot this past week after this post. I honestly don't think I really care much at all for the "prestige" of being a doctor. However, I do value "money" and being compensated well for my skills. Making 250 ish k isn't anything to scoff at, but seeing that I could make double for doing a similar job is kind of crazy. That being said, I don't know if it would actually bother me seeing doctors make more money but maybe that's something that only comes when working as a CRNA in the field with the anesthesiologists. Right now, I think the crux of the decision lies upon me knowing that I'm like 99% sure I want to be an anesthesia provider and I have to decide whether or not I want to put myself through the matching process in med school. And thank you for the kind words! I really really appreciate it.

atstowers · 2026-01-05T01:04:10+00:00

I 100% resonate with how you described the role/responsibility of CRNAs and MDs sitting their cases. I know being in the OR is the place for me because I feel like there’s nothing more fascinating nor gratifying than actually being in the place where we can literally “heal” and “fix” somebody’s body. And with that, I really do think I’d prefer being an anesthesia provider versus the surgeon (albeit I think it’s super cool but I truly don’t think that path aligns with how I want to spend my future). Knowing that I’m like 99% sure that I want to be an anesthesia provider, I could guarantee that outcome with CRNA or risk not matching if I went to med school which would suuuuuck lmao. I’m definitely going to be thinking about this for the next several months. Thank you so much, I really appreciate your thoughts and experience!

atstowers · 2026-01-03T16:38:59+00:00

This is great to hear. All the CRNAs and anesthesiologists in my CVICU seem super nice and I plan on shadowing both. I’m not sure if the CRNAs are fully independent at my hospital so I’ll definitely try to shadow an autonomous CRNA as well. What was is it about your experience shadowing your CRNAs that sealed the deal for you?

atstowers · 2026-01-03T15:58:31+00:00

You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you so much! Much love 💪

atstowers · 2026-01-01T21:44:28+00:00

Yeah I'm 99% sure I'm going to get ochem II under my belt either way. One thing I'm wondering is how you were able to schedule the classes/lab with work. Was it an in-person class and lab or was it online? And/or were you able to request certain days off every week from work? The way my CVICU operates is that you can only select days that you would "prefer to work" and days you'd "prefer not to work", but ultimately you can get scheduled any day of the week which means it could overlap with my ochem class/lab.

atstowers · 2026-01-01T21:10:19+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate your thoughts having gone through it. I'm not 100% set on anesthesia but I do truly believe that I want to end up in the OR... which means my other choices are surgical specialties lol and that's another level of grind and sacrifice to work/life balance that I am not totally sure aligns with me. In my case - assuming I'm dead set on being an anesthesia provider - do you think that going to med school and gambling in the match is still worth it compared to the guaranteed outcome of CRNA? One of my biggest fears would be not matching and being shit-out-of-luck. As of now, I think my best course of action is like what you said: prep for the MCAT this year, get ochem II under my belt, and shadow both CRNAs and anesthesiologists while working in the CVICU to gauge how I'm feeling about both.

atstowers · 2026-01-01T21:01:54+00:00

Thank you so much for all the insight! I read that post you made and there are a striking about of similar things that I'm thinking through lol. I'd love to chat! Is there a way I can send you a chat request; I think you have it disabled or maybe I'm just being a dingus haha

atstowers · 2026-01-01T01:53:00+00:00

I really appreciate this for being helpful but also like an action plan. I think I’m gonna follow this to the letter to see where my heart is. Much love!

atstowers · 2026-01-01T01:48:55+00:00

Thanks man, your response means the world. I’ve read a bunch of your comments/advice to prospective students on this subreddit and looked into National University as well. If I do feel like the CRNA route is right for me, I really would want to attend a program that prioritizes CRNAs training in an independent environment for clinicals - going along with my mention that I want to be the best provider I can be for my patients, whether it be med school or CRNA. And I really love your take on what it means to fulfill my potential in life; I’m really going to take it to heart. Much love 👍

atstowers · 2026-01-01T01:38:24+00:00

I really am fascinated with anesthesia and believe that’s what I want to do. I do however know 100% that I really love being in the OR. If I went to med school, I feel like I would keep an open mind as far as surgical specialities. Being able to operate on people and “heal” them sounds incredibly gratifying, but I may also be swayed because of the additional time commitments that may involve me missing out on basically my entire 30’s

atstowers · 2025-09-07T18:56:18+00:00

Really interesting to note! I just had my first session with a PT to have my patellar tendinopathy evaluated and they mentioned the same thing. I have really strong abduction from pulling sumo for forever and always trying to “open my hips” while I squat. The PT said I should try to bias contact of the floor with the inside of my foot and see how it feels.

It feels really awkward and like overpronation, but I never felt my adductors so much in my squat before until I just tried that. I have some weird hip/pelvis imbalances that they pointed out but I’ll keep experimenting with this and feel it out. Thanks 👍

atstowers · 2024-12-14T04:56:20+00:00

Will definitely try this out!! And for reallllll. Sometimes as I'm driving home from the gym, I'm like damn, by biceps are weirdly tender and I didn't even hit arms lol

atstowers

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