During my first year in medicine, I struggled a lot and I really studied hard especially in the

subjects like histology, anatomy, and microbiology. But since I already had microbiology
during nursing, and had basic information about it, I found microbiology as an easy subject.
Also for the subject Physical Diagnosis (PDX), I found it easier because it has similarities to
what I did during my exposure in the hospital when I was in nursing for example history
taking or the patient and making the diagnosis

Pharmacology subject in nursing also helped me a little since it kind of gave me some
information but not that extensive compared to the Pharmacology in medicine. For the
subjects that I found it hard or I struggled was the surgery and Pathophysiology. Surgery
was hard for me because it is a complicated subject like a combination of anatomy and
physiology and I need to be familiarize myself with everything and it is frustrating because
no matter how hard I study for the exams or quizzes it does not seem to be enough. So it
was a really hard subject for me.
Berghout (2014) who described the same findings in her study, she recognized that students
with health related background have the advantage of being familiar with certain subjects
or skills from their previous study.

The challenges I had experienced being a nursing graduate and going to medical school was
definitely during my first and second years in medicine. Like how do I pass these subjects
granted that I have very basic knowledge on the subjects like microbiology, pharmacology,
anatomy, biochemistry and etc.

But during my third and fourth years, even if you ask the consultants they would say that
nursing graduates would really excel during those years. I was able to overcome these
challenges because of self-discipline, determination, support system, faith in God and
readiness (Physically, emotionally, socially, financially and spiritually) because "you don't
have a choice, it's either you make it, or break it."
 Berghout further elaborated that students with a non-science background struggle at first
due to the big gap in knowledge and demonstrate more effort in studying theory, but as
they proceed to the clinical phase, the previous clinical experience proves to be an
advantage especially for health-allied graduate students
First, I needed to have determination if I really wanted to graduate medicine because there
is no other way, so even if my grades were low, at least I passed. Another thing it is also
really important to have a support system; like my family, they would encourage me not to
give up and just catch up on the next semester. Faith in God, is also a factor for during those
times that I felt really emotionally and physically drained.

Last is readiness to accept the changes in social relationships because once you are in
medicine, most of your time will be spent on studying.

The first two years in med school was quite hard for me because; first, I was still on my
adjusting period because unlike nursing you only need to listen to your teacher and read
few information in the book and then you pass your subjects. In medicine, listening is not
enough, you really need to read your books and if possible read the next chapters in
advance.
Berghout further elaborated that students with a non-science background struggle at
first due to the big gap in knowledge and demonstrate more effort in studying theory, but as
they proceed to the clinical phase, the previous clinical experience proves to be an advantage
especially for health-allied graduate students.

For my third and fourth year, nursing was really helpful for me because of my previous
exposures in the hospital during nursing. It did not only give me an idea on what procedures are
needed to be done but it also helped me attitude-wise like how to be patient, to approach
clients and how to explain to the client in a appropriate manner.

Jackson, M. B., Keen, M., Wenrich, M. D., Schaad, D. C., Robins, L., & Goldstein, E. A.
(2009) proved in their study that a pre clinical skills curriculum leads to positive improvements
in the performance of third year medical students, early clinical experience helps improve the
preparation of pre-clinical students for their clinical rotations by introducing them to the reality
of the clinical environment, and facilitating application of knowledge to clinical practice

Berghout (2014) attributed this to those students previous experiences in the medical
field that have a positive impact on their performance, those students are more familiar with
what must be done and how as future physicians.

My experiences on clinical duties during nursing really helped me especially when it comes to
communicating with the patients, how to handle difficult patients and the usual routine in the
hospital.

Lee (2013) believed that the clinical experience is the greatest advantage of being a

nursing-medical student, Nursing students have the opportunity to have clinical studies earlier

while most premedical majors do not gain this experience until the second half of medical

curriculum.