---
title: How I Decided to Become A Nurse Practitioner | ThriveAP
description: Check out my guest blog post for HEALTHeCAREERS where I discuss How I Decided to Become A Nurse Practitioner.  HEALTHeCAREERS assists nurse practitioners and other health professionals in career placement. Growing up, I always wanted to become a physician.  My father is an ER doctor and at home I was constantly exposed to the medical … How I Decided to Become A Nurse Practitioner Read More »
---

[ThriveAP Blog ](https://provider.thriveap.com/blog)

# [How I Decided to Become A Nurse Practitioner | ThriveAP](https://provider.thriveap.com/blog/how-i-decided-become-nurse-practitioner)

 Written by [Erin Tolbert, MSN, FNP-C](https://provider.thriveap.com/blog/author/erin) | Jul 28, 2012 4:00:00 AM

Check out my guest blog post for [HEALTHeCAREERS](https://blog.healthecareers.com/blog/medical-careers/how-i-decided-to-become-a-nurse-practitioner) where I discuss How I Decided to Become A Nurse Practitioner.  HEALTHeCAREERS assists nurse practitioners and other health professionals in career placement.

Growing up, I always wanted to become a physician.  My father is an ER doctor and at home I was constantly exposed to the medical profession.  It sounded exciting, interesting and challenging.  Given my bent for science, it seemed the perfect fit.

With the intent of one day becoming a physician, I enrolled at[ Vanderbilt University](https://thriveap.com/blog/thriveaps-nurse-practitioner-program-month-june-2012), majored in Biology and completed the premed curriculum.  At some point during my sophomore year, I began to have doubts about my career choice.  The thought of completing four years of medical school followed by years of residency was daunting.  I never doubted my work ethic or intellectual ability to complete medical school, but the thought of being a student into my 30’s made me reconsider.

At this point, I began to consider becoming a [physician assistant](https://thriveap.com/blog/nurse-practitioner-vs-physician-assistant-who-has-better-salary).  It seemed like the best of both worlds- a medical career requiring only [two years of graduate schooling](https://thriveap.com/blog/nurse-practitioner-bridge-programs-can-you-really-enroll-np-program-without-rn-degree).  Initially, I did not think about becoming a nurse practitioner because I was not pursuing an undergraduate nursing degree.  I mistakenly thought the nurse practitioner degree path would take me much longer to complete.  Through a friend, I discovered Vanderbilt offered a [nurse practitioner bridge program](https://thriveap.com/blog/nurse-practitioner-bridge-programs-can-you-really-enroll-np-program-without-rn-degree).  With the bridge program, I could complete both my RN and MSN degees in just two full years.

Three years after graduation, I can say without a doubt that I made the right choice.  As a nurse practitioner, I feel that my life has a balance I would not have as a physician.  I have a great job and am able to easily support myself financially while still having time for friends and family.  I would highly recommend the nurse practitioner career to those interested in medicine who have similar reservations about becoming a physician.

Are you interested in becoming a nurse practitioner?  [Nurse practitioner programs](https://thriveap.com/blog/3-things-you-need-ask-when-looking-nurse-practitioner-program) are becoming increasingly flexible and offer evening and weekend courses in addition to online courses to accommodate working students.  Bridge programs, similar to the one I completed at Vanderbilt, allow individuals without nursing degrees to complete nurse practitioner programs at an accelerated pace.  Have questions about becoming a nurse practitioner?  Feel free to contact me!

[View full post](https://provider.thriveap.com/blog/how-i-decided-become-nurse-practitioner)

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