Anyone pursue med school in early 30s? What was your experience like?

[donuthut]

Background on me: I have a pre-med degree but been out of school for 7ish years working in public health and medicine domestically and internationally. So I'm not coming from a completely different industry.

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[M&L]

I did . Totally fine.

 

[Worker_Bee_4952]

In my mid to late 30s through this process as a career changer. No issues.

 

[Ganon]

People value the experience.
One of my classmates was a teenager as an M1 and that comes with some baggage

 

[Bonne Nuit]

Started at 35. Older than most of my classmates, enough for it to be noticeable, but it’s not a really big deal. Having a had previous career has been beneficial in a lot of ways: knowing how to talk to clients, for example, has a lot of direct applicability to communicating with patients. Med school has been pretty good overall.

 

[deleted1109225]

Being in interviews with applicants a decade younger than me is when I realized I am truly at an advantage in some respects and highlighted key differences.

While many were trying to embellish their activities, I had tangible long-term experiences and successes in my career. I could show rather than tell, and I had the security not to feel as if I needed to prove myself.

I haven’t started school yet, but I’ve heard from other geriatric students that the sentiment is shared.

 

[NontradICUdoc]

I was in my early 30's when I started medical school. I really connected with my professors more so than most of my classmates, more importantly I did not care about impressing my classmates. I had a lot of the juvenile and young adult/early 20's tendencies gone and was more focused.

In addition, I felt that the patients connected more with me since they did not see me as some kid.

 

[Dral]

33. Oldest in my class by a year. No issues. Ended up in a competitive specialty and doing great.

 

[wook]

Started med school at 36. No unusual challenges. Had an infant to boot. Couldn't have done it without the support of my spouse.

 

[StressedBiClown]

I'm in my thirties and finishing my first year. Having the time of my life, honestly.

 

[lemonxlime]

I'll be starting medical school at 30 this year. Happy to let you know how my experience goes.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

Background on me: I have a pre-med degree but been out of school for 7ish years now working in public health and medicine domestically and internationally. So I'm not coming from a completely different industry.

Started medical school last year at 49. There some adjustments to make but I was well received by the schools that I interviewed at. Fairly significant number of my classmates are in the early to mid 30s and are career changers. You’d be in good company at my school.

 

[Ganon]

Started medical school last year at 49. There some adjustments to make but I was well received by the schools that I interviewed at. Fairly significant number of my classmates are in the early to mid 30s and are career changers. You’d be in good company at my school.

Finally a med student who is older than me!

 

[BuffaloRiver10]

First year medical student here at 30 and doing very well in my class. It is a constant daily grind, but I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.

 

[donuthut]

Thank you everyone that replied! I really appreciate it! I'm not sure if people will be able to get notified of this response but if there is anything in particular that you thought was pretty vital in pursuing med school as a nontrad please chime in again!? Or anything that made you more successful, gave you more confidence or empowerment please chime in! Thanks!

 

[lostmed]

I'll be starting medical school at 30 this year. Happy to let you know how my experience goes.

Same here!

 

[deleted1129181]

The people in my class who are in their 30s are some of the most well rounded, mature, and popular people I know. On the other hand, there are a couple of people in my class who are super young because they got their GED early or they finished college in 3 years. Let's just say that they are quite the opposite.......

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

I thought you meant the early 1930s at first

 

[lostmed]

Thank you everyone that replied! I really appreciate it! I'm not sure if people will be able to get notified of this response but if there is anything in particular that you thought was pretty vital in pursuing med school as a nontrad please chime in again!? Or anything that made you more successful, gave you more confidence or empowerment please chime in! Thanks!

I had to think on this but my main motivation was truthfully happiness. I spent my entire life thinking I was going into the legal field and was very sure of how my career would go. But then when that love faded and I was more interested in medicine, it was scary but I also wanted to be sure. So for me, even with the interest peaking towards the end of my bachelors, I didn’t go straight to a post-bacc - I actually tried other fields first. I wanted to make sure that I actually loved medicine and wanted to ensure that love couldn’t be easily fulfilled in social work or something similar. So when I actually did that, my choice to pursue medicine was intentional and a conscious decision and wasn’t something I did on a whim.

That was something adcoms seemed to like about me because my decision wasn’t fueled by the influence of my parent’s careers (also a first gen student), it wasn’t something I took lightly, and it was something I knew I wanted to do because I explored other careers and knew this was what I wanted. (I even told a few interviewers that if I stuck with my original career path just for the sake of it, I would be miserable).

I think something that makes me more confident are my life experiences. I know that is probably super cliche but it’s true. I’ve worked since I was 16 from fast food, restaurants, corporations, to social work, home health aide, and hospitals. I’ve done a lot of work that involves knowing how to talk and interact with a lot of different people and I think that, along with knowing how to tell my story, has been a key factor in my success.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

Finally a med student who is older than me!

😂😂😂 Young whippersnapper!

 

[Ganon]

Thank you everyone that replied! I really appreciate it! I'm not sure if people will be able to get notified of this response but if there is anything in particular that you thought was pretty vital in pursuing med school as a nontrad please chime in again!? Or anything that made you more successful, gave you more confidence or empowerment please chime in! Thanks!

You have to come to terms with the fact that the aged body is less likely to tolerate night shifts and all-nighter study sessions than a younger one.

I studied harder, longer than in any of my previous life during M1/M2, but kept a much more normal schedule (rarely got up before 6 or 7, was typically in bed by 11:30). I didn't do a SINGLE all-nighter, while 20 year old me might have if I was in that space.

It can be annoying to take orders from someone half your age, but that's true of any job. I will say that the hierarchy is very concrete in medical education so I felt it more keenly. I am regularly lectured on my previous career (RN) by people who have only been in healthcare for a couple years, but they are higher on the totem pole so it's expected that they are the experts.

The biggest thing I'd say is that despite me being a nontrad I received amazing interview invites and had good conversations with program directors who made it clear that my age was not seen negatively. I don't think anyone was comfortable saying my age was a positive, but they did frame my life experiences as big pluses.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

It's fine, but honestly, you start getting sick of putting up with the bull**** from attendings, but at least this is one of the few jobs where you'll be your own boss

 

[StressedBiClown]

You have to come to terms with the fact that the aged body is less likely to tolerate night shifts and all-nighter study sessions than a younger one.

I studied harder, longer than in any of my previous life during M1/M2, but kept a much more normal schedule (rarely got up before 6 or 7, was typically in bed by 11:30). I didn't do a SINGLE all-nighter, while 20 year old me might have if I was in that space.

It can be annoying to take orders from someone half your age, but that's true of any job. I will say that the hierarchy is very concrete in medical education so I felt it more keenly. I am regularly lectured on my previous career (RN) by people who have only been in healthcare for a couple years, but they are higher on the totem pole so it's expected that they are the experts.

The biggest thing I'd say is that despite me being a nontrad I received amazing interview invites and had good conversations with program directors who made it clear that my age was not seen negatively. I don't think anyone was comfortable saying my age was a positive, but they did frame my life experiences as big pluses.

This right here! I can't pull an all-nighter before an exam and expect my brain do the brain stuff. Some of my classmates in my study group do around one weekly all-nighter and I'll pull a 3-4 hour sleep before an exam on occasion, but even that's really tough. You just wake up one day tired in your thirties and then that's it for the rest of your life, huh?