How old is too old?

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I Am Error

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A little background on myself: I'm 31 years old, and I've worked in the medical field for nearly 10 years. Currently, I'm working towards a BSEE--I expect to be finished with that in 2013. Being realistic, I would at a minimum be 34 years old when beginning medical school. I'm primarily interested in radiation oncology, so I'd be well into my 40's before (if) I completed all of my formal preliminary training.

I've pretty well made up my mind, but I'm just curious as to what other people's experiences and thoughts are on this.
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I think NuttyEngDude was kidding. ;)

I'm 35 and planning to matriculate in 2013, so there you go! We won't be retiring young; that's for sure. :) The money is a concern because you don't want to be in debt literally forever, so I am hoping to get into a state school and come out with 1/4 the debt of going private or OOS.

edit: I just saw that you weren't truly mad at Nutty. Oops!
 
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craftyconqueror said:
I think NuttyEngDude was kidding. ;)

I'm 35 and planning to matriculate in 2013, so there you go! We won't be retiring young; that's for sure. :) The money is a concern because you don't want to be in debt literally forever, so I am hoping to get into a state school and come out with 1/4 the debt of going private or OOS.

edit: I just saw that you weren't truly mad at Nutty. Oops!
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I'm with you there. My in-state options are limited, but that's the first door I intend to go knocking on.
 
Then also check which states allow residency after the first year. I believe in TX you can claim if you've owned property for a year, but I read that in FL that is not possible.

Hopefully you can get a few cheap years in! ;)
 
craftyconqueror said:
Then also check which states allow residency after the first year. I believe in TX you can claim if you've owned property for a year, but I read that in FL that is not possible.

Hopefully you can get a few cheap years in! ;)
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Truth
 
If this helps at all, I go to a US allopathic school and there are 2 women in my class who started at 37 year old. They are doing well and really glad they made the decision to go into medicine. So, no you are not too old. I think most admissions committee consider 40 to be a cut off but if you will be applying at 34, you are fine. You will work it out and you will be happy you did it!
 
Julietcf14 said:
If this helps at all, I go to a US allopathic school and there are 2 women in my class who started at 37 year old. They are doing well and really glad they made the decision to go into medicine. So, no you are not too old. I think most admissions committee consider 40 to be a cut off but if you will be applying at 34, you are fine. You will work it out and you will be happy you did it!
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Ha ha - no!:D I started medical school at 44 and am now a second year surgical resident. There are plenty of admission committees who think 40+ is just fine. IIRC, I was accepted to at least four schools.
 
I Am Error said:
A little background on myself: I'm 31 years old, and I've worked in the medical field for nearly 10 years. Currently, I'm working towards a BSEE--I expect to be finished with that in 2013. Being realistic, I would at a minimum be 34 years old when beginning medical school. I'm primarily interested in radiation oncology, so I'd be well into my 40's before (if) I completed all of my formal preliminary training.

I've pretty well made up my mind, but I'm just curious as to what other people's experiences and thoughts are on this.
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you're not too old. question answered. :)


drgioiadds said:
35 year old starting next summer!
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congrats!
 
DogzRool said:
Ha ha - no!:D I started medical school at 44 and am now a second year surgical resident. There are plenty of admission committees who think 40+ is just fine. IIRC, I was accepted to at least four schools.
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That's actually really good to know. I know my school has kind of a soft 40 cutoff but i guess you are right. A friend from my post bac class was 41 when he applied to Pitt and he was accepted (starting residency this year) but the short answer is you are definitely not too old!!!!

Oh and good luck because medicine is awesome! And after having another career (9-5 desk job) I think I appreciate working in medicine even more than some of my traditional med student peers!
 
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I Am Error said:
A little background on myself: I'm 31 years old, and I've worked in the medical field for nearly 10 years. Currently, I'm working towards a BSEE--I expect to be finished with that in 2013. Being realistic, I would at a minimum be 34 years old when beginning medical school. I'm primarily interested in radiation oncology, so I'd be well into my 40's before (if) I completed all of my formal preliminary training.

I've pretty well made up my mind, but I'm just curious as to what other people's experiences and thoughts are on this.
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I have a BSEE, was 34 when I started med school (2nd year now) and will likely be doing a fellowship --> I also will be in my 40's before I am "done". I'm biased, of course; but I think it isn't that big of a deal being older. Good luck
 
Not too old.
One thing to consider, rad onc is a very hard field to get into.
Just based on numbers, it is very likely you won't match into this field.

Make sure there are other things you'd like doing as well.
 
I'm hoping to start at 29. We'll see how apps go this cycle.

One of my MD/PHD friends had a girl in their class at 55. Yikes.
 
OP, You are not old at all. In fact you will be mature enough to go thru medical school. I think i read in another thread that some guy at the age of 52 just got in :eek:
 
gman33 said:
Not too old.
One thing to consider, rad onc is a very hard field to get into.
Just based on numbers, it is very likely you won't match into this field.

Make sure there are other things you'd like doing as well.
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I just love when students talk about how "it is likely you won't match". I realll believe you should always go after your passion. If you really love a certain specialty, get to know people in the field, and do enough research they will be happy to work with you. By the way, there are 2 people in my class who are 50 and they are both awesome and energetic.
 
take the shot said:
I just love when students talk about how "it is likely you won't match". I realll believe you should always go after your passion. If you really love a certain specialty, get to know people in the field, and do enough research they will be happy to work with you. By the way, there are 2 people in my class who are 50 and they are both awesome and energetic.
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It's fine to "go after your passion" but you have to be realistic too. The odds are high that even if you do above average in med school, there will be a few of the highly competitive fields that may still be out of your grasp. Rad Onc, Derm, plastics are current examples that only a small fraction of those interested will get. Not a good idea to go to med school if you'd only be happy in one of the uber competitive niches. You have to be someone who will be happy being a doctor even if he can't be in a particular specialty because odds are very good that you will spend $200k in debt and 4 tough years and have a very different subset of specialties open to you at the end of the road. That's just the reality of the situation. The skill-sets from college don't always translate as well to med school, to some extent you are learning how to learn, and it takes different people longer to get a handle on things, so it's not often just an issue of "studying harder". And the competition within your class for the more competitive things is stiffer than you will have seen in college. All the "average" folks who made you look good in college have been weeded out by admissions. Plus the grading after the first two years isn't as objective, so doing well isn't as much under your control after that point. Basically I'm saying go to med school if you want to be a doctor, not a rad Onc doctor. Once you do well in med school you can take stock in your options and see which subspecialty you like most. But if you couldn't see yourself happy in a less competitive specialty I probably wouldn't advise applying because most people who want rad onc won't get it, and it's hard to justify $200k in debt and 4 years of hard work if it's very unlikely you will be happy at the other end. I routinely advise folks not to go into medicine if there is only one, competitive specialty they would be happy in (usually it's derm on the preallo board, but rad onc, plastics, ortho fit the bill too). If instead you would be happy as an internist but ecstatic as a radiation oncologist, then more power to you.
 
I think it depends on where you are coming from.

For example, I'm 28 and I have never had a "career." I have pretty much been a student since 2001 and I've had a few jobs only. When I apply in two or three years, I will be a non-trad in the sense that I will just be an older student and not a career-changer. For me, I would say that once I hit 33, I would really need to evaluate if this is something that is going to happen or not and make my final moves. Up until 33, I can make the commitment for four years of schooling and at least three years of training. Beyond that, I think I will be sabotaging my life in that I will be putting off a lot of things that are equally important to me as studying medicine.

However, if I graduated college at 22 and I already had a career that paid well and I was not in a whole lot of debt, I think the upper limit could be much higher. I don't see how you couldn't study medicine in your 40's without making many sacrifices.

I think the issue of "How Old?" is strictly a financial concern. I think if you have a dream to study medicine and you are doing it for the right reasons, you should pursue those dreams.

Realistically though, I think that once you hit your mid 40's, studying medicine is not really cost-effective for most people. Also, do you really think you will make a big impact in this field once you are in your early 50's?
 
I think 70-80 is too old...
 
Thank you for all the thoughtful responses and feedback in this thread.

Addressing the radiation oncology concerns--it's not an all-or-nothing mentality for me, although I would consider radiation oncology my "dream match". As a matter of fact, before I started seriously considering medical school I was leaning the grad school route for medical/radiation physics; but the post-graduate education for that field is almost as time-intensive as physician training, and the rewards are not as great. I'm not naive, though. Assuming I'm even accepted into and complete medical school, I know there's a very good chance I wouldn't be matched into a rad onc residency. Might as well give it a shot though, right? It's not like I'm going to cry myself to sleep at night after the achievement of finishing medical school and becoming a licensed physician. Even if that means "just" being an internist.
 
Look at the CV's of Rad Onc physicians and post them around your bedroom walls for motivation.
 
When I turned ten I thought 20 was old; when I turned 20 I thought 30 was old; when I turned 30 I thought...

Seriously, I think it takes some maturity in life to really understand passion and commitment. I just wish medical education in the US (the "schooling" part) could be shortened.
 
I Am Error said:
A little background on myself: I'm 31 years old, and I've worked in the medical field for nearly 10 years. Currently, I'm working towards a BSEE--I expect to be finished with that in 2013. Being realistic, I would at a minimum be 34 years old when beginning medical school. I'm primarily interested in radiation oncology, so I'd be well into my 40's before (if) I completed all of my formal preliminary training.

I've pretty well made up my mind, but I'm just curious as to what other people's experiences and thoughts are on this.
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I'm 48 and MS1. I have a 50 year old classmate.

But don't set you sights on a selective residency. Med school is a big pond and you are going to discover that you are a very small frog. If you aren't willing to accept a lower-status specialty - don't start.
 
I Am Error said:
I'm not naive, though. Assuming I'm even accepted into and complete medical school, I know there's a very good chance I wouldn't be matched into a rad onc residency. Might as well give it a shot though, right? It's not like I'm going to cry myself to sleep at night after the achievement of finishing medical school and becoming a licensed physician. Even if that means "just" being an internist.
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Well, somebody's got to match, right? Might as well be you! :D
 
I am in the exact same shoes and have consulted with many doctors, advisors, and medical school reps and this is the general response..."You have to live those years doing SOMETHING so do it doing something you LOVE". I encourage you 100%.
 
I started my first year in August at the age of 51 and will turn 52 next week. I think that picking an age and proclaiming it to be too old is ignorant. Each person's motivation and position must be taken into account. I am not doing this for financial reasons. I had a successful career and could have kept earning good money at it. I believe that I can better serve my fellow man as a primary care physician than in my prior profession. If I was seeking a path that required a long residency and was doing it for the money, I might declare myself to be too old. I hope to be able to contribute my skills to my community beyond the traditional age of retirement, God willing. Trust me, your idea of what is old or too old is a moving target that moves farther out as you get farther down the line. Good luck to all the mature students out there.
 
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