How old where you when you entered med School O' ye non trads

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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AfriqueDMD

AfriqueDMD

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Hello,

I am currently in the millitary and have been considering a career in the medical feild for about 20 yrs now. I just turned 29 and I will be 32 when I get out of the military to pursue my dream. My question to all you non-trads out there is what was or will be your ages when you got into medical school. I do not care when I start med school. This came up when I seriously started talking to my girlfriend about it. She said that the process was a long one(which I already know) and I was too old to start now. She wasnt trying to put me down, but didnt want me to feel bad when I appear to be the 'oldest guy in the class'. I assured her that it didnt matter to me. So, I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to ask my fellow non-trads this question. At least to show the girlfriend that I am not the only one thats crazy enough to drop everything to go to medical school. Thank you in advance for your replies.
 
29 and I am an M1 at USF COM. We have a lot of older students in my class including 41, 40, 37, 35, 33, 32, 29 and about 1/4 of the class is over 25.
 
I'll be 28 my first year.
 
started at 36 and was in fact the oldest in my class. Hey, somebody has to be the oldest, it's not a big deal.
 
I'll be 26 when i apply and hopefully 27 when i start. 🙂
 
I'll be 33 when I apply and hopefully 34 when I start.
 
Applied at 31, will start at 32.
 
I was 33 when I started, 37 at graduation, will be 41 when I complete my anesthesiology residency & 42 when I complete my critical care medicine fellowship. A 9 year journey from registered respiratory therapist to double boarded anesthesiologist/intensivist. A very intense ride!
 
AfriqueMD said:
Hello,

I am currently in the millitary and have been considering a career in the medical feild for about 20 yrs now. I just turned 29 and I will be 32 when I get out of the military to pursue my dream. My question to all you non-trads out there is what was or will be your ages when you got into medical school. I do not care when I start med school. This came up when I seriously started talking to my girlfriend about it. She said that the process was a long one(which I already know) and I was too old to stard now. She wasnt trying to put me down, but didnt want me to feel bad when I appear to be the 'oldest guy in the class'. I assured her that it didnt matter to me. So, I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to ask my fellow non-trads this question. At least to show the girlfriend that I am not the only one thats crazy enough to drop everything to go to medical school. Thank you in advance for your replies.
Click to expand...

I started at 36. The oldest gent in my class started at age 50. We had several in my class that started in their mid-40s.

Wook
 
I'll be 32 when I start this fall. 🙂
 
32 unless I defer for a year!
 
How many years do you have? If you’re over ten, consider staying.

There have been many times, prior to matriculation, when everything seemed to fall out of place that I pondered about what my career would look like if I would have reenlisted. Let’s see, E7 by now, probably WO or OCS if the cards were dealt that way. This is of course while starving, working as a research assistant full time while getting a biology MS.

Think seriously about it. Don’t let others defer you if you have the fire in the heart. I made it and others have too.
 
I will start medical school this fall at the age of 51!
 
I started Med school at 28, will be done with Anesthesiology by 36 if no fellowship. There were plenty of older people than me in my class. Good luck.
 
live2theedge said:
I will start medical school this fall at the age of 51!
Click to expand...

Rock on! I need to think of you when I start my "what if I'm too ooollllldddddd. . ." self-doubt. . .
 
AfriqueMD said:
Hello,

I am currently in the millitary and have been considering a career in the medical feild for about 20 yrs now. I just turned 29 and I will be 32 when I get out of the military to pursue my dream. My question to all you non-trads out there is what was or will be your ages when you got into medical school. I do not care when I start med school. This came up when I seriously started talking to my girlfriend about it. She said that the process was a long one(which I already know) and I was too old to stard now. She wasnt trying to put me down, but didnt want me to feel bad when I appear to be the 'oldest guy in the class'. I assured her that it didnt matter to me. So, I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to ask my fellow non-trads this question. At least to show the girlfriend that I am not the only one thats crazy enough to drop everything to go to medical school. Thank you in advance for your replies.
Click to expand...

31 yo when I started a year long post bacc (also post military)
33 when i started school
Currently just about done with 1st year

If your current circumstances allow it, you might try to get some of the pre-reqs taken care of on AD (if you even need them). It might help ease the transition. Good luck
 
Now I know where to go when I feel old. 😉 I'll be matriculating this fall and turning 29 this December.
 
33 and I know several other thirty-somethings who will be starting with me this fall.
 
live2theedge said:
I will start medical school this fall at the age of 51!
Click to expand...


YOU are an inspiration to us all! You & another friend of mine - you know her too - are tied for the oldest that I know personally to start medical school.
 
OldManDave said:
YOU are an inspiration to us all! You & another friend of mine - you know her too - are tied for the oldest that I know personally to start medical school.
Click to expand...
Congratulations to live2theedge! Can I consider myself to be somewhat inspirational? :laugh: I will be 44 when classes start in August, but less than three weeks later the odometer will turn over to 45. Don't know if I'm the oldest in my class yet or not, because I understand that I was not the oldest person interviewed. Doesn't matter - it's exactly the right time in my life and I am tickled crimson.

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine - Class of 2010
 
Well, I was 32 when I started podiatry school, finished that and started DO school when I was 42.
 
AfriqueMD said:
Hello,

I am currently in the millitary and have been considering a career in the medical feild for about 20 yrs now. I just turned 29 and I will be 32 when I get out of the military to pursue my dream. My question to all you non-trads out there is what was or will be your ages when you got into medical school. I do not care when I start med school. This came up when I seriously started talking to my girlfriend about it. She said that the process was a long one(which I already know) and I was too old to stard now. She wasnt trying to put me down, but didnt want me to feel bad when I appear to be the 'oldest guy in the class'. I assured her that it didnt matter to me. So, I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to ask my fellow non-trads this question. At least to show the girlfriend that I am not the only one thats crazy enough to drop everything to go to medical school. Thank you in advance for your replies.
Click to expand...


I am 29 now and will matriculate in July..... I turn 30 in december.
 
I was 38 when I started :meanie:
 
Starting this August.....28 with two kids, a wife, a house note, car notes and a laudry list of other worries.

You will be fine
 
I am 29 and counting and headed to U of MD this year. Age is nothing but a state of mind so if this is what you really want to do with your life go for it. My guess is that you will be four years older in four years whether or not you go to medical school or not. If you go, at least you will be a physician afterwards. 😀 Plus age and maturity is a positive attribute not a negative one.

PS- Congrats to all those "Old Heads" who are moving on to the next level. I wish you all the best of luck.
 
I will be a month short of my 26th birthday when I start this fall. All of this is a process, and we'll be able to practice until the day we die anyways, so forget age and be happy!
 
Thank you all of you that took time out of your busy day to respond to my thread. I had no idea that it would have taken off like this. To Chrisjohn, you asked me if I was over 10yrs in. I am at nine and just got picked up for a commission. this will put me to 12yrs in. I have been seriously considering retireing and then going to med school, I even thought about doing the HPSP thing. I went to the military medicine forum and I must say, there are many pissed off people there. I know the quality of medical professionals in the military can be questionable due to the lack of funding and bad management. I just dont want to embark on this jorney of a lifetime(literally) to be considered a quack. This is why i believe I will get out and pursue my lifelong goal. If there are any military docs that see this please give me your input. I fear for my life if I post a thread in the military medicine forum. I am not kidding when i say that there are many disgruntled people there.

Yay! Non-trads!!
 
Started my post bac at 30, med school at 31 and will be 2 weeks shy of 35 when I graduate in 15 days baby!
 
Applied @ age 26 and starting med school @ 27 😛
 
AfriqueMD said:
I fear for my life if I post a thread in the military medicine forum. I am not kidding when i say that there are many disgruntled people there.
Click to expand...

I have to say that's an understatement. 😱

Also take looks at USUHS and FAP, both tempting me at the moment as good deals for the prior-service type... and if you're stationed in a good state for med school, switch your state residency at least a year before you apply!

While I was on my last duty station, I decided to shadow a pathologist (since I was a little leery of patient contact with anybody that I currently did or someday might supervise.) I talked to the techs at the lab, got the dirt on which pathologist was nice and approachable, and started taking my lunch hour late once a week to watch him work.

Now that I'm out, all the civilian hospitals cite privacy issues and won't let me shadow anybody, so if you want a medical/pediatric subspecialty or a surgical specialty, you might want to poke around on base and see what you can do now. I kind of wish now that I'd looked at a pediatric subspecialist while I was active. It'll also give you the chance to make the military-medicine decision in person instead of relying on emotionally charged second hand accounts. And it'll look good to the adcomms in a few years.

Oh, and to answer the original question, I'll be 29 when I start *knock on wood*. As long as people live now, I don't really see how a person can do only one career all his life. You're seriously not too old.

-Pemberley
 
Congrats on OCS. Ironic you mention it; my packet was selected just prior to ETS, the board is funny like that. I chose medicine rather than OCS, but your mileage may differ. I had five years in so it was a lot different for me.

You are in the military, so you know what it's like. MDs don't get treated as well as they do in the civilian world, but again it’s the military, no one ever claimed it would rock. Anyone who's been prior service knows the score. You have to decide if after doing what it takes to matriculate and complete medical school, do you want to hand over your hard won autonomy and skills to an institution that values only the skill set and seeks to exploit you. Think about being subject to stop loss, FOREVER.

It’s your trip around the block, do what you want.
 
I'll be 32 when I apply, hopefully will start when I'm 33 ~

Before I was referred to this site, I thought I was pursuing a nearly impossible goal. But now I am confident that it is attainable if I work hard enough 🙂
 
This fall, I'll be an MS1 at 35. Shoot, according to some of the posts on this thread, I'm considered a mere baby. 😀 I'm glad to see thirty-, forty-, and fifty- somethings in med school achieving their goals.
 
AfriqueMD said:
Hello,

I am currently in the millitary and have been considering a career in the medical feild for about 20 yrs now. I just turned 29 and I will be 32 when I get out of the military to pursue my dream. My question to all you non-trads out there is what was or will be your ages when you got into medical school. I do not care when I start med school. This came up when I seriously started talking to my girlfriend about it. She said that the process was a long one(which I already know) and I was too old to start now. She wasnt trying to put me down, but didnt want me to feel bad when I appear to be the 'oldest guy in the class'. I assured her that it didnt matter to me. So, I just wanted to take this oppurtunity to ask my fellow non-trads this question. At least to show the girlfriend that I am not the only one thats crazy enough to drop everything to go to medical school. Thank you in advance for your replies.
Click to expand...

I'll turn 30 this summer, and start med school a few weeks later. Your girlfriend is probably saying things like "but you'll be 40 by the time you're a doctor!". Well, remember - you'll be 40 anyway. Do you want to be a 40-year-old doctor, or be 40 and not be a doctor? Tell her it'll stave off the ol' midlife crisis ("I didn't do what I really wanted to do" is the common theme, after all).

I suspect that a lot of the kids you'll be going to school with will actually be very friendly (maybe a bit awed) by you. You may not be able to discuss the same things with them as you do with your older friends, but I doubt you'll be a pariah. Good luck!!!!
 
I was 29 when I left the Army and 31 when I started med school. Graduating in 12 days at 35 🙂
 
If you really want to be a doctor then go for it!!!

I started at 37 and I am not the oldest in my class.

Stay young everyone!
 
Hopefully, this is not just for pre-meds! I'm a 33 year "young" pre-dent and I will finish up my pre-reqs next year, apply to Dental school in 2007 for entrance on 2008 and graduate when I'm 39 (I'll be 40 that July) And residency is not required, so off to work I'll go!! You are all inspiring!

DrIWannaBe
 
BostonDO said:
This fall, I'll be an MS1 at 35. Shoot, according to some of the posts on this thread, I'm considered a mere baby. 😀 I'm glad to see thirty-, forty-, and fifty- somethings in med school achieving their goals.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and the ones I'm familiar with are from UNECOM. Having a diversity in age makes for a very fun and interesting class!!

Wook
 
trustwomen said:
Do you want to be a 40-year-old doctor, or be 40 and not be a doctor?
Click to expand...
I don't recommend being 40 and not being a doctor - if you know that being a doctor is what you're supposed to be doing with the rest of your life. That's why I started pre-reqs at 42. I'm just a little slow, that's all... :laugh:
 
43 when I start. I will have a freshman and sophmore in colllege and a 13 and 14 year old at home. Giving up the mom thing for the doctor thing. Dad is now in charge.
 
Dr IWannaBe said:
Hopefully, this is not just for pre-meds! I'm a 33 year "young" pre-dent and I will finish up my pre-reqs next year, apply to Dental school in 2007 for entrance on 2008 and graduate when I'm 39 (I'll be 40 that July) And residency is not required, so off to work I'll go!! You are all inspiring!

DrIWannaBe
Click to expand...
You are so very welcome to this thread. I am very inspired by all of you. You did not just sit down and let life pass you by. You took things by the horns and ARE making things happen. I put emphasis on the "ARE" because a lot of people say that they are gonna do something to change their lives but never take the necessary steps to actually do it. Later, most are filled with regret. That is why I am gonna drop everything and face this head-on so that in the end I will help save lives and know that I did it.
:horns: Non-Trads!
 
If I get in this cycle, I'll be 26 my first year. 😀

Yay non-trads! You guys are so awesome.
 
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