27yr old accountant thinking about med school

[medskoolmathguy]

I am a 27 year old accountant for a public agency here in CA. I am married and we have a daughter that turned 1 year old in March. I graduated with a degree in math in 2006 but my gpa was not that great since I was working full-time and also had a lot of extended family responsibilities at the time.

I was the valedictorian of my high school in 2000 and received a 4 year scholarship to a state school in Los Angeles. I dreamed about becoming a math/physics researcher and professor for many years but am now seriously considering med school.

Why do you ask? Because my whole life I have always wanted to help people, and seeing especially what my mom is going through now fighting pulmonary fibrosis, I feel that I want be able to directly help people in need, not so much inspire people to study math or physics by being a professor. I think about how a professor or researcher in astronomy, physics or math feels at the end of the day after studying the stars or solving an abstract equation, and it seems very unfulfilling to me.

The only thing that seems fulfilling and makes sense to me now is to become a doctor. I don’t know if it’s the best though. I am looking to get a promotion that pays about $70k a year at my current job, and work pretty much M-F 8-5pm in a very stable place. I spend a lot of time with my daughter and have time to work out and we can actually take vacations now. I am not sure if med school is worth the amount of time I will lose with my daughter in return for becoming a doctor and becoming more indebted with student loans (I owe about $5k from my undergrad).

The other thing is that I don’t have any clinical experience, and only took one course in physics at the college level. Everything else was math and comparative lit (my minor).

Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Thank you all and God bless.

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[later2pharm]

if you are secure money wise now and expect to be in the future, i would not go to med school and instead focus on your daughter. i dont think missing her most crucial years is worth all the money or recognition in the world. i think her sense of well being by having you always around during her childhood and having full memories of her dad when she looks back at her childhood take priority over your needs.

 

[ChairmanMao]

I think you might want to wait until you pay off your loans and your daughter has grown up a few more years until you quit your job and sign up for premed classes. At 27 years, you are not that old and unless your wife is also working, then applying to medical school can get expensive quite fast.

For someone like yourself who hasn't taken the required science classes yet, you will need to take chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, and probably physics (both semesters) along with all the associated lab courses. This could take 2 years (the 1 year of chemistry and 1 year of organic chemistry have to be taken sequentially one after the other) and you may have to spend thousands out of pocket to cover the cost of tuition. After that, you will have to take the MCAT and gain additional volunteering/shadowing/research experience in order to have a better understanding of the medical field and to convince the admission committee that you have a interest in medicine.

Other than that, you should also be aware that gaining admission to medical school is extremely competitive. Last year, the average GPA of accepted applicant was 3.7 and the average MCAT score was a 32 (this corresponds to 85th percentile). In any given application year, only about 40% of applicants are accepted.

I know that it might sound discouraging, but a lot of people have managed to pull this off (change careers in their late 20s, 30s, or 40s, work while they go to school, raise a family), albeit they have done so after a lot of soul searching and months of planning. I would highly suggest that you take several months to mull this through and think about the costs both financially and to your family. If you go down this path, be aware that it will be at least 10 years before you become an attending physician given the fact that medical school is 4 years, medical residency training is another 3-4 years, and you need at least 2 years to complete your pre-requisite classes.

 

[Stratego]

You might start with some clinical volunteering to test the waters, so to speak. If you still have enthusiasm after that, start with one science class and see how it goes. If you have money saved, you could consider a formal (expensive) post-bac program to raise your GPA and get opportunities for research, shadowing, and more clinical exposure, with good carrer counseling. Alternatively, you can do the entire process yourself with an informal post-bac (just take classes at a local four-year school) and seek out the other activites on your own. You're only 27, so there is no rush. Think through the idea carefully and consider the impact on your family.

 

[DrJosephKim]

If you went back to school, would you have a way to continue proving for your family? Would your spouse work?

 

[medskoolmathguy]

Thanks everybody for your advice. My wife works full-time as a teacher and of course with taking care of our daughter. We just bought a house as well, so extra time for studying etc is very limited given the tasks of maintaining a house plus trying to spend time with our daughter.

My bro-in-law is currently attending med school in Mexico, but he doesn't work and is racking up huge amounts of loans.

I have to be able to work full time M-F as I am taking the pre-reqs. The thing is that the pre-reqs would run M-Thur, or Fr from 5-10 at a local cc. I would get NO time to spend with my daughter since I would be doing HW on the weekends.

I REALLY want to be a doctor and like what everyone said, I am only 27 so I wouldn't be so much of a non-traditional. I have jumped around in careers since I graduated in 2006 from college- i went from civil engineering to currently accounting, but I feel taht these are just jobs, where as becoming a doctor is the most rewarding CAREER that I would cherish.

 

[dragonfly99]

I don't think your schedule works out...either cut back your work hours, or take only 1 premed course at a time. The worst thing you could do is to screw up your GPA. I also would favor taking your prerequisites at a 4 year university, preferably one that has a track record of sending people to med school, but for some medical schools they may not require that. Some will not accept community college credits, or may not take them as seriously. Make sure you are not grasping @med school just b/c your brother in law is doing it and it sounds cool.

 

[medskoolmathguy]

You know initially I thought to myself why I want to be a doctor- and although my bro in law is going to become one for his own reasons, my reasons are that I feel that I really want to help people medically. I think there is no nobler profession that impacts a person, maybe except a teacher but I know now that I am not cut out for that.

I am also afraid taht like my other careers, I will get tired of medicine and want to move on- but won't be able to bc of the huge amount of loans that I will have accumulated. I just really feel that this is the best profession to help people in, and I think I am pretty smart and can do well in it.

My past jobs have not had the WOW and HELP PEOPLE factor in them. Becoming a doctor for me in this sense is the ultimate WOW.

 

[ChairmanMao]

You know initially I thought to myself why I want to be a doctor- and although my bro in law is going to become one for his own reasons, my reasons are that I feel that I really want to help people medically. I think there is no nobler profession that impacts a person, maybe except a teacher but I know now that I am not cut out for that.

I am also afraid taht like my other careers, I will get tired of medicine and want to move on- but won't be able to bc of the huge amount of loans that I will have accumulated. I just really feel that this is the best profession to help people in, and I think I am pretty smart and can do well in it.

My past jobs have not had the WOW and HELP PEOPLE factor in them. Becoming a doctor for me in this sense is the ultimate WOW.

I'm kind of concerned now that you mentioned that you're not cut-out to be a teacher and that you've switched career so many times. My undertanding is that graduated from college at 24 or 25 after switching from civil engineering to accounting. Now it seems that you feel accounting isn't right for you and you're trying to switch out of accounting. Right now, you're loans haven't been paid off yet and you've just bought a house. It sounds to me like you're right about ready to settle down. How about if you take some time and work at your job for a few more years so that you can get into the hang of it before switching careers. You still have loans to pay off and you're not going to get another shot at raising you're daughter.

I suggest that you take some time (a few months) and think about these things - do some soul searching. If you're still interested in medicine, maybe you should sign up to do some hospital volunteering or physician shadowing just to get a basic feel for what it's like to work at a hospital. You still have a few years ahead of you and at 27, you still have time to find a career that is a right fit for you.

 

[sindadel]

Take your time to find out if this is what you want. Also, explore ways in which you can help people as an accountant. You would perhaps be surprised to discover how many local grassroots organizations are desperate for someone competent to be their treasurer (or consultant to their treasurer). A head for numbers and a passion for helping people is certainly a valuable combination. Do some shadowing at a local free clinic, perhaps. Find out if you actually like working with patients.

Good luck. And take your time evaluating this path. Be aware that medical schools will also be concerned that you may be a career switcher. In order to be accepted to medical school, you would have to really convince them that this passion has organically grown out of your previous life.

 

[later2pharm]

this might help you. the last part at least.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/abinaz...go-to-medical-school-a-gleefully-biased-rant/