35 female with 3 kids, BA in Econ...

[ptm33]

Actually, turning 36 in 2 weeks.

No experience in medical field except some volunteering in hospitals' children wards and nursing homes during my oh so carefree pre-kids days. Uh, my duties, though, were cleaning books and distributing bingo cards.

No science prereqs done except highschool HL/IB/AP level science classes.

Bachelor degree in Economics GPA: 3.0

A lot of extracirricular activities during college and highschool including volunteering in orphanage, schools in slums, etc. Still have good relationships with those establishments & community leaders (I have also been donating a lot to them).

Have already saved up enough money for 3 children all the way through their college and medschool tuition for myself and childcare. (Have passive income from stocks, bonds, and investments. Financial resource is not an issue).

I thought I had put the nail on the coffin after 3 kids (age: 1, 3, 5) but after this coronavirus thing, I am regressing to the thoughts of pursuing a career in healthcare again... firstly, thinking of becoming a nurse but then, like last time... this escalated to: really, yolo, if I am gonna spend money and time away from kids, might as well MD/DO. So dang it.. reopening my medschool app notes and relogging into SDN.

Pls shoot at me with advices or just simply shoot me down. I need a reality check.

If any member can relate to this at all, please share your thoughts and experience.

Interested in:
- Geriatrics & palliative care
- Pediatrics
- OB/GYN

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[HopefulPilot]

The road is brutal, full of hurdles that can derail you. But it has been very rewarding. You have to decide for yourself how much time and commitment you’re willing to endured. 2-3 years for prereqs and mcat. Year to apply. If you get in on the first shot, you’re looking at 40. 44 at graduation. 48 finishing residency.

Or, find other healthcare fields that appeal to you. Counselor, therapist, nurse, midwife, etc. complete a two year masters and you’re helping patients at 38 and didn’t miss your children's childhood.

 

[DocJanItor]

Actually, turning 36 in 2 weeks.

No experience in medical field except some volunteering in hospitals' children wards and nursing homes during my oh so carefree pre-kids days. Uh, my duties, though, were cleaning books and distributing bingo cards.

No science prereqs done except highschool HL/IB/AP level science classes.

Bachelor degree in Economics GPA: 3.0

A lot of extracirricular activities during college and highschool including volunteering in orphanage, schools in slums, etc. Still have good relationships with those establishments & community leaders (I have also been donating a lot to them).

Have already saved up enough money for 3 children all the way through their college and medschool tuition for myself and childcare. (Have passive income from stocks, bonds, and investments. Financial resource is not an issue).

I thought I had put the nail on the coffin after 3 kids (age: 1, 3, 5) but after this coronavirus thing, I am regressing to the thoughts of pursuing a career in healthcare again... firstly, thinking of becoming a nurse but then, like last time... this escalated to: really, yolo, if I am gonna spend money and time away from kids, might as well MD/DO. So dang it.. reopening my medschool app notes and relogging into SDN.

Pls shoot at me with advices or just simply shoot me down. I need a reality check.

If any member can relate to this at all, please share your thoughts and experience.

Interested in:
- Geriatrics & palliative care
- Pediatrics
- OB/GYN

I'm nearly 40 and I'll graduate next year. I started my premed studies when I was 33, no kids, and had been dating my future wife less than a year. I had all the time in the world and no worries about money. We got married 2 years before I started med school and had a baby at the end of M1. And I'd do it all again.

However, if I had to start this journey with 3 kids depending on me and the amount of time I had to sacrifice just to get to med school, let alone med school itself, there's no way I'd do it.

It's your choice, but it's a tremendous sacrifice for your entire family. I'm not saying it wouldn't be worth it in the end, but you might find it harder than I did and MUCH harder than these kids just out of college and no one to rely on.

I'll qualify this to say there's a woman in my class who is just a bit older than me with 3 kids and she's done phenomenally, but even she admit that it has significant costs.

 

[Blazers_33]

I am married with children (all around same age as yours), in my first year of school. My spouse stays home/takes care of the kids while I am studying, but I think I can shed a little light.

If you go the MD route, your kids will probably have to be in daycare A LOT, but not as much first and second year. I don't see my kids or spouse as much as I would like, and when I do its usually when I am exhausted after staring at my computer screen studying all day. But its not AS bad as everyone says it is. Most of my classmates study probably like 8 hours on weekdays around whatever mandatory nonsense our school has us do (now remotely due to COVID). Kind of like a normal job with a little more time added on. Obviously a lot of this has changed with the pandemic situation now, but we will see what happens.

3rd year however will be much worse as you have to do nights and your schedule is kinda controlled by the hospital or wherever you are rotating. then there is residency where you are putting in easily 60-80 hrs or more, which is difficult even for single people with no kids and no other responsibilities

being on the other side and thinking about your situation.....I probably wouldn't do med school. Not probably...I for sure wouldn't do it. Just not worth it to me. You won't have any debt apparently which is awesome, but it will be at least 10 years before you are done (if you choose the shortest residency of 3 years) by which time you will be almost 50 and children will be growing up. attending life won't be suddenly easier either I assume. RN or NP would provide a significant opportunity to care for patients without the massive time strain of med school.

But its your decision obviously, let me know if you have any questions about being a parent in school

 

[catlady87]

You don’t mention a partner or family support. Although money can certainly make things a lot easier when it comes to childcare, I’d still say this path is hard to do with children without a committed partner or other close family support. Starting in your third year of med school, you’ll need childcare before 6 am, overnight (we do nights at my school on certain services), weekends, etc. I suppose you can make it work with a combination of several nannies or daycare + an aupair or something like that, but just something keep in mind that traditional childcare hours aren’t nearly enough for med school and especially physician responsibilities.

Unfortunately, your GPA is low for med school, so you’ll need to ace your pre-requisites and the MCAT. And then do all the other things of course - volunteering, clinical experience, perhaps some research (this is hard to get for non-trads in my experience and probably not as necessary). If it were me, I would try to get my application ready for June 2022 - I think the 2021 cycle is cutting it too close. Schools value longitudinal experiences so I’d work on starting to get some clinical experience now, which will also help you figure out if this is really what you want. I started med school at 31 and love it and have not had any doubts or regrets, but it is hard work and not fun every day and so you want to make sure you are really committed. It’s a lot of delayed gratification and also a huge expense with lots of opportunity cost in addition to the tuition, so especially if you’re already financially secure, make sure you’re ready to work this hard for no/low income for probably a decade.

My oldest classmates started in their mid-late thirties but a friend of mine started in his 40s so it’s certainly possible. Your age may be a hard sell to some schools but others will find your background very interesting. When you’re ready to apply, research which schools have a reputation for being friendly to non-traditional students.

 

[nontradpremed0171]

Actually, turning 36 in 2 weeks.

No experience in medical field except some volunteering in hospitals' children wards and nursing homes during my oh so carefree pre-kids days. Uh, my duties, though, were cleaning books and distributing bingo cards.

No science prereqs done except highschool HL/IB/AP level science classes.

Bachelor degree in Economics GPA: 3.0

A lot of extracirricular activities during college and highschool including volunteering in orphanage, schools in slums, etc. Still have good relationships with those establishments & community leaders (I have also been donating a lot to them).

Have already saved up enough money for 3 children all the way through their college and medschool tuition for myself and childcare. (Have passive income from stocks, bonds, and investments. Financial resource is not an issue).

I thought I had put the nail on the coffin after 3 kids (age: 1, 3, 5) but after this coronavirus thing, I am regressing to the thoughts of pursuing a career in healthcare again... firstly, thinking of becoming a nurse but then, like last time... this escalated to: really, yolo, if I am gonna spend money and time away from kids, might as well MD/DO. So dang it.. reopening my medschool app notes and relogging into SDN.

Pls shoot at me with advices or just simply shoot me down. I need a reality check.

If any member can relate to this at all, please share your thoughts and experience.

Interested in:
- Geriatrics & palliative care
- Pediatrics
- OB/GYN

Hi ptm33,
I am in a very similar if not the same situation as you. I am starting my post-bacc this fall, also a non-trad, business major with cGPA of 3.0.
It sounds like at some point, you were interested in medicine, and ended up with an Econ degree?
I started as a Bio major with 3.71 and ended up with a business degree with 3.0.
In terms of reality check: your reality is yours and don't let others discourage you. There are many factors that go into pursuing medicine, and "age" should be the very last thing deterring you from it. It sounds like you are prepared financially which itself is an accomplishments already since most MS graduate with half million in debt!
However, It is extremely important to be honest with yourself. At first you wanted nursing, but now MD. What about nursing interested you? Why did you change your mind to MD? If its just about time and money invested, then think more. Time and money should not be the sole drivers of why you changed your mind from Nursing to MD/DO. Reflect on what you truly feel passionate about. I am happy to share with you my learnings in this journey so far, feel free to message me directly, if you want to talk more.

 

[HopefulPilot]

Hi ptm33,
I am in a very similar if not the same situation as you. I am starting my post-bacc this fall, also a non-trad, business major with cGPA of 3.0.
It sounds like at some point, you were interested in medicine, and ended up with an Econ degree?
I started as a Bio major with 3.71 and ended up with a business degree with 3.0.
In terms of reality check: your reality is yours and don't let others discourage you. There are many factors that go into pursuing medicine, and "age" should be the very last thing deterring you from it. It sounds like you are prepared financially which itself is an accomplishments already since most MS graduate with half million in debt!
However, It is extremely important to be honest with yourself. At first you wanted nursing, but now MD. What about nursing interested you? Why did you change your mind to MD? If its just about time and money invested, then think more. Time and money should not be the sole drivers of why you changed your mind from Nursing to MD/DO. Reflect on what you truly feel passionate about. I am happy to share with you my learnings in this journey so far, feel free to message me directly, if you want to talk more.

Age should certainly be considered when Pursuing a 10+ year training program.

 

[xDNA]

@ptm33

I think you should definitely take some time to really self-reflect on your decision to pursue MD/DO versus other healthcare professions.
If all goes well I'll be 26 at matriculation, married with one child, but if I were in your position I probably wouldn't go MD/DO to be very honest.

I'm currently a RN who works in a level 4 NICU and prior to deciding to pursue medicine I was flirting with the idea of becoming a Neonatal NP.
If you do decide to look at other options outside of MD/DO I would recommend learning about Nurse Practitioners and their scope of practice to see if you that would satisfy your need to join the wonderful world of healthcare professionals. If NP does interest you I would encourage you to seek information from Vanderbilt University about their NP program. They are a top 10 NP program and they have a Nurse Practitioner curriculum for people who have no Nursing background. From my understanding its an accelerated curriculum to get you to your desire NP specialty quickly. Based off the specialties you listed you are interested in, This program from Vanderbilt may be worth looking into as an alternative. Vanderbilt offers the following NP specialties:

Adult/Gerontology (Acute & Primary Care)
Nurse Midwifery
(Dual) Nurse Midwifery/Family NP
Pediatrics (Acute & Primary)
Women's Health
(Dual) Women's Health & Adult/Gerontology (Primary Care)

 

[DrMcStuffin]

I'm 33, and I offer you some caution: not everyone sees Non-Trad the same way. Some people think " Non-Trad" because they did a gap year, which is not Non-Trad. These gaps, age concerns and differences... heck the struggles, those are what makes a Non-Traditional student! Medical schools will like it or hate it, but it's not your problem either way. You cannot do anything about being older and having less time. Just apply to schools that like Non-Trads.

Time: Listen to me-- you want to be a doctor right? Do that! Throw yourself into it completely, because it is *only* four years of school, and residency will end. That is not a long time! It seems long, but it is not. Facebook just reminded me today that I graduated from undergrad 9 years ago. It feels like it was yesterday! THE TIME WILL PASS ANYWAY.

Money: I had an entire career before pursing medical school intensely, and I was making almost $70k/yr. And I walked away from from to pursue this only. I regret nothing.

Alternatives: Only if you can see yourself being truly happy doing anything else. Do not settle your life at 33. You ( *ahem*, we) are still young! The thirties are the years to make it happen! I was like you with the doubt and discouragement, and I went to nursing school first because I convinced myself that I would be too old starting in my mid-twenties. Hilarious! All I learned was that I was not meant to be a nurse, and I still had to pay thousands for that reality check.

More Facts: Are you trying to become a doctor because you want the "buck" to end with you? Do you want maximum authority and the highest education? If the answer is yes, then you must to go to medical school. Do not worry about MD/DO, it does not matter anymore for someone not entering the workforce for another 10 years. Kids? Your kids will live, and better for your choices financially after you're a physician- and that matters. This isn't 1950 and even with a corporate job or alternative career, you will spend significant time away from them. If you want to be a doctor because it sounds impressive, do not do it. This cannot be for other peoples acknowledgement or adoration-- you should only pursue this if you cannot imagine doing anything else.

Nursing, particularly NP school, is not a shortcut:
Also, ask yourself would you be happy being an NP or another mid-level practitioner? Do you want to have a higher level of knowledge but still have to answer to an Attending Physician? Are you okay with that person being younger than you? Will you be happy looking back in 10 years and realizing that you could've been a Doctor in that time? Be honest with yourself. Nursing school is NOT cheap. Plenty of my nursing school classmates graduated with upwards of $40k in debt because you will have to obtain a BSN, MSN and then an NP. NP school alone will cost you $100k. Easily. I am serious, look it up. There are a ton of financial resources for nurses, but you will likely pay yourself and it is expensive. Same with becoming a midwife. There are no cheap, fast and easy shortcuts. it's all going to be expensive and long and require sacrifice but it temporary and it's worth it!

The gist is there is no option for a higher or mid-level position that is quick or cheap or easy, it does not exist. Not for DO/MD, PA, NP or RN, LPN, not for any of it. But it does not have to be any of those things, it only has to be possible and it is! So go for it or don't, but YOU decide it.

 

[deleted1005514]

I’ll be finishing residency at 47, with more kids than you, but they are older. Someone on this thread commented that you’ll be almost 50 when you finish, and your kids will be grown...that’s actually a selling point for me.

My youngest will be in college when I finish residency, giving me the freedom to work in any region of the country I want with no regard to needing a good school system, etc.

I want to be very rural, and I want to be starting a new chapter of my life when my kids are moving out, not packing myself up to retire and get old while waiting for grandchildren. There is life after 40, and it can be fun, interesting, challenging and fulfilling.

I will however agree with the posters who’ve said you can’t do this without a supportive spouse or family. Make sure your family is 1000% on board before you go down this road, because they’re going to have to sacrifice for this at some point.

 

[openstage]

I have a different kind of question for you: How much are you willing to miss in the coming years? Part of the joy of parenting is going to Ball games, dance recitals, school functions and hosting sleepover parties. I'm not trying to be overly dramatic, but medical school and residency involves a huge time commitment. Raising 3 kids is already a full time job.

By all means follow your dreams, but recognize there will be sacrifices to see it through to the end.