age limit for residency

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

bala koteswara

New Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi
😕 I am a 51 year old pediatrician practicing for the past 20 years in India. I passed Step 1 with a score of 256 and I intend to take my step 2 in June and apply for residency in 2006. What are my disadvantages in view of my age? Do older applicants like me stand any chance? I would very much appreciate your advice and guidance. Thanks in advance.
 
Discrimination on the basis of age is illegal in the United States. If you are clinically sound and can handle q4 call, you shouldn't have a problem. I know one guy in New Jersey that was a surgeon in India, and came over here around age 50, did his internal medicine residency, and, as soon as he finished, became the associate program director.
 
I agree. One of our peds EM attendings was a practicing pediatric surgeon in his home country. He not only did a pediatric residency, he landed into a peds em fellowship.

It can be done. Apply wisely and make sure you have contacts.
 
you all can pretend that the U.S. is all great and such but I know better and while there are exceptions and age discrimination is supposed to be "illegal"...there are plenty of occasions where it does happen in this country...perhaps not as much in the medical field, but it does happen...
 
Jamezuva said:
you all can pretend that the U.S. is all great and such but I know better and while there are exceptions and age discrimination is supposed to be "illegal"...there are plenty of occasions where it does happen in this country...perhaps not as much in the medical field, but it does happen...

Hmm...we give two examples from the real world, and you have one "the sky is falling!" post without support for your point. Give examples of people discriminated against due to their age, and your post will not sound so alarmist.

And what is up with the "you all can pretend that the U.S. is all great and such but I know better" - where is the political BS coming from?
 
Apollyon said:
Hmm...we give two examples from the real world, and you have one "the sky is falling!" post without support for your point. Give examples of people discriminated against due to their age, and your post will not sound so alarmist.

And what is up with the "you all can pretend that the U.S. is all great and such but I know better" - where is the political BS coming from?

an example? fine...my dad...who was "overqualified" to teach at third-rate colleges in his late 50s despite being a operations manager and colonel in the army, having an MBA, having a 160+ IQ, and having gotten ugrad acceptances at Harvard, Princeton, etc.

how was that statement political? I'm sick of the lame ass "if you don't love it, leave it" mentality where they think the U.S. is the perfect country and has absolutely no dirt under the rug. It's this dogmatic view that hurts our country more than critical introspection
 
bala koteswara said:
Hi
😕 I am a 51 year old pediatrician practicing for the past 20 years in India. I passed Step 1 with a score of 256 and I intend to take my step 2 in June and apply for residency in 2006. What are my disadvantages in view of my age? Do older applicants like me stand any chance? I would very much appreciate your advice and guidance. Thanks in advance.

Hell yeah. May not be the perfect residency, but he will get one. The only problem may be any immigration sponsorship issues.
 
Jamezuva said:
an example? fine...my dad...who was "overqualified" to teach at third-rate colleges in his late 50s despite being a operations manager and colonel in the army, having an MBA, having a 160+ IQ, and having gotten ugrad acceptances at Harvard, Princeton, etc.

how was that statement political? I'm sick of the lame ass "if you don't love it, leave it" mentality where they think the U.S. is the perfect country and has absolutely no dirt under the rug. It's this dogmatic view that hurts our country more than critical introspection

can i meet your dad? he sounds awesome!!!

i don't care if you love it or not, you should leave and save us all from your stupidity
 
bala koteswara said:
Hi
😕 I am a 51 year old pediatrician practicing for the past 20 years in India. I passed Step 1 with a score of 256 and I intend to take my step 2 in June and apply for residency in 2006. What are my disadvantages in view of my age? Do older applicants like me stand any chance? I would very much appreciate your advice and guidance. Thanks in advance.

Do you absolutely have to become board-certified? It's my understanding that plenty of older docs aren't.

Doing residency over, esp. with 20 yrs experience sounds painful.
 
I don't think you would have a problem finding a spot somewhere in pediatrics. Certain programs probably won't consider you, but many will.

And in some specialties, board certification is not a requirement. I don't think it is ever a 'requirement' but in certain fields it is expected to maintain employment.

Good luck!
 
typeB-md said:
can i meet your dad? he sounds awesome!!!

i don't care if you love it or not, you should leave and save us all from your stupidity

oooo..look at the witty retort by the noob 🙄
 
only physicians grandfathered into a specialty may not be board certified.

ALL docs currently entering a specialty must be board certified in whatever.


cytoborg said:
Do you absolutely have to become board-certified? It's my understanding that plenty of older docs aren't.

Doing residency over, esp. with 20 yrs experience sounds painful.
 
Jeff05 said:
only physicians grandfathered into a specialty may not be board certified.

ALL docs currently entering a specialty must be board certified in whatever.


Sorry, but I'll have to disagree with this statement. There is currently no requirement in ANY state for physicians, in ANY specialty to be Board Certified.

That being said, you would certainly want to be Board Eligible (which requires the completion of an ACGME or AOA residency) and seriously consider BC as there is increasing pressure from the general public, insurers, Medicare and employers to have their physicians be certified. BUT there is no formal or institutional requirement whole-sale for physicians, new or graduated many years ago, to be BC.
 
Jamezuva said:
an example? fine...my dad...who was "overqualified" to teach at third-rate colleges in his late 50s despite being a operations manager and colonel in the army, having an MBA, having a 160+ IQ, and having gotten ugrad acceptances at Harvard, Princeton, etc.

how was that statement political? I'm sick of the lame ass "if you don't love it, leave it" mentality where they think the U.S. is the perfect country and has absolutely no dirt under the rug. It's this dogmatic view that hurts our country more than critical introspection

America is the fairest country in the world. Not to mention Greatest.

Ask yourself why so many established foreign doctors in their own country are willing to take the USMLEs and do residency all over again just to have the chance of practicing medicine and living in the USA. Ask yourself why you rarely (if ever) hear of established American doctors uprooting their families and moving to India, Pakistan, Mexico, China, etc. in order to start all over again.
 
Bo Hurley said:
America is the fairest country in the world. Not to mention Greatest.

Ask yourself why so many established foreign doctors in their own country are willing to take the USMLEs and do residency all over again just to have the chance of practicing medicine and living in the USA. Ask yourself why you rarely (if ever) hear of established American doctors uprooting their families and moving to India, Pakistan, Mexico, China, etc. in order to start all over again.

uhh...did i compare the U.S. with other countries? nope. I never said that U.S. sucked. I simply said that those of you who think the U.S. has no problems whatsoever and can't take a little criticism now and then are dogmatists
 
Call the program director at your desired residency program before applying. Many program directors do not feel comfortable with older applicants. Sorry I can't be more specific.
 
bala koteswara said:
Hi
😕 I am a 51 year old pediatrician practicing for the past 20 years in India. I passed Step 1 with a score of 256 and I intend to take my step 2 in June and apply for residency in 2006. What are my disadvantages in view of my age? Do older applicants like me stand any chance? I would very much appreciate your advice and guidance. Thanks in advance.

I was accepted to a very competitive residency at age 47. I don't think it mattered too much, but then again I had just graduated from a US med school. I think that your experience and excellent board score(s) will be very attractive to some programs. I am pretty sure you can find a position if you work on it and are flexible. Good luck!
 
Yes there is an age limit, but it is only when your elapsed time surpasses your allotted time on this planet.
 
bala koteswara said:
Hi
😕 I am a 51 year old pediatrician practicing for the past 20 years in India. I passed Step 1 with a score of 256 and I intend to take my step 2 in June and apply for residency in 2006. What are my disadvantages in view of my age? Do older applicants like me stand any chance? I would very much appreciate your advice and guidance. Thanks in advance.
I know of someone who has started her residency at 52 y/o age. It's doable, but it depends on specialty and the program. GL 👍
 
Actually, a lot of older applicants have an advantage, because so many places are afraid of lawsuits. I'm not sure about residency positions, but when it comes to jobs, i know several older people who applied,were denied, then made a phone call and all they had to say was "was i denied because of my age" and then the employment director called him back the next day and said "being denied was just a technical mistake, you should apply again"

sometimes older folks are hired just to avoid problems.. sad as it is.
 
Ross434 said:
sometimes older folks are hired just to avoid problems.. sad as it is.

Residency is a whole 'nuther animal.
 
UAB radiology PD said she would consider an older resident a liability and would be hesitant to take one, apparently the residency selection process is protected from discrimination issues by the nature of the match process.
 
Holdwhatyagot said:
UAB radiology PD said she would consider an older resident a liability and would be hesitant to take one, apparently the residency selection process is protected from discrimination issues by the nature of the match process.

That would make sense. As one ages, the risk of disease (cardiovascular, cancer) increases. I wouldn't be surprised if actuarial tables exist graphing risk of resident morbidity against increasing age.
 
MD'05 said:
That would make sense. As one ages, the risk of disease (cardiovascular, cancer) increases. I wouldn't be surprised if actuarial tables exist graphing risk of resident morbidity against increasing age.


Of course, still not really legal discrimination, just not enforceable
 
Holdwhatyagot said:
UAB radiology PD said she would consider an older resident a liability and would be hesitant to take one, apparently the residency selection process is protected from discrimination issues by the nature of the match process.

Heh heh, a radiology residency can afford to be pretty choosy. An FP or Peds residency might be delighted to get an old hand who really knows his stuff.
 
Top