Am I too old to become a U.S. Navy physician?

[952995]

I am 37 years old with a bachelors degree in accounting which I recieved in 2003. I don’t have any premed on my transcript except General Biology 1 and 2 which I made a C and B respectively. I don’t have any prior military service record.

Is it too late for me to get a commission in the Navy and become a medical doctor?

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[deleted480308]

No. Plenty of docs (who can pass a physical and a pt test) get commissioned much older, but you will need a waiver

 

[militaryPHYS]

Agreed. Answer is No, you are not too old. BUT, If you still have a lot of prerequisites to accomplish I would be quick about it. If there is any question of your physical standards as the years continue to pass by then the waiver may not be granted.

I would recommend you get your prerequisites done without any contract to the military. Then you can sign up for HPSP (or any other program) if you still feel the calling when you get accepted to a medical school. That leaves you as much flexibility as possible as you work towards an acceptance to medical school.

 

[DrMetal]

I am 37 years old with a bachelors degree in accounting which I recieved in 2003. I don’t have any premed on my transcript except General Biology 1 and 2 which I made a C and B respectively. I don’t have any prior military service record.

Is it too late for me to get a commission in the Navy and become a medical doctor?

Better question might be are you too old---and by old, I'm not talking about your literal age, but rather your mindset and will to fight---to become a doctor. It's a long haul. If it takes you 3 years to finish pre-med prerequisites and take the MCAT, another 4 years to go to medical school, another 3-5 years of training (depending on what specialty you choose), you'll be nearly over 50 when it's all said and done. It's certainly possible, it's been done before...just make sure you really want to do it. I went to medical school at age 30...9 years later am approaching the end, it's all good, I like the job, but I've developed a nasty (but comical) sense of cynicism and a bad whiskey habit.

 

[militaryPHYS]

Whiskey definitely helps no matter what age you are

 

[grotto]

Ugh I wouldn’t do it. The training sucks the life out of you- couldn’t imagine being in my mid 40s doing residency.

 

[j4pac]

I’ve known someone go to med school in his 60s and he’s now a very happy IM doc. If you’re healthy and active...why not. The question of med school vs not med school is more important than military or not military doctor in my opinion.

 

[HighPriest]

If anything, this is the perfect scenario for military medicine. You'll finish residency as a fairly aged physician. If you rack up $400,000 in debt between now and then, you'll just end up leaving a lot of that for your family unless you're in a very high paying specialty. Plus, frankly, you may not be up for the typical high-pace, high-volume practice that someone in their early 30's might be willing to tackle right out of residency. The military can pay for your training, and you can finish residency and go in to a clinic where you're not going to have to push yourself as hard. If you aren't terribly bothered by the actual aspects of military service (deployments, frequent moves, etc.), then the pace and the debt-free situation may be perfect for someone starting very late in their training.

 

[952995]

Agreed. Answer is No, you are not too old. BUT, If you still have a lot of prerequisites to accomplish I would be quick about it. If there is any question of your physical standards as the years continue to pass by then the waiver may not be granted.

I would recommend you get your prerequisites done without any contract to the military. Then you can sign up for HPSP (or any other program) if you still feel the calling when you get accepted to a medical school. That leaves you as much flexibility as possible as you work towards an acceptance to medical school.

What is HPSP?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

What is HPSP?

Health Professions Scholarship Program. Basically, the military pays for med school at a civilian school, and you pay them back with time (3 or 4 years depending on how many years of med school they pay for).

Here's the Navy page for accessions, where you can see the different options, including HPSP. I'm sure you can Google the other branches and find info. Accessions

 

[AvoidMilitaryMedicine]

I am 37 years old with a bachelors degree in accounting which I recieved in 2003. I don’t have any premed on my transcript except General Biology 1 and 2 which I made a C and B respectively. I don’t have any prior military service record.

Is it too late for me to get a commission in the Navy and become a medical doctor?

Nope, I've known people who've done their residency in the 50s -- I'd urge you to reconsider military medicine as the route you are planning to go. It was significantly different from when I first joined to where were are now (and I and many of my colleague argue its considerably worse). Who knows where it will go in the future.