I just turned 30 two weeks ago, and I just took the MCAT in August. I expect a 29-31 on it (if my Kaplan practice exams correlate.) Thankfully I have already taken my pre-requisites for Medical School when I attended Univ. of Michigan from 1992-1996. My grades are pretty good, science GPA is about 3.6 and overall is 3.3. I plan to apply to Medical Schools in 2005, which will be for matriculation in 2006.
Now I'm starting to think about my personal statement and the secondaries that go along with applying. I'm curious how other, older pre-meds, have written their personal statements. What do you emphasize in them? Besides writing why you feel you want to be a physician and make the career change, do you talk about what you've done since you graduated from college?
I decided to apply to medical school after many years of introspection on my life course. Since I graduated from college, I have worked my way up to becoming a Senior Software Engineer making about $110K/year. So, as you might imagine, software engineering is a nice way to make a good living. But after 3 years I started to realize that I wasn't really enjoying what I was doing. Some of my more talented engineering friends at work just LOVE engineering, and they would get so into it when they talked about it! I was never like that. And I saw that it would be just a matter of time that I would reach a cliff in my career and not be able to move beyond it. I just don't care that much about engineering.
However, medicine has the elements that I desire....
1) it should never be difficult to find some personal satisfaction in the work you do - you are (trying) to heal sick people. But to me, medicine is more about building relationships with other patients and doctors. And it's those relationships that I care the most about. One can build a relationship with other employees, colleagues, but the dynamic is different when it is a doctor and a patient. Patients invest trust in a doctor, sometimes never knowing the doctor. The relationships in business are "what have you done for me lately?" or "are you with me?" It's all about making money in the business world - profit/margin IS the bottom line. In many ways it disgusts me.
2) job security - the stability of being a doctor is quite intriguing. I've never lived a life where my job will (most likely) be secure. It becomes tiresome to continue to look for jobs. Even if you are a top engineer, you can be layed off in a heartbeat. Thus far I've had 4 different jobs. Never been fired but been layed off 4 times. 👎
3) Science, it's gotta be about science. I love science, I am fascinated about how the human body works, and I'm fascinated by biology. I find it simply amazing that one cell can differentiate into a complex human being. I'm surprised there aren't more problems in that process too.
It's hard for me to describe specific moments that made me want to become a doctor. That's because there aren't any. It's taken years of thought, understanding the state of health care, all of the problems you might have becoming a doctor, the responsibilities, the work involved, the money you make, the kind of lifestyle you will live, the respect you'll earn - all of these factors have influence my decision to become a doctor. I'm not worried about the workload - I studied my pants off for the MCAT and I actually felt it was fun! It was really fun to learn about all the stuff I used to know in college.
I'm not like some pre-meds who cut their finger when they were 5 and had a doctor sew them up, or experience a death by a loved one that inspired them to become a doctor. I think my reasons are a little more practical, or pragmatic. I certainly feel I'm more mature to make this decision than someone who is 20, now the challenge become how do I write all this down in a personal statement.
So, after all of this mumbling and jumbling, have other older premeds found it difficult to write their PS? Anyone want to share their experiences?
