Asking for advice

[furiouss]

I have long been interested in the human physiology and medicine. I'm 29 yrs old, a GED graduate, and I have never attended college. I am going to college in Spring 2001. I never achived really great math scores in high school, in college I will have to start with basic algerbra. With all this going against me, I still am interested in a career in medicine. When a friend or relative complains of an ache or pain, I try my hardest to research what his or her ailment is. I think being a physician is in my blood, and I will volunteer my time at a local children's hospital just to get a first hand experiance. My question is: do you think I will be wasting my time since I am 29 years old and never graduated from high school? I'm pretty bright, but I would like to get a doctor's opinion (no pun intended, hehe) on the subject. I thank you for your time.


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furiouss

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[GeoLeoX]

Though I am not a doctor, I play one on TV. Honestly though, I am a starting medstudent. and I will start school at 31. I don't think that age means a thing. Nor do I think a GED instead of high school would be detrimental. So the issues that you should consider are:

Will you do well in school? As you can see from this board the medical school application process is pretty tough and always getting tougher. If you do well in school you will have a fighting chance.

Do you have any experience? To get into school one almost is required to have some kind of exposure to medicine. Either as a volunteer or a paid worker in a health care enviroment. Research also helps and is fun. It's a great thing to get involved with as an undergraduate.

What do you really like to do? You don't have to be a pre-med to get into medical school. Major in whatever you want but make sure that you fulfill all the class requirements that most medical school have.

Don't be discouraged! It's not easy, but if it's what you want you will get it.

Hope this helps,

Geo

 

[oman313]

I second what GeoLeoX posted.

It doesn't matter what age you are. I've asked whether being an older student would hurt my chances of applying to med school and have been told that it's not an issue. The big key is to show through your pursuits in and out of the classroom that you are truly committed to becoming an excellent physician.

 

[Nanon]

Like you, I am a GED graduate who started college late (26). And like you, my math skill were non-existant when I started college - I literally had to learn addition and subtraction, fractions, etc. Take heart that you aren't that bad.

It took a lot longer than I expected to catch up (I'll be in college 6 or 7 years by the time I graduate), but I am indeed just about ready to take the MCAT, and I will be taking second semester calculus in spring.

It's really hard. Expect to be depressed, demoralized and exhausted. But I can't tell you how my life has changed simply by persuing this goal - whether or not I get into medical school is cake at this point. Getting an education, learning what I'm made of is reward enough in itself. It's absolutely worth every late night and every hurdle I've had to jump over.

Good luck.

Nanon