Career Change...

[Kameron624]

Hi Everyone,

I'm brand new to this site and new to the process of going to/thinking about medical school. Currently I am in law enforcement and have been for the past 6 years (I am 28 years old too) Recently though, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that we need to move closer to family. That being said, I don't wish to start all over at a new department and with my own medical issues I've come to love the medical field and I wish to pursue a new career path in it and go to school. I need to go to undergraduate school again and get all the pre-reqs done, so I have a lot of time before I go to medical school. But I just wanted to get some advice/experience/stories of the "is it worth it in the end" question (I will be taking a large pay cut and obviously taking on a lot of loans).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[star.buck]

Big initial issue I see is you need to move closer to family - for med school you will potentially have to move out of state.

If you can see yourself as anything else, do that instead.

 

[Dave1980]

Hi Everyone,

I'm brand new to this site and new to the process of going to/thinking about medical school. Currently I am in law enforcement and have been for the past 6 years (I am 28 years old too) Recently though, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that we need to move closer to family. That being said, I don't wish to start all over at a new department and with my own medical issues I've come to love the medical field and I wish to pursue a new career path in it and go to school. I need to go to undergraduate school again and get all the pre-reqs done, so I have a lot of time before I go to medical school. But I just wanted to get some advice/experience/stories of the "is it worth it in the end" question (I will be taking a large pay cut and obviously taking on a lot of loans).

You will almost certainly have to move for med school and then move again for residency. Only after 7-10 years of school and training will you be able to dictate where you live (to a certain degree).

Also if joining a new department gives you anxiety I don't know how you think you will handle going to a new school, then going to a new training program, then starting a new job.

 

[Goro]

Hi Everyone,

I'm brand new to this site and new to the process of going to/thinking about medical school. Currently I am in law enforcement and have been for the past 6 years (I am 28 years old too) Recently though, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that we need to move closer to family. That being said, I don't wish to start all over at a new department and with my own medical issues I've come to love the medical field and I wish to pursue a new career path in it and go to school. I need to go to undergraduate school again and get all the pre-reqs done, so I have a lot of time before I go to medical school. But I just wanted to get some advice/experience/stories of the "is it worth it in the end" question (I will be taking a large pay cut and obviously taking on a lot of loans).

Is Medicine “worth it?

No one here can tell you what you want to be. In fact, if you have to ask the question, then the answer, at least for right now, at least for you, is a resounding no. This could be because you have decided subconsciously that medicine isn't worth it for yourself, or it could be because you haven't done enough due diligence to figure out the answer.

If it's the latter, I suggest that you spend some time in a health care setting shadowing/volunteering/working so that you can gain some practical experience with the system and see what it's like working in it. This will help you decide whether medicine is worth it for YOU.

See also: post #3 in Nontrads that made it to medical school or are already physicians, is it worth it?

 

[Kameron624]

Big initial issue I see is you need to move closer to family - for med school you will potentially have to move out of state.

If you can see yourself as anything else, do that instead.

Well the initial issue is we do want to move closer to family but that doesn’t need to be permanent. It’s just needed at the moment. Like I said I have to take a lot of pre reqs before I apply to med school anyway. I want this, I’m just trying to get some insight as to whether I’m crazy for wanting it now. If I want it I will make it happen.

 

[Kameron624]

You will almost certainly have to move for med school and then move again for residency. Only after 7-10 years of school and training will you be able to dictate where you live (to a certain degree).

Also if joining a new department gives you anxiety I don't know how you think you will handle going to a new school, then going to a new training program, then starting a new job.

We’ve come to the conclusion that right now we need to be closer to family but we understand medical school can take you elsewhere and we are okay with that in a few years when that time comes. Plus there are multiple medical schools in the state I’d be living.

As for my career now. I have other reasons why I don’t wish to pursue it in a different agency. It’s not the anxiety of starting at a new place. It’s time for a career change for me regardless. Because of my own medical journey I’ve grown to love the field. So more what I was looking for in this forum is just experience from other people who may have started the whole process “late in the game” and how it’s worked for them etc.

 

[Kameron624]

Is Medicine “worth it?

No one here can tell you what you want to be. In fact, if you have to ask the question, then the answer, at least for right now, at least for you, is a resounding no. This could be because you have decided subconsciously that medicine isn't worth it for yourself, or it could be because you haven't done enough due diligence to figure out the answer.

If it's the latter, I suggest that you spend some time in a health care setting shadowing/volunteering/working so that you can gain some practical experience with the system and see what it's like working in it. This will help you decide whether medicine is worth it for YOU.

See also: post #3 in Nontrads that made it to medical school or are already physicians, is it worth it?

I agree with you. Since I have to take the pre reqs anyway I plan to shadow and work in the field to really know for sure. I’m hoping to do that early on. I really just wanted to see if there were other people in similar shoes that decided to go to med school later in life, their experiences, and their feeling of was it worth it in the end even though they were older etc

 

[2020NonTrad]

I, too, have been in law enforcement for 6 years and I'm currently in the application process. Obviously I'm not in yet but the application cycle has been going very well. So far I'm very happy with my decision.

 

[Kameron624]

I, too, have been in law enforcement for 6 years and I'm currently in the application process. Obviously I'm not in yet but the application cycle has been going very well. So far I'm very happy with my decision.

Did you have to go back and do the pre reqs too? How was it leaving law enforcement?

 

[2020NonTrad]

Did you have to go back and do the pre reqs too? How was it leaving law enforcement?

I'm still in. I don't plan on leaving until I have an acceptance, mostly for financial reasons.

My degree is in criminology, so the only prereq I had from starting off was intro bio. I had to go back and do them all. I took morning lectures while working swings and graveyard shifts and scheduled labs on my days off. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, as between regular duty, overtime, court, etc. plus taking science classes with labs I didn't have time for much else in my life. Adding MCAT studying, shadowing, and volunteering on top of that left almost no room for sleep, but now that I'm here it was all worth it. It helped that I really, really like science so I enjoyed the prereqs.

 

[premed20172017]

I switched careers and had to take all of the pre-reqs. It was a tough decision, but I was unhappy and realized that I really want to be a doctor. That said, it's a long path. I'm turning 30 in a few weeks and am applying to med school right now. If you can't see yourself being happy in any other field, go for it. You're not too old. Try to do some soul searching and make sure it's what you really want.