MD'05 said:
You should get a realistic opinion from a program director in each specialty you are interested in. The program director can give you better advice because he or she is the one that will do the hiring.
I disagree that getting a single PD's opinion is a valid approach. This would potentially introduce far more bias than sampling the
actual EXPERIENCES of a large body of people
with similar characteristics who have succeeded. Now, were you to sample a
significantly sized subset of PDs - maybe that'd give you better data. If you coupled both sampling distributions, that would be even better. However, being the ever pragmatic individual, how feasible is sampling a large subset of PDs?
Probably not too easy; however, the large subset of people
with similar characteristics who have succeeded is readily accessible thru various channels, including SDN,
OldPreMeds,
MomMD & others.
MD'05 said:
Don't operate under the false pretense that "no age is too old" for medical school. The exceptional older students may do well in their careers. The average older student goes into family practice. The marginal older student may end up without a residency spot at all.
Exactly how can you substantiate that
no age is too old is a "false pretense". For that matter, where do you garner your stats that older med school graduates go predominantly into FP? For that matter, IM & FP represent what the overwhelming majority of ALL med school (MD & DO) graduates enter. Can you substantiate that older grads enter these specialties at a higher rate than do their younger colleagues?
Furthermore, so what if they do? FP, IM, Peds & all of the gen practice arenas are highly valued, legit professions. Are you implying that to enter a general practice discipline somehow implies that those physicians are somehow inferior?
Your claim that "
The marginal older student may end up without a residency spot at all." is total BS! There is such a surplus of residency slots in this country that a 100% match of US MD & DO graduates would still leave in excess of 10,000 residency slots open per year. On the one hand, such age-based discrimination is illegal on a Federal level & would likely be death-knell to programs practicing such. On the other, it is ludicrous to think that a program would prefer to have empty slots in order to avoid matching a qualified, older graduate.
Where is the program penalized for the age of its residents? NO
Are they mandated to bill differently for older vs younger residents? NO
Do programs allocate workloads based upon age in context of reduced capacity for old fart? NO - in fact, in my personal, albeit anecdotal, experience, the older residents have no problems keeping up with younger ones & not uncommonly are able to be more efficient in the workplace due to previous professional experience. I will concede this advantage typically dissipates over the course of the internship as the younger interns acquire workplace skills.
MD'05 said:
You will face age discrimination in certain specialties. It is better to know now that this may occur than to face the prospect of not having a career after medical school.
Why are you implying that there is a bicameral response here? This is silly. If I do not gain a spot in specialty X somehow my professional opportunities will cease...give me a break! I am not so naive as to claim that there is no such thing as age-based discrimination; however, I will put forth that such phenomenon is the exception & not the rule. For every bit of conjecture you can throw up w/o evidence, I can post individual results of success contrary to your claim &/or present a logic-based argument that undermines your claim.
Certainly, if you were 65 when you graduated from medical school (and I do know of one individual who was about that age - UTSouthwestern, would have graduated approx 2001/2002), your options would likely be limited. However, to claim that the same limitations apply to persons graduating in their 40s is not valid.
