how old are you people?

[wack]

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sdnsdn,

I was just joking. Probably a bad joke. It is just interesting to me that a lot of premeds like myself are such control freaks. The idea of being 4 or 5 years older than the average student "freaks" us out. This type of attitude would be unheard of in academia. It is no big deal for people to work a couple of years before starting a PhD program or to spend 7 or 8 years getting a PhD. In industry people switch careers frequently in their late twenties. Granted, medicine takes a lot of training so people have to be somewhat mindful of time but in many ways that kind of attitude can be counterproductive and detract from life. For premeds goals aspirations and timelines are very different. When you get into the premed mind set you find that a lot of people want to compete. Scores, gpa, even age, many people look for external cues to evaluate themselves. It is a precarious situation to constantly compare yourself to others.

Wack

 

[HouseHead]

Some of the years I took off were not nearly as wonderful to look back on as others. But many of the years I took off- 2 after undergrad, 4 before, 2 during- were incredibly rewarding. For example, pursuing a career in the arts was something that added a totally different dimension to my life, as were the people I encountered, places I went, and things I experienced during that time. Without that time, my world view would have been much narrower, no matter how well educated I was/am/will be.

Many of us come from a background of privilege- not necessarily in terms of class or economics, but in terms of intelligence and/or education. Going straight through h.s., college, and then medical school can be very insular, in that we are immersed in academics and academia without ever having to experience the "real world". And then we go into residency, and then practice, both with the huge status marker of M.D. behind our names. It is very possible for people to go through these years of their lives without seeing the world from any other angle. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see many other angles, even if I will have that much less energy when enduring 24 hour calls 🙄

That said, many people do experience the "real world"- by design or by accident- before medical school without taking any time off. Up until recently, I often felt much less mature than some of my 21 y.o. peers. Being rejected the first time I applied and dealing with a bunch issues surrounding life decisions have really helped me understand the importance of the wisdom I have gained.

But I'm still a total goofball that gets carded constantly. 😛

 

[sdnsdn]

Thanks Wack, Now I see the humor. During my tour of the ?business world,? the number of people I meet with that exact sentiment was scary. Many people regret their choices. When I was working in the ER, a physician came up to me and told me flat out to get as far away from medicine as I possibly could. That really made an impact on me until I was talking to an engineer who told me to get as far away from the tech field as I could. The good thing about doing a bunch of wildly different professions is that patterns start to emerge that make you realize that many of medicine?s problems are not specific to medicine. They are specific to life. I am going to be 40 one day if I am lucky. I can either be a 40-year-old doctor, or I can be 40 year old wishing I had followed my dream.

 

[agent]

I'm 25 now. Just got my associates.

 

[wyo]

I'm 22, will be 23 when I start. Even though I only took a year off between undergrad and med school it was a great choice, and I think has really helped better prepare me for the next 4 years and beyond.

 

[thewzdoc]

I?m 32 and I am just about to finish by B.S. I started college at 17 (University of Hawaii school of Engineering) but I got married at 18 and moved to San Diego. I started working and going to school at the same time. The job got more demanding and the school got put on the back burner. I still have prerequisites to finish before I can apply. So I?ll be about 35 before I can apply. That will make me about 39 when I graduate and 43ish when I am finished?

 

[::Seabass::]

I was trying to figure out for the longest time why the title of this thread just looked wrong to me. Then I realized it should be titled "how old are y'all" 😀

ok, here goes. I'm 23 right now and will turn 24 shortly after matriculating this fall. I've had 2 years off to work in the field of civil engineering and have learned more than I ever expected. I do think people who go straight through miss out on the experience of the real world and making it on your own. More often that not I could pick out those at interviews who had been out of school and those who were still in. Those out in the real world just seemed to carry themselves with a bit more self assurance and confidence.

I was always told and considered myself one of the more mature people in my classes, but even I had no idea how much I would grow the first couple of years after college. Did I choose to take time off? No, but I had some classes to finish. Would I now? Absolutely. Will I grow again in a different way this fall? Most likely, I think it would be hard not to.

Even despite all this, I do sometimes feel behind and realize it is a little ridiculous to do so. Do I worry about having kids and meeting someone? Sometimes. I have however finally come to the conlcusion that it will all work out like it is supposed to in the end. My mom loved medicine so much, she didn't want to have kids. My dad begged her to have me, and she ended up with a total of 6. I think being part of a huge family has been a great experience for me. I don't intend to have that many, but I do eventually hope to meet somone to start a family with. I also hope I'll be able to be brave enough to step away from my career for the amount of time required and make the commitment to have children because I could see myself becoming consummed in my work. Hopefully the person I meet will knock some sense in to me. 😉