How old is too old for med school?

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MedinKY1324

MedinKY1324

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Hey guys, I'm going to be about 27 by the time I finish up my bachelors in biology. I plan on applying for med school. By the time I finish med school I'll be 31, not including residency. How many employers actually look at age? Will age affect a residency opportunity also?
 
MedinKY1324 said:
Hey guys, I'm going to be about 27 by the time I finish up my bachelors in biology. I plan on applying for med school. By the time I finish med school I'll be 31, not including residency. How many employers actually look at age? Will age affect a residency opportunity also?
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you're fine dont worry about it. just be prepared to really justify your choice in interviews
 
While you will be fine and plenty of students are older than you are, I wanted to speak to the age bias you asked about.

The bias is there in medicine, at least as far as I have been told. My mom has been a part of many hiring committees at the hospital she works at and age comes up often if the applicant is over a certain threshold. You won't notice it in your 30s, but apparently something magical happens at 42-46 where hospital groups start to hesitate about offering you a job. Smart applicant leave their date of birth off their resumes, but graduation dates can still give them away. I have been sternly warned to make sure I've done my job/hospital/location shopping before I am into my 40s.

Maybe someone older than me can comment and help us both figure out what's what.
 
fwiw, I am 30 and applying this cycle. I just finished a post bacc with a fair number of students my age +/- 2 years who got into a range of med schools. I somewhat assume that med schools care about residency match rates and wouldn't accept us if we were a waste of their resource/limited seats by not matching down the road. In your case, starting at 27 is only 4 or 5 years "late," and in the scheme of things, that's not very much at all.
 
Late 30s here. Gonna be mid-late 40s by the time I am out of residency.

27 is pretty reasonable. It suggests you got a little life experience in before diving into a career that will require you to sacrifice a lot of your free time for the next few years, at least. That hopefully confers some maturity and perspective that your average 22 year old applicant is lacking.
 
Catalystik said:
Med schools like those of nontraditional age as they tend to have interesting life experience. I have a colleague who entered med school in his 50s, so I don't think you have much to worry about at the age of 27.
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That must of been kind of strange for his classmates and him-Kudos to him though.
 
MedinKY1324 said:
Hey guys, I'm going to be about 27 by the time I finish up my bachelors in biology. I plan on applying for med school. By the time I finish med school I'll be 31, not including residency. How many employers actually look at age? Will age affect a residency opportunity also?
Click to expand...
I started med school at 31 and residency at 36. I did not have any trouble obtaining a residency nor an attending job. At your age, you are a young nontrad and still within the usual age range of matriculants to med school and residency. Your age will not be an issue at all. I do agree that older nontrads (in their 40s and beyond) might encounter resistance from certain quarters (say, if trying to get into a neurosurg residency). But even then, there are a handful of middle aged surgery residents out there. 🙂
 
I'm 25 and this thread makes me feel better, more people like me around here. It's intimidating reading all the posts written by traditional applicants applying at age 20. Unfortunately I didn't have my head on right when I was younger, no way I would have been able to handle medical school.
 
Before I opened this thread I was going to write in your forties. But you don't have an issue with age at all!! Also, older doctors (65+) seem to be extremely respected in my community.
 
I'm applying next year and I'll be 24 (almost 26 if I am given the opportunity to matriculate), so you're not alone as far as the "late in the game" scenario goes. I really don't think there's an age that's too old for med school (or many things for that matter, there are exceptions).
 
There's no "too old" and a lot of people decide they want to be doctors later in life but I think if you know you want to do it, do it ASAP.
 
MedinKY1324 said:
Hey guys, I'm going to be about 27 by the time I finish up my bachelors in biology. I plan on applying for med school. By the time I finish med school I'll be 31, not including residency. How many employers actually look at age? Will age affect a residency opportunity also?
Click to expand...
Way to make me feel old... >.<
 
I swear, you young people...thinking you're ready for Social Security at 30.

My all time oldest student was 53...he's an ER doc somewhere in the midwest now.

Some of my all-time best students have been in there 30s and 40s.

Therefore, do NOT worry about this triviality.

MedinKY1324 said:
Hey guys, I'm going to be about 27 by the time I finish up my bachelors in biology. I plan on applying for med school. By the time I finish med school I'll be 31, not including residency. How many employers actually look at age? Will age affect a residency opportunity also?
Click to expand...
 
I'm 26 this year and applying. I find that I actually have much more to say in my personal statement and secondary essays because of where I've been, and the people I have met. I would suggest you use your age to your advantage, because I really am much more different than when I was 21. Good luck!
 
BTW, I'm an immigrant here. Both my parents completed residencies in internal medicine in their mid-to-late 40s! My aunt came here even later and completed a pediatric residency in her early 50s.
 
RJGOP said:
That must of been kind of strange for his classmates and him-Kudos to him though.
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Why would it be strange? To people with real-world work experience, working with people that may be 20 or more years older than you is a pretty normal thing. I find it strange that people expect med school to be so much different than the real world, some academic bubble that is not reflective of reality in any way.
 
Mad Jack said:
Why would it be strange? To people with real-world work experience, working with people that may be 20 or more years older than you is a pretty normal thing. I find it strange that people expect med school to be so much different than the real world, some academic bubble that is not reflective of reality in any way.
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My best "friend" at my job is almost 30 years older than I am. It's not weird at all.
 
Mad Jack said:
Why would it be strange? To people with real-world work experience, working with people that may be 20 or more years older than you is a pretty normal thing. I find it strange that people expect med school to be so much different than the real world, some academic bubble that is not reflective of reality in any way.
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I realize it is common to work with people 20 or so years older than you. However, it is not common to go to school with someone 20 years your elder. I know it happens, and it's even more common in undergrad. I admire the guy for doing it though. He showed a lot of dedication.
 
Mad Jack said:
Why would it be strange? To people with real-world work experience, working with people that may be 20 or more years older than you is a pretty normal thing. I find it strange that people expect med school to be so much different than the real world, some academic bubble that is not reflective of reality in any way.
Click to expand...

Because most matriculating medical students are 22 year-olds who more than likely haven't had a real job outside of working in a lab or tutoring and whose entire independent life essentially consists of college. I'm obviously generalizing, but I found that to be more true than less so.
 
I have several people that I know who have started med school in their 30s. It may actually be an advantage because you would be a unique applicant and bring diversity to the class.
 
RJGOP said:
I realize it is common to work with people 20 or so years older than you. However, it is not common to go to school with someone 20 years your elder. I know it happens, and it's even more common in undergrad. I admire the guy for doing it though. He showed a lot of dedication.
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It's actually becoming pretty common. Pretty much all med schools will have at least one person in their 30s, and a growing minority have people in their 40s or beyond. This post really belongs in the nontrad forum, because you risk getting a lot of skewed comments from young college students who havent much experience of the age diversity of med school when you post in preallo.
 
In my honest opinion I think 40-45 is too old. Go through med school and residency only to practice for like 10-15 years?
 
CpnClwVie said:
In my honest opinion I think 40-45 is too old. Go through med school and residency only to practice for like 10-15 years?
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I think you are assuming they retire early. One of my doctors is over 70 years old and he said he has no plans to stop.
 
familyaerospace said:
I think you are assuming they retire early. One of my doctors is over 70 years old and he said he has no plans to stop.
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I assumed 65 which is the normal age of retirement. Assuming in 20 years we wont be in a recession I feel like most people will be retiring at that age.
 
CpnClwVie said:
I assumed 65 which is the normal age of retirement. Assuming in 20 years we wont be in a recession I feel like most people will be retiring at that age.
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They've upped the age to get social security. I know my grandmother still has to work full time and she is early 80s because social security pays so little.
 
Lawper said:
Really? I guess i should rescue you again
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LOL! I'll let my friend know you are no longer interested in her. 😉

Oh you have no idea! Redefined feisty. I take after my grandmother in a good way. 🙂
 
I believe Blue from Old School would be considered a little to old, but OP should be alright!
 

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