Introduction to the Nontraditional SDN community

[Asclepius2000]

Good evening, fellow nontrads!

Selfishly, I thought it might be a good exercise - perhaps even cathartic - to write out my (very preliminary, exploratory, non-committal) plans. For some context, a little about me:

• 35+ year old male, married, young children under four.
• Sole breadwinner - work in sales (own a small business with 2 employees who are in support roles), wife is SAHM (for now). In the interest of preserving anonymity I will leave it at that.
• College dropout - a handful of WUs that devolved into Fs. Despite this, I have a 2.9 GPA in a liberal arts major at a public school in my city.
• On again-off again student - steep upward slope, earning all As since 2017.
• Income since 2015 has ranged from $180k to $300k+. This year I will earn over $500k, enabling me to buy a house for my family in a suburb outside our city, where our families live and where we currently rent an apartment.

I am beginning what I hope will be the last stretch of my undergraduate education. In an effort to reinvent myself, I have earned admission to a reasonably-priced private school (I will have no loans) with a high quality SMP with linkage. I am enrolled in a Biology B.S. program with a target graduation date of December 2023 (~21 months from now). Over the next 21 months, my plans are to:

• earn as close to a 4.0 GPA as possible in all of my classes;
• study for the MCAT, in a well-planned and systematic manner, and then take it (beginning Summer 2023);
• spend one day/week (8-10 hours/day) shadowing two to three physicians (separately and consecutively) in a capacity that maximizes my exposure to patients - ultimately garnering 500+ hours by the time I earned my B.S. in Biology;
• spend one day/week working in the Biology Department Chair's lab assisting him and other post-doc researchers with research in their field (specific area within molecular biology)...

On the personal side, we will buy a house in the next three to four months. God willing, we will have another child in the next year or two. As you might imagine, I am used to working fairly long hours (by some standards) in my business - usually 9am to 9pm. I am also deliberately involved with my young children - spending early mornings and all day on the weekends with them, and expect to continue this. We are blessed that we have family nearby who can, and do, help often, and that we are healthy. I am blessed that my wife and our families are so supportive for I do not think what I aspire to would be attainable in the absence of all these things.

Importantly, my soul is drawn to medicine - and I have fantasized, endlessly, about pursuing it for well over a decade. I want to spend my life helping as many people as possible in the most potent way, and learning and doing interesting things in the furtherance of medical science. I have learned that, while I am good at my job, I derive zero satisfaction beyond the commerical pursuit and the economic upside it affords.

I think that's enough for now though I'd be happy to elaborate on any of the above. (Yes - I realize this may seem insane and unrealistic.) I look forward to getting to know other nontraditional aspirants and becoming a part of this wonderful community.

All the best,

Asclepius

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[Bonne Nuit]

Welcome!

There are couple questions that jump out at me after reading your plan:

Why are you intending to shadow so much? 100 hours is the absolute maximum I would recommend. Shadowing is a very passive activity and you get seriously diminishing returns after about 80 hours.

What are you doing for clinical experience (e.g. clinical employment and/or volunteering)?

What are you doing for your community service hours?

You said you expect to continue spending weekends/mornings with your family - you might be able to make a schedule like this work up until M3, but you will not have this flexibility in your last 2 years of school and throughout residency. You will be working overnights and weekends on a regular basis, up to or exceeding 80 hours/week. Are you and your SAH spouse prepared for you to be essentially absent from your family’s day-to-day life for 5-9 years?

 

[Chardeemacdennis60]

I am by no means trying to talk you out of this, but I think you need to reflect on your current circumstances and what the future might bring in contrast to what you have now. You seem to have a good roadmap and I have no doubt that you could realistically get admitted into a medical school if you check all the boxes you have set.

You are the breadwinner in a marriage with young kids and are currently trying to purchase a home. First off, med school admissions are entirely unpredictable and you have realistically no idea where you will have to attend if accepted. If you are buying a home, are you ok with the reality that you may have to sell your home in a few years to uproot your family to a different geographic location away from your current support system? Also, at minimum you will spend 4 years with no income and following this 3 years working 60+ hour weeks making roughly $60k. If you choose a specialty with shorter residencies, you will finish in your mid 40's and inevitably take a pay cut from what you are currently earning. The opportunity cost of you pursuing this route is immense at your age and income bracket. On top of this, if you know much about the match process, it is even more unpredictable than the med school admissions process. You will likely have to again uproot your family and move so that you can receive your training after school. I am sure you have savings due to your income, but nonetheless this will come with a steep quality of life and stability adjustment for you and your family.

If you are truly earning +$500k right now, you are making as much or more than many physicians including the surgical subspecialties. I know that money is not everything, but is there a way you can satiate your desire for medical training in a different way? Is there a more stable and reasonable avenue you could pursue?