MD Is 31 too old to begin residency?

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NeurologyHopeful2018

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Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
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NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...

Yes, it's too old.
 
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NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...

Oh goodness no! I have residency classmates in their 30's and 40's. Please don't be discouraged by your younger counterparts. Good luck!
 
average age of starting medical school is 24, you're fine
 
Medicine is a young man's game. A resident pushing 30 is a danger to patients, mostly because the amount of learning you need to do is so huge. This is actually where the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" comes from - it was used in the Flexner Report to defend the practice of residency directors discriminating against older applicants ("old dog" was a derogatory phrase used to descibe non-traditional medical students in the early 1900s).
 
**** - I am screwed then. Even if I come out alive - do you think only practicing as an attending for 30 years is too short?
 
Peach Newport said:
Medicine is a young man's game. A resident pushing 30 is a danger to patients, mostly because the amount of learning you need to do is so huge. This is actually where the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" comes from - it was used in the Flexner Report to defend the practice of residency directors discriminating against older applicants ("old dog" was a derogatory phrase used to descibe non-traditional medical students in the early 1900s).
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Lolno.

Tons of people go into residency in their 30s. Imagine all the MD/PhDs that are in their 30s at their absolute earliest when they go into residency, and think about how many well established MD/PhD attendings there are.

As long as you maintain an open mind, remain humble, and open to learning (including learning from those of younger age than you) you'll do just fine. Don't listen to the two people who are just trollnig you.
 
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I wonder how this thread could possibly change your mind. If people said you were too old, would you really have just dropped out?

Someone once approached Arnold Schwarzenegger and asked if he was too old to start exercising. Arnold replied, "You're too old not to".

Keep learning, and striving - see you at work.
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...

I thought they melted people down for parts at 28. How did you escape the culling?
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...

Sorry what was your problem again? I saw no debt and complete blanked out.

I must be getting alzheimer's as a 30 y/o something medical student.....
 
IslandStyle808 said:
Sorry what was your problem again? I saw no debt and complete blanked out.

I must be getting alzheimer's as a 30 y/o something medical student.....
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But how can 5 years not be a significant age difference in terms of mental and physical stamina? I get the cliche its never too old to do this or that - but 5 years is half a decade. 5 years ago the newest phone on the market was Samsung Galaxy S3!
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Nope. Some of my all-time best students have been in their 30s and 40s, and one is now a PGY2 in her early 50s, in Southern California.
 
OP if the age is bugging you that much then you can literally pull the ripcord and forego residency (you got no debt)... or you can adjust your mindset, be an adult and enjoy the ride
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...


Dude it's a few years. in the course of a career a few years means nothing. And no, your'e not 50. You will not be slower than your classmates. Stop stressing.

PS - 30 years as an attending is PLENTY.
 
30 years as an attending is no small feat...that would be a career. You are fine age wise. Its more about what you have in the tank (head and heart). I see people in 20's who dont have it and I see people who are 40's who have tons of the umph needed!
 
I won't be starting until 33, so I guess if the answer is no I should just toss myself off a bridge and be done with it.

Really though, 31 isn't that freaking old, chill out. You're gonna be fine, you've got many good years ahead of you. The first couple of years of neuro are rough, but you're not going to up and die from it, my god.
 
Yeah, Neuro has a pretty chill lifestyle after the first two years of training. The issue isn't so much age as the other stuff that comes with age. I think my marriage would have been strained if it existed back when I was a student and early resident...but plenty of other people in my (psych) residency manage that plus kids just fine.

Now the fact that I'm in my early 30s and seeing professional athletes born the same year as me retiring... THAT'S demoralizing.
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
But how can 5 years not be a significant age difference in terms of mental and physical stamina? I get the cliche its never too old to do this or that - but 5 years is half a decade. 5 years ago the newest phone on the market was Samsung Galaxy S3!
Click to expand...

dude you are trolling
 
Provided you continue to be blessed with good health and no unforeseen accidents you will be 31 and employed doing something. Would you want to be doing something you actually want to do, or in a different job wondering about what could have been? Just go ahead and be however old you are. You also may notice there are way more older med students and residents than you realize at first blush.

Written by a 37 year old PGY-2.

NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...
 
Peach Newport said:
Medicine is a young man's game. A resident pushing 30 is a danger to patients, mostly because the amount of learning you need to do is so huge. This is actually where the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" comes from - it was used in the Flexner Report to defend the practice of residency directors discriminating against older applicants ("old dog" was a derogatory phrase used to descibe non-traditional medical students in the early 1900s).
Click to expand...

Actually you can, ever heard of neuroplasticity?
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
But how can 5 years not be a significant age difference in terms of mental and physical stamina? I get the cliche its never too old to do this or that - but 5 years is half a decade. 5 years ago the newest phone on the market was Samsung Galaxy S3!
Click to expand...

Ok? Galaxy S3 lol.
There is a difference, let's put a 20 vs 25 year old. The 20 year old may be crazy smart, however is not really strict when it comes to studying, he/she may be more irresponsible. The 25 year old has been around the block, knows that it's not time to **** around. It's time to DO this. And is smarter about using his her time. Same thing applies to 25 vs 30 year old.
It's all about maturity and putting the time in, that is how you learn.
Being young and immature is normal, the problem comes when you are old but still immature. You have to put your balls together in any time of life and you can achieve what you set your mind to. That said.. would I be 21 again. Yes, but it's not going to happen. That is the game in life. You may be 21 and look at the old people and be like you're too old bla bla bla but we ALL go in the same direction.
 
Thanks for the response guys. One thing I am grateful for is that I have no debt - have wealthy parents that made good investments. Do you think that even though I am 5 years behind my peers, the fact that I have no debt puts me in a good position?
 
WingedOx said:
Yeah, Neuro has a pretty chill lifestyle after the first two years of training. The issue isn't so much age as the other stuff that comes with age. I think my marriage would have been strained if it existed back when I was a student and early resident...but plenty of other people in my (psych) residency manage that plus kids just fine.

Now the fact that I'm in my early 30s and seeing professional athletes born the same year as me retiring... THAT'S demoralizing.
Click to expand...

my current friends in neuro residencies maintain it's actually one of the hardest residencies all the way through

I was inclined not to believe them but now they've told me enough over the years to believe it

my one friend for example, their program was set up not to give ANY residents a single weekend off.... EVER. As in, EVER. Not on a single goddamn rotation in a single year. I don't know how that is even possible to be that sadistic with a schedule but it is, I guess.
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Thanks for the response guys. One thing I am grateful for is that I have no debt - have wealthy parents that made good investments. Do you think that even though I am 5 years behind my peers, the fact that I have no debt puts me in a good position?
Click to expand...

Your real problem is your thought process/insecurity/needing others to reassure you.

The last few years, most of our surgery interns were over 30. They all had debt. They all planned to do 5 years of surgery plus 2 years of research plus 2 years of fellowship. I worked with some of them for months and never knew their age. The exception would be those who behave "old" and use is as an excuse for poor performance.
 
you shouldn't worry about your age. medicine is a long long road. there's someone who started med school when he was 37 at our school
 
Crayola227 said:
my current friends in neuro residencies maintain it's actually one of the hardest residencies all the way through

I was inclined not to believe them but now they've told me enough over the years to believe it

my one friend for example, their program was set up not to give ANY residents a single weekend off.... EVER. As in, EVER. Not on a single goddamn rotation in a single year. I don't know how that is even possible to be that sadistic with a schedule but it is, I guess.
Click to expand...

Neuro residency becomes primarily outpatient once you are PGY3 and PGY4 - how can you not get weekends off?
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Neuro residency becomes primarily outpatient once you are PGY3 and PGY4 - how can you not get weekends off?
Click to expand...

Believe me, I was just as incredulous as you. I guess what you say isn't exactly true, and I think a lot of it has to do with call or having uppers qualified to read EKGs around to supervise.

When I did my neuro rotation as a medical student in a nice quiet outpt neuro practice, I remember those docs all having overnight call once a week. It doesn't stretch my imagination that my friends in neuro residency are getting their asses handed to them.

My friend just clocked 100 hours of home call in addition to the 40 of clinic. And this wasn't home call they got any sleep on.

Back to OP - if it makes you feel better the friend above was 33 starting residency, and 36 clocking those hours. They're tired as ****, and a lot less likey than their younger peers to go back out in the evening after they get home from work. Otherwise they do OK.
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Thanks for the response guys. One thing I am grateful for is that I have no debt - have wealthy parents that made good investments. Do you think that even though I am 5 years behind my peers, the fact that I have no debt puts me in a good position?
Click to expand...

Not really. Time is money and you don't have much of it :hilarious:
 
You are as old or as young as you think you are.. What YOU feel matters than what others feel.. I'm 38 and I DONT consider myself old or less energetic. I'm planning to apply for 2018 residency and hope I match and strive to be the best on par with my younger contemporaries.. Now that you are all done with school, tuition paid in full, just focus on the positive things you got and go ahead.. Don't let negative things bog you down... Good luck and best wishes
 
Last edited:
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Thanks for the response guys. One thing I am grateful for is that I have no debt - have wealthy parents that made good investments. Do you think that even though I am 5 years behind my peers, the fact that I have no debt puts me in a good position?
Click to expand...
i-just-cant-nike-parody-tshirt-large.png


Seriously SDN, is this normal behavior to you all?
 
Robotfishbrain said:
I loathe this saying. Time is always greater than money. You can always make more money, but you can't create more time (or get it back).
Click to expand...

You are right. Time is greater than money and OP doesn't have much of it left... given his age and all 😀

We are just teasing you, @NeurologyHopeful2018. You are young. You'll be fine.
 
Thanks for the re-assurance guys. Let's say I do a fellowship and comes out as an attending at 37. I practice until 67 - do you think 30 years is still a respectable time to practice? Can I still consider those 3 decades as a "full career"?
 
NeurologyHopeful2018 said:
Didn't begin med school until I was 26, took an extra year to graduate - hoping to match into Neurology. Assuming I match this cycle, I will be 31 years old to begin residency. Assuming I also do a 2 year fellowship, I won't be an attending until 37. Assuming I retire at standard 67, that is only 30 years of practice as an attending.

I see my fellow classmates becoming residents at 26-27, and I feel so old - both mentally and physically. Will this be a problem? Will my old age be discriminated against during residency, and if not - will it realistically make me slower than my fellow 26 year old classmates?

I do however have no debt. Your input is appreciated!
Click to expand...
It will not be a problem.

You'll be fine and I wish you the very best of success in your 30+year career! 🙂
 
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