Is it too late for me?

[lvhunnie]

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thanks

 

[Static Line]

Hello,

I just found this board during the last 2 weeks and I am really enjoying it!

Background:
My family immigrated to the US from Cambodia in 1984. At age 7, I sexually abused by someone very close to our family and hid it for 5 year. In the sixth grade, I finally told a teacher what happened and helped put my abuser in jail. Despite going through what I went through, I was a really well adjusted kid and did well in chool. In my junior year of high school, my boyfriend died suddenly from meningitis and my grades suffered a bit. From that point on, I lost a bit of motivation. I was able to graduate with pretty good grades from high school but took a different route than medicine. I did not go directly to college because I was ignorant to student loans and thought I had to pay out of pocket for school. My parents couldn't afford to send me to school, so I just started working. I'm in my 7th year in the insurance industry and am very good at what I do. However, I feel that there is something missing. What I do is practical but doesn't help other people, if that makes sense.

Today, I am 28 years old and am planning on going back to school for my BA this fall. I am married with 3 kids. 2 years ago, I got my act to gether and enrolled at the local community college, for 1 quarter (4.0 GPA) but had to stop the 2nd quarter because my mom had a stroke & I needed to take care of her. She's doing much better now and I'm even more passionate about being a doctor after interacting with her doctors and witnessing first hand how medicine was able to save my mother's life.

My question to you all is this...is it too late for me to pursue my dream? Thanks in advance for your insights.

No. Keep pushing forward in undergrad and keep up the high grades. If it's a dream you'll make it. If it's only an inspiration from interacting with the docs you'll find out real quick.

 

[powerbooki]

It's not too late. I am 33 and am headed to med school this Fall. When you are done with your BA/BS at about 32, you are at a similar age. I have learned from my friends that kids need a lot of time from you, so it will be harder for you to go through school, take care of children/your mother, or maybe even keep working. I had it much simpler, no comparison to yours. I know there are people did it with similar situation to yours. I agree with the previous poster, if it's a dream, it will keep you motivated. I am too an immigrant, came here at age 19 and became a legal permanent resident four years ago.

 

[ShyRem]

Not too late. I went back to school to start over and get my bachelor's degree when I was 35. Now here I am at 40, just finished my MSI year.

Keep your chin up, work hard, and believe in yourself.

 

[QofQuimica]

You may have heard the saying that the longest journey begins with a single step. Start by going back to college, earning excellent grades, and getting your BA. Take the pre-med prerequisites (1 year each of biology, physics, general chemistry, and organic chemistry with lab), and take anything and everything else that interests you. (You don't have to be a science major, although you can major in science if you want.) Get involved with the healthcare field in some way (volunteering, shadowing physicians, etc.). Educate yourself about the process and find yourself a good mentor who can help guide you through. There are many of us who are going to medical school in our 30s, and it can definitely be done. Best of luck to you. 🙂

 

[lvhunnie]

x

 

[Static Line]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I am so excited to start this process. I am meeting with a really good advisor next week at the college and am signing up for fall quarter. My goal this week is to call the hospital for any volunteer opportunites that I can do. I am also sending letters to my regular doctors to see if I can shadow with them. With respects to shadowing, how long are you shadowng for? Is it a week of shadowing, or a day, etc?

The purpose of shadowing is to:

#1 see if you like medicine enough to comit to it
#2 establish relationships with physicians who will one day write you a nice letter of recommendation. I wouldn't write a nice letter for someone I only knew for 1 month, let alone 1 week or 1 day. It's a long process with very few short cuts. To get a nice LOR, the physicians you shadow need to get to know you. People who only seek a physician long enough to shadow and get a LOR generally will only get a mediocre letter. Not very helpful. If you plan on any osteopathic schools getting to a LOR from a DO is paramount to most DO schools. My school will not consider anyone without a LOR from a DO. You are early enough in your planning stages that you can plan well to get ahead.