M2 Winter Break, Step 1 Awaits! (Ask a Non-Trad [Almost] Anything)

[Eccesignum]

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Hey everyone! So I like posting AMAs on my summer/winter breaks to give both pre-meds and newmeds the opportunity to ask random questions, and we've just begun winter break so here I am.

Background: I'm a female non-trad in my late thirties entering medicine as a second career (technically third career). Had to do extensive GPA repair as I was sub-3.0 when I decided to attempt this. Currently attending a US MD school.

Obviously many questions people have are not cut and dry and can only be answered from my own perspective. Last time I did an AMA a few other non-trad med students came in to offer different opinions and experiences and I absolutely welcome that. I can only speak for myself. There are a few questions I can think of that would pinpoint me or the school I go to; those I will offer to answer in PM (or you can PM me first if you think it would warrant a more private answer). That said, if there's anything you'd like to ask a current student, let it loose. I'll be keeping up with this until the second week of January when we go back.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Hey everyone! So I like posting AMAs on my summer/winter breaks to give both pre-meds and newmeds the opportunity to ask random questions, and we've just begun winter break so here I am.

Background: I'm a female non-trad in my late thirties entering medicine as a second career (technically third career). Had to do extensive GPA repair as I was sub-3.0 when I decided to attempt this. Currently attending a US MD school.

Obviously many questions people have are not cut and dry and can only be answered from my own perspective. Last time I did an AMA a few other non-trad med students came in to offer different opinions and experiences and I absolutely welcome that. I can only speak for myself. There are a few questions I can think of that would pinpoint me or the school I go to; those I will offer to answer in PM (or you can PM me first if you think it would warrant a more private answer). That said, if there's anything you'd like to ask a current student, let it loose. I'll be keeping up with this until the second week of January when we go back.

Thanks for joining us again.

1) What's been the most unexpected thing for you so far?

2) Have you been able keep up some hobbies?

3) Are you getting excited/nervous about M3 and do you have any specialty ideas?

 

[star.buck]

Also non-trad M2... working through cardio and biochem this break. You doing any studying as well?

 

[Eccesignum]

Thanks for joining us again.

1) What's been the most unexpected thing for you so far?

2) Have you been able keep up some hobbies?

3) Are you getting excited/nervous about M3 and do you have any specialty ideas?

1. Honestly, I've been surprised at how manageable everything has been so far. Before I started med school everything I heard made it sound like this was going to be so difficult that I'd be sleeping three hours a night, not having time to do anything else, stressed out of my mind -- especially during second year. But it really isn't. It's been very smooth, even with doing a lot of extracurricular things. This is a very personal answer as I know for many people it really is the hardest thing they've ever done, and I respect that. I don't know if it's just because I'm older and I'm accustomed to having to be disciplined about how to spend my time. I wonder if a younger me would've struggled more keeping it all in line. I don't know. But it's been pleasantly a lot less insane than I was expecting it to be. So far. Ask me again when rotations start, lol.

2. Yup. I haven't done as much photography as I'd like to, but other than that I make a point of doing things I enjoy. Probably part of why medical school doesn't feel so oppressive to me 🙂

3. Very excited. Sitting in class all day erryday is really getting old, for someone used to being in the workforce and used to doing. I'm a bit nervous about Step 1, that's for sure, but it's just what we have to do. I'm still leaning very strongly towards emergency, having done quite a bit of shadowing and talking to docs in some other specialties I had an interest in. EM has a lot of doors open into things I'm also passionate about, like hospice and disaster medicine. But we'll see. I'm still very open to being swept away by something totally different during 3rd or even 4th year.

 

[Eccesignum]

Also non-trad M2... working through cardio and biochem this break. You doing any studying as well?

Hey there. I'm trying to get through immunology and biochem over break, yeah. Granted I took the first few days completely off for myself so I'm a little behind where I meant to be right now, lol. Worth it.

 

[djtallahassee]

Hello, not sure what your financial situation was when you started but it is possible you had some savings. Did you do anything creative such as tapping into the savings/401/IRA to help pay for school? Any worries about the debt slightly later than life than the youngins fresh out of school?

 

[Eccesignum]

Hello, not sure what your financial situation was when you started but it is possible you had some savings. Did you do anything creative such as tapping into the savings/401/IRA to help pay for school? Any worries about the debt slightly later than life than the youngins fresh out of school?

I did have some savings, though I wiped a huge chunk out during 2nd undergrad, then applications, then moving expenses. I have very little left, and am mostly dependent on loans now. Which is a bit harrowing for someone used to having a good cash inflow.

I worry about the debt, sure, but I'm not married, have no children, and have no outstanding debt other than a car payment. I intend to keep it that way until things are paid off. I grew up fairly poor and for most of my adult life have been solidly middle-class...I've never had a taste of the wealthy life, so "normal" to me is pretty cheap living tbh. I'm going to buckle it down hard after graduation and put every spare penny into the debt until it's gone, even if that means living like a resident the first few years of being an attending. It's a large chunk of change and things would be different if I were graduating at 27 rather than 40, but I'm honestly not worried about dying in debt.

 

[djtallahassee]

I did have some savings, though I wiped a huge chunk out during 2nd undergrad, then applications, then moving expenses. I have very little left, and am mostly dependent on loans now. Which is a bit harrowing for someone used to having a good cash inflow.

I worry about the debt, sure, but I'm not married, have no children, and have no outstanding debt other than a car payment. I intend to keep it that way until things are paid off. I grew up fairly poor and for most of my adult life have been solidly middle-class...I've never had a taste of the wealthy life, so "normal" to me is pretty cheap living tbh. I'm going to buckle it down hard after graduation and put every spare penny into the debt until it's gone, even if that means living like a resident the first few years of being an attending. It's a large chunk of change and things would be different if I were graduating at 27 rather than 40, but I'm honestly not worried about dying in debt.

Thanks for the answer! Great attitude, I think as the first payment will be coming in half a year I am starting to more worry about it. I'm also not married/no kids so that is at least one factor that make sit much more manageable. Glad to see your doing good!

 

[Eccesignum]

Thanks for the answer! Great attitude, I think as the first payment will be coming in half a year I am starting to more worry about it. I'm also not married/no kids so that is at least one factor that make sit much more manageable. Glad to see your doing good!

Ooh are you about to graduate? Congrats! 😀😀😀

 

[djtallahassee]

Ooh are you about to graduate? Congrats! 😀😀😀

No, well I mean starting med school in August haha. I may cash out the ol 401 and try to take loans down a bit. Still deciding

 

[stayathomemom]

In addition to MCAT and repairing your GPA, what did you do to prepare for applying (volunteer, shadow, etc.)? How did being an older than average applicant affect being able to do those EC things? When you interviewed, did you feel that the adcoms were concerned about your age? Did they ask any questions pertinent to your stage in life, or hint at that?

 

[Eccesignum]

In addition to MCAT and repairing your GPA, what did you do to prepare for applying (volunteer, shadow, etc.)? How did being an older than average applicant affect being able to do those EC things? When you interviewed, did you feel that the adcoms were concerned about your age? Did they ask any questions pertinent to your stage in life, or hint at that?

Sorry about the huge lag in replying, we're back in classes.

I did shadow, even though I was already working in healthcare. I shadowed several doctors outside the scope that I worked in, honestly partly for myself just to get to see what other scenes were like. As for volunteering I have a long history of it, as it's something I've enjoyed through my whole adult life. At the time of application I was already a long-term volunteer for two organizations, which I'd just continued doing through the application process.

Concerned about my age, nope. Concerned about why I was changing paths, you bet. The challenge for older applicants is to be very clear about our answers not only to 'why medicine' but also to 'why now?' (perhaps even moreso for me since I was coming from another healthcare field). Many of us are giving up well-paying, solid jobs, retirement funds, stability etc to go hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and start from zero way later than most. They want to know why the heck you're doing it, and you have to be ready to put your heart into your reply.

The interviews were very widely different. At most schools the questions were tailored to my personal experience, as most were open interviews where the interviewer had read my personal statement and ECs. Many were just conversations, they'd mention something that was interesting in my paperwork and ask me to talk about it. A couple had some surprisingly deep questions about my background and motivations. There were two interviews that seemed like I was being asked canned questions that they asked literally everyone...I just went with the flow, whatever it was.