Hi there,
I am a much older student (47 years old. ) I am an empty nester who wanted to go to medical school, but went to engineering school instead. I have been raising kids for the past 23 years and now have the time I was lacking earlier in my life. My initial grades were not great, but since returning to school for graduate work, I have nothing but As and Bs. I am considering going to a school in San Diego for my pre-health classes. If I do well, I will be applying to medical school at 50. Is there any chance of getting accepted? How long, after medical school, would it be before I was actually practicing medicine? Does it matter where I take my pre-reqs?
Thanks!
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
This is a very individual question, and it has been discussed in other threads.
OK. So, here's my take. Setting aside the age, especially if you are interested in primary care, which is something healthy people can do well into their 70's, it certainly can and has been done. (I know some that have practiced or are practicing primary care into their 80's, So it really depends upon the person.).
Is there stupid age discrimination? Yes. It's not allowed/illegal, but it happens, b/c, well, people are ridiculous with biases.
Thing is, really for anyone, just get exposure to clinical medicine--healthcare clinics, hospital EDs, ICU, med-surg. floors, etc. If you have not had clinical exposure, volunteering is good, but also consider becoming a medical HC tech or nursing assistant, especially in a hospital. Shadow with docs and find volunteering that you like. I say do what you like with healthcare volunteering; b/c it should be something that is a good experience for you, not something you just check off.
So, do what you are doing and start taking the pre-reqs, and get A's in those courses. Get your cGPA and sGPA up as high as possible. MCAT is changing so get up to date on what that requires. Undergrad GPA is more the focus for MS admission--more so than graduate GPA, in general; but that isn’t to say schools aren’t going to look at grad GPA. It’s just that they hone in on the uGPA and sGPA. Doing well, if you are in a grad program, is very important; but they will look at uGPA, core sciences, and then upper level sciences, again, in general.
You will probably have to deal with a general bias re: your age. You see it here at SDN. You can see it in the world at large. What I have found is that you don't see it as much if at all at oldpremeds.org. It’s more encouraging to “older” non-trads.
You could do everything right, and still, you might not get into a medical school program. That's just how it is in general, for pretty much everyone; but there will be more unspoken bias once people see your BD--which is idiotic. Whatever. You can't let bias potential control you. You have to do the very best you can, and go on from there--whatever comes.
If you have the money for all the needed course work in order to increase your GPA and score high in the pre-reqs, you may rob a bit from your nest egg, but that's up to you. Just as long as you know going in, and if you have ways to mitigate that loss.
You will be whatever age you be. No one has control over the day they were born. If you don't try, you will never know. The last three statements are somewhat cliché but no less true. Still, you have to do exceedingly well in your course work and preferably get > 30 on MCAT or what will be the equivalent once the new MCAT is used. (Yes, people have gotten in with lesser MCAT scores, but with the implied age biases and the general odds, it's best to overshoot, if you can IMHO.)
Seriously though, you might really end up hating your life if you don't do yourself the courtesy of getting many, many hours of strong clinical exposure and shadowing. The more direct, patient-based, clinical exposure you get, preferably in acute care, critical care, or care of patients that are medically fragile, the better.
Also, although the salary as a PGY1 and onward is not great, it's something,
and in truth, even in residency, you are practicing medicine. So you are a neophyte practicing medicine? Fine; but you are still practicing medicine. Yes, you are practicing under the direction of other residents, fellows, and attendings, but, again, you are still practicing medicine. So you will not be near 60
when you are actually practicing medicine. You will be a resident; but, once more, you will still be practicing medicine. Yes, you stand to lose the difference in what you would have made (total) in your previous career. It's something you must do in order to learn. Some percentage of it will suck, and some parts will be good--or what you make of it. There is no fairy tale, no glory, and a lot of frustrating and even lowly moments. Still, overall, it's what you make of it.
I will say this about being low person on totem pole at an older age. While, I am not knocking my profession (RN), I am not as miffed about practicing under the direction of other physicians, since I do it now. And after working under the power of surgeons, lol, I learned to be OK with that. Now, I'm not saying it's the same exact thing. What I am saying is that I've learned how to take orders, and I have learned how to carefully influence, if and when at all possible, something for the patient that may help or work. You just have to be very careful, and also choose to move forward with these kinds of situations VERY judiciously. I can take orders, and I can give them, where appropriate, and I still do my best to be a true advocate for the patients. While there are situations that can get stressful and intense at times, I am generally not a grudge-holder. You can't throw the baby out with that ole bathwater. But I have also been very lucky to have worked with mostly great docs that really cared about the best outcomes for the patients. And knowing this makes dealing with intense situations or even advocacy issues easier, b/c you know you ultimately have that same goal in mind. Sometimes it doesn't go down that way; but again, I have been quite lucky, and such situations have been exceedingly rare.
No one is medicine or nursing comes on the scene and runs the show. It's about learning to be a good follower whilst still practicing by way of your principles and proper standards. But there are a lot of times when you have to juggle all this stuff with keeping your head down. That's a tough factor, I think.
OK, so really no physician with an ounce of sense is going to tell you the whole process, up to and including practicing as a physician, is a cakewalk. In fact, much of anything in healthcare today is a
huge pain in the arse. There are many aggravating struggles that one encounters while working within its realm.
You won't, however, get a taste of that until you get enough direct, clinical exposure. It's there that you will find out if it's worth the time, money, and agony. So, you have to do this, while also getting the grades, preparing for MCAT, and all the rest of the pre-med school hoops through which one must jump.
One of the main reasons that I have seen where people become frustrated with medicine, besides the cost, time, and all the other hoops, is b
/c they just didn't immerse themselves in enough clinical experiences over a long enough period of time. So, they really had no idea what they were getting into--all the absolute BS involved. It’s from that exposure—and a lot of it, that one can better evaluate if clinical medicine would be a good fit for them.
Also, some people may like the medicine, but they aren't so keen on combining that interest while also dealing with people. I think you really have to be good in dealing with patients, and in general, you have to like it. If you don't, it will be the worst form of extended, intense customer service work you will have ever even thought of doing. If you find dealing with complaining, non-compliant, and generally very stressed out people as something you won't like, don't go into medicine--unless you can put up with it through 3rd/4th year, and hopefully get into pathology, non-interventional radiology, or something far removed from conscious human beings. If you think you will like pediatrics, you might want to think again--depending. If you can handle the reality that sick babies and kids and adolescents are generally very irritable and not fun--and often enough, depending--neither are their parents--and that kids don't have or care about the ability to have patience and tolerance, then you may be OK with peds. Well kids are often one thing, while sick kids and their parents can be, wow. I love working in peds; but it can be intense at times. Kids often stress easily, and their parents will stress as well. Being the calming presence is everything in peds.
I think if you have a true desire to go into primary care (and many don’t) this could, at least theoretically, help your odds. (Remember: there are no guarantees, period.)
Primary care medicine is pretty much the only thing I would consider at this point in my life. I've worked critical care as a RN, and I have worked with a lot of IM docs, surgeons, and other specialists. I have seen the demands on their lives. For me, primary care is the only thing that makes sense. I'm not saying others can't do otherwise. I have just experienced enough to know it's the best option for me at this point in my life.
So, to answer your question, it’s totally up to you. But just know what you are getting into and you will be able to make a better informed decision.
The best to you.
. Hahaha. Wait....
