Newbie questions?

[wanttobe-drlisa]

Hi out there!!

I am a 35 year old female who has been contemplating going to medical school..
(reader's digest condensed version of life)> Kids are grown...(yes i got married young), stable supportive family life, do not have to work, can devote entire spare time to study, have past job experience in the medical field ( worked as an assistant to a surgeon and even became his surgical asst. under his supervision), Loved it!! Have been working on my bach. degree originally was to be teaching but kept being drawn to medicine. Last week after taking a particularly hard trigonometry class and passed with a B..a fellow student told me I ought to think about med school. I have a 3.50 at the present as a sophmore. i have been thinking ever since. and becoming more interested and even excited every day.
I guess I really would just like some input on what the biggest challenges are? Is it hard to get financing for the entire time?
Do I understand correctly that after the Bach. degree it is 4 years Med school and then 2 years intern? My interest is family practice or even specialty in Gerontolagy.

i am very interested in working in a rural setting...I live in what is called the edge of Appalchia and have a desire to help the underpriveleged in this area. I am not interested in the money aspect( as ridiculous as that may sound), that is not my primary motivation.

Reading this board and this website is my first exposure to understanding the process. I have absolutely no idea what is in store other than the obvious dedication and hard studying. I would like some advice from a veteran. I have no problem with studying and I have a (gift?) for retaining info.. I have not forgotten any of the medical information I learned as an assistant. No one in my family or even this area has aspired to do this with their life. All of our doctors come from other areas. I want to be that person for them. What is your opinions? Thanks for any help or direction.

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[DW]

welcome to sdn. there is a search function at the top of your page. about every minute aspect of applying to med school right down to how you will mail your applications has been discussed ad nauseam on these boards. also, there's the older pre med site as well. do some searching, and good luck

 

[Wahoo07]

I think you should go for it. You have a lot of life experience and clinical experience which will help you out. Your willingness to go into primary care and to help the underserved is also very admirable. Your GPA is ok, but you should always try to raise it higher, and you should do especially well on all your prerequisite classes (Bio, Chem, organic chem, physics, english). You should do well on you MCATs also. Medical school is a big commitment. If you want to do family practice, then I think that is 4 years of medical school and 3? years of residency for that. You'll be at least 44 by the time you begin practicing, but that still leaves plenty of time for a long career. Good luck!

 

[wanttobe-drlisa]

thanks so much for your answers already!!!

Stupid question #1....do you get paid while interning or is that financed also?

 

[Wahoo07]

Originally posted by wanttobe-drlisa
thanks so much for your answers already!!!

Stupid question #1....do you get paid while interning or is that financed also?

During your residency you get paid around $30k - $35k per year.

 

[efex101]

There is another web site www.oldpremeds.net where you can also seek advice from non-trads. Because this is your first degree you will sort of fall under a trad non-trad type situation (like myself). You want to aim for A's in your pre-reqs, no we do not have to have 4.0 but because we are older and are being compared to the rest of the traditional students we need to be on our toes when it comes to grades. Ace the pre-med requirements and you should be fine. Good luck!

 

[gower]

Yes, it is quite possible for you go to medical school. However the yellow brick road to get there is not as simple as just taking courses and earning high enough grades to meet the requirements for admission. Even Dorothy on her search for the Wizard of Oz needed help on her journey, for the path was not without its dangers.

What I suggest that you do NOW, before you get too far along in your coursework, is to make an appointment to speak about your plans with somebody in Admissions at a medical school in your area or in your state. You should request a "counseling interview", making clear that that your are not now an applicant.

If you can post your state of residence (I DO NOT WANT YOUR HOME ADDRESS), I will suggest, with names and phone numbers), medical schools where you should be able to get that help.

I am just a helpful Munchkin!

 

[wanttobe-drlisa]

Thank you!!! I live in southern Ohio....so I am close to University of Cincinnati....to University of Kentucky....and even pretty close to Marshall in West Virginia.

I am going this week and talk to my own family physcian. He actually has been my doctor all my 35 years, he even delivered me. I trust him completely and he knows me well. In fact he encouraged me once before to go into medicine. Thanks for any help...I need it!!!