So, under the best circumstances, don't plan on matriculating into medical school until you're 43.
Once you are enrolled in medical school, you are in a four year plan and will graduate when you turn 47. If you choose a short residency period (such as pediatrics or family practice instead of surgery), you will be able to practice when you turn 50. If you decide to specialize in something more challenging, such as surgery or ortho, you will be training anywhere from 6-10 years, in which case, you won't be able to practice until you're in your mid-50s.
I'm suppressing a little laugh here, because I'm applying this year at 45, and if everything goes according to plan (knock wood), I'll get my M.D. when I'm 50 and start practicing a few years later. (No surgery or ortho for me, though--my endurance DOES have a limit.)
ChairmanMao, I'm not making fun of your post, because you laid out a lot of sobering facts that are important for the OP to know. I just wanted to make the point that even though a goal may be really hard to achieve (like this one), there will still be those who are determined to try anyway--and will succeed. I noticed the OP said that she "always wanted" to be a physician; sometimes it's time to go after what you've always wanted, even at the ripe old age of 40. (Hell, from my point of view, the OP is getting an "early" start by doing this at 40. I was 42 when I began making plans, and 43 by the time I started school.)
To the OP: Having said what I just did, you shouldn't kid yourself that this is going to be easy, because it's not. (It will be brutal.) But before jumping in, you have to make sure you've got some important things covered:
1. Money. As ChairmanMao said, this is big. The main constraint for people our age is time--we can't afford to go through the classes by onesies and twosies as younger nontrads can. That means you really have to quit working and do a full-time postbacc program. (I did a formal one, but if you're brave you can do the same thing cheaper by taking the same classes on your own at a local university.) So not only do you have to have the money for tuition, you need to be able to support yourself for 2 years without working. You'll have a "lag" year while you're applying to med school, and you can work close to full-time then, but after that you'll be in med school, and your ability to earn a living will be zero until you're a resident.
So I think the only way that this would be practical for you to consider is if you have some independent means of support (like savings, a pension, insurance money, inheritance, etc.) to get you through postbacc. Otherwise, I'm afraid you just wouldn't be able to get the classes done in enough time to have a realistic chance of getting into med school.
2. Emotional/family support. Even if money is taken care of, you should realize that this is a really lonely road to be taking all by yourself. I'm lucky: I have a wonderful husband and two kids who are behind me 100%, and yet you wouldn't believe how beaten down and demoralized I feel a lot of the time. The premed classes are brutal, and applying to med school seems almost worse than the classes. Yes, you can get through these things, but your odds are going to be MUCH better if you have family or really dependable, close friends to back you up. If you don't, I would think twice about doing this.
I'm going to shut up now, because I've already said too much. But feel free to PM me if you want more info.
Good luck, and don't be afraid of your dreams.
.) After all of the drama subsided in My life I took my nursing prereqs and made all As, anatomy, pathophys, micro,,,,etc. Never took any of the other required courses for premed cuz at the time I had not fully recovered from my husbands death. So,, here I am trying to figure out the best way to go about 1) getting my prereqs all in and the best way to do that. 2) How to boost my gpa. Since I have a BSN, and have not taken the mcat or applied to med school, I cant do an SMP so that is out.
