I’m a 39 year old single Mom.
I’m currently a PMHNP (psych NP) and am interested in going to medical school.
Anyone here think I’m too old?
Also I heard after one year of residency government will hire you or you can do cash practice in some states? Which states are those? (Asking because hey, I’m old).
What do psych residents make (for my ROI calculation)?
Thanks!
It's not just of question of can you (probably not) are you too old (probably not), but should you. No.
Only doing one year of residency training is an unbelievable mistake that no one should ever pursue on purpose. It makes employment extremely difficult if not almost impossible, and the MD is not worth the trouble for it. The money isn't good and doesn't make sense for the level of debt and your current earning potential. You can read lots of threads about termination of residency training and questions about what kinds of jobs an MD alone or MD just with an intern year allow you to do. Having one year of training and getting a license to practice doesn't set you up to have a psych cash only practice. You would be better off as a PMHNP all around.
There is a ton of debt, and the process is terrible to get an MD and to finish the path to board certification, which is the only way it makes sense to go.
Your current plans, from what I can tell, it makes zero sense whatsoever for you to pursue the MD and residency. You're looking at 7-8 yrs of training minimum, with a quarter million in debt, 4 yrs unpaid, and 3-5 years at 80+ hrs a week at $50K, and I have no idea what kind of undergraduate courses you need to take at this point, or GPA repair.
Nevermind that you're a single mom. How are you going to manage 80+ hr work weeks for the latter two years of medical school, and then for the 3-5 years minimum of residency training? If you have a support system, are they prepared to move to anywhere in the entire country? Because many med students or at the point of residency, find themselves having to make a move to a location they had little choice in.
As far as child care, this bring us to your last question. Most residents make around $50-55K per year.
It's not just a question of age. Your plan makes zero sense.