older students in Australia

[Knockout Mouse]

Could anyone comment as to how receptive Australian medical schools are to older, non-traditional type students.

I am a 39 year old applicant. That is certainly not a common age for applicants in the USA, but it is not ridiculous either. Is it the same in Australia? or should I not even bother trying?

I would be an international applicant, and I guess the schools I'm most concerned with are Flinders, U Sydney and U Queensland. I went to the school websites but they didn't have any demographic data on their student bodies.

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[JoeNamaMD]

I was over 30 when I applied to the University of Queensland, they welcome older students here, in fact I believe the average age of students is 28. The only thing is that you have a time limit before the university will no longer count your previous higher education, that is why I studied medical science for a year before enrolling in medical school.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I was also over 30 when I was at Flinders and we had several older than me, including one in his early 50s. I genuinely think age is less of a problem at the Aussie schools than in the US.

 

[PEN15]

We have quite a few non-traditional students in my class... 30's and 40's and they seem to blend in quite nicely! They even come out to some of the med school functions.

 

[Knockout Mouse]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[driedcaribou]

We have quite a few non-traditional students in my class... 30's and 40's and they seem to blend in quite nicely! They even come out to some of the med school functions.

I meant to reply to this earlier... but you make it sound like everyone over 30 doesn't know how to have fun!

lol

 

[Drwanabe]

a guys, was reading your post and was wondering how long is medical school in australia? 4 years, 5 years, or any shorter programs like in canada at mcmaster that are three years?

 

[PEN15]

I meant to reply to this earlier... but you make it sound like everyone over 30 doesn't know how to have fun!

lol

lol... no they just like to have fun earlier in the day so that they can pack it in earlier.

I'm considered "old" compared to some of my classmates and I'm in my early to mid 20's

 

[PEN15]

a guys, was reading your post and was wondering how long is medical school in australia? 4 years, 5 years, or any shorter programs like in canada at mcmaster that are three years?

4, 5, or 6 depending on the school and the program it offers, i.e. undergraduate vs. graduate entry. You can get more information here.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

A friend of mine who is an IMG who is over 30 told me about the Residency match in the States, he said it is becoming extremely difficult to get into a surgical subspecialty training program if you are over the age of 30. That being said, he said it was not uncommon to find older Residents in other fields. Anyhow, if I do not make it into US residency program, I will just stay in Australia, my family is in San Francisco and there are plenty of direct flights there, plus I will get more vacation time in Australia than I will in the States. Oddly enough I might be able to see them more often than I would if I worked in Chicago or NYC because I will get less vacation time. One thing I have to say is great about Australia is that a large percentage of Australians are able to travel overseas.

 

[Winged Scapula]

A friend of mine who is an IMG who is over 30 told me about the Residency match in the States, he said it is becoming extremely difficult to get into a surgical subspecialty training program if you are over the age of 30. That being said, he said it was not uncommon to find older Residents in other fields.

'

Sorry, but that is a bunch of hooey. I was well over 30 when I applied, as were several of my friends and acquaintances. Only once was I asked how I felt about finishing my residency after 40.

While in the "old days" surgery may have been more conservative, considering that the average age of the US medical student is near 30 and the fact that most surgical residents - regardless of where they trained - are over 30, I find this hard to believe. With the exception of applicants who are seriously over the average age (ie, in their 50s and 60s and SDN even has a moderator who was over 50 when she started her surgical residency: njbmd), I don't think this claim is substantiated.

 

[redshifteffect]

Thanks for the replies.

One of my best mates at my school is old enough to be my grandfather!

 

[craig_rt]

There are plenty in my year at Newcastle that are in their 30s and 40s (including me). At Newcastle they pro-rata the intake, so if the applications break down to 75% school leavers and 25% "mature" entry then that is the proportion that is accepted.

 

[secret]

I plan to apply to undergraduate medicine in 2009. I'm 22 now, therefore I will be 24 when I apply-that's much older then the usual applicants.

I don't believe they will incorporate age into the equation when assessing your suitability and competitiveness.