Please help: Accepted now reconsidering

[sv3]

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Hi all,

I've been accepted into a Canadian medical school, and suddenly find myself reconsidering going to medical school. I am 31 yrs old, and have a degree in finance, med sci, and an MBA. Unfortunately, I'm also dead broke after paying off 7 yrs of schooling. I'm now faced with the option of being 37 yrs old and 250k in debt if I were to become a GP, or 38 if I did a GP + 1 (ER). These are my likely two avenues. I'm having second thoughts (much more than just cold feet) about letting life pass me by, and that its about time I just applied my skills and degrees in the corp world, and start making money now. For reference, I would make ~100k per year and work about 50 hrs a week. I'd also be able to contribute to my family much sooner. I can't beleive I just realized all this - before I said screw my age and this and that, but i guess now that this is a reality, I'm really scared.

Sorry if I sound ungrateful - I'm not. I know medicine is a good opportunity but wondering if that time has passed me by. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sv

 

[J ROD]

simply if you cant put being a physician above family and everything else it probably will not be worth it....basically when do you want your life to start now or 40.

I am your age too. Can you live without it.....?

 

[QofQuimica]

Hi all,

I've been accepted into a Canadian medical school, and suddenly find myself reconsidering going to medical school. I am 31 yrs old, and have a degree in finance, med sci, and an MBA. Unfortunately, I'm also dead broke after paying off 7 yrs of schooling. I'm now faced with the option of being 37 yrs old and 250k in debt if I were to become a GP, or 38 if I did a GP + 1 (ER). These are my likely two avenues. I'm having second thoughts (much more than just cold feet) about letting life pass me by, and that its about time I just applied my skills and degrees in the corp world, and start making money now. For reference, I would make ~100k per year and work about 50 hrs a week. I'd also be able to contribute to my family much sooner. I can't beleive I just realized all this - before I said screw my age and this and that, but i guess now that this is a reality, I'm really scared.

Sorry if I sound ungrateful - I'm not. I know medicine is a good opportunity but wondering if that time has passed me by. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sv

Are you wanting us to talk you into it or out of it? 😉

All kidding aside, there isn't anything that anyone here can tell you in terms of whether you should go to medical school. It's possible that you just have cold feet because of a little fear of the unknown, which is completely understandable. It's also possible that you made a mistake, although usually people at least matriculate and try med school for a while before coming to that conclusion.

I suggest that you make a list of all the things that convinced you to go to med school in the first place, and see if they still hold. It's always good to remind yourself of why you're making all of these sacrifices when the doubts start dragging you down. But if you're sure that med school is a mistake for you, it's also better to bail now than when you're partway through and in six figure debt. FWIW, though, I'm betting on cold feet. I say that because if you were really so satisfied with your current job, you would never have started down this path in the first place.

Best of luck. 🙂

 

[sv3]

simply if you cant put being a physician above family and everything else it probably will not be worth it....basically when do you want your life to start now or 40.

I am your age too. Can you live without it.....?

Are you wanting us to talk you into it or out of it? 😉

All kidding aside, there isn't anything that anyone here can tell you in terms of whether you should go to medical school. It's possible that you just have cold feet because of a little fear of the unknown, which is completely understandable. It's also possible that you made a mistake, although usually people at least matriculate and try med school for a while before coming to that conclusion.

I suggest that you make a list of all the things that convinced you to go to med school in the first place, and see if they still hold. It's always good to remind yourself of why you're making all of these sacrifices when the doubts start dragging you down. But if you're sure that med school is a mistake for you, it's also better to bail now than when you're partway through and in six figure debt. FWIW, though, I'm betting on cold feet. I say that because if you were really so satisfied with your current job, you would never have started down this path in the first place.

Best of luck. 🙂

thanks so much for the replies. Your comments make alot of sense. I've got some hard thinking to do for sure. Not sure which way it ends......

 

[RitaHayworth]

I started med school two weeks ago. I left my husband/son 1800 miles away, with the intention for them to join me in a year. I wept all the way out to school and for the first 1 1/2 weeks, thinking I had made a terrible mistake. I'm older than you so my concern was not about losing one decade or the next, but being apart from my family and the impact it would have on my marriage. The biggest kick in the face was that I seem to have "lost my fire" for why I even wanted to pursue this course in the first place. I just felt /feel sometimes numb.

I can't say that what you have is cold feet or not, but I agree with the others that you should at least try med school first. I'm going to at least go first semester. If my family weren't so uber-supportive, I probably would have given into my fears and gone home. I just can't think of anything else to do with my life but go down this path. As the days go by, I feel better about my decision thanks to the great technology available (Skype). Consider the time, effort and money you have put forth to get you to this point. I do think it is worth it to at least give it a try, which is what I'm doing.

 

[Jasil]

I'll pick a side 😀 I don't think you should do it!! You've already been in school for so many years and now want to keep going and become a MD?

I don't get it to be honest. Get out there and work then decide if you want to be a MD you haven't even gotten your feet wet. Why do you want to be a MD when your background is clearly financial??

Being a MD for $$$ is always a stupid idea especially the later in life students. If it's not about the inner fullfillment of helping and making a difference I doubt you or anyone else will be truly happy.

 

[TFS]

.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

what were your reasons for applying to medical school in the first place?

This. Go back and read your personal statement from your application. I imagine you had to have good reasons to go through the entire application process. What has changed? And if you're really considering walking away from your med school slot to join the world of finance, I would make damn sure that that $100k job that may be waiting on you is a sure thing. Not sure how long ago you got your MBA, but the employment conditions in finance are a moving target at best. Life isn't "passing you by." Life is exactly what you make of it. Some of the highest points in my life have been when I was dirt poor. Just be sure you are 100% if you walk away, because unless you perform some ethical tricks with your deferment explanation or during reapplication, it will be very hard to go back to medicine. There are just too many people who can match your stats/EC's/etc but have nothing in their application to indicate any question at all about their dedication to becoming a successful attending physician.

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hi all,

I've been accepted into a Canadian medical school, and suddenly find myself reconsidering going to medical school. I am 31 yrs old, and have a degree in finance, med sci, and an MBA. Unfortunately, I'm also dead broke after paying off 7 yrs of schooling. I'm now faced with the option of being 37 yrs old and 250k in debt if I were to become a GP, or 38 if I did a GP + 1 (ER). These are my likely two avenues. I'm having second thoughts (much more than just cold feet) about letting life pass me by, and that its about time I just applied my skills and degrees in the corp world, and start making money now. For reference, I would make ~100k per year and work about 50 hrs a week. I'd also be able to contribute to my family much sooner. I can't beleive I just realized all this - before I said screw my age and this and that, but i guess now that this is a reality, I'm really scared.

Sorry if I sound ungrateful - I'm not. I know medicine is a good opportunity but wondering if that time has passed me by. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sv

Being accepted to a Canadian medical school is impressive. Well done!

I suggest taking a year out (defer). One year is no big deal. While many people start medical school with a less-than-accurate assessment of the reality of the work, some still enjoy it at the end. It's a job in the end.

Just realize that it's a massive time constraint for the rest of your life. If you think you will be happy doing anything else, you should.

Good luck!

 

[MCAT guy]

Hi all,

I've been accepted into a Canadian medical school, and suddenly find myself reconsidering going to medical school. I am 31 yrs old, and have a degree in finance, med sci, and an MBA. Unfortunately, I'm also dead broke after paying off 7 yrs of schooling. I'm now faced with the option of being 37 yrs old and 250k in debt if I were to become a GP, or 38 if I did a GP + 1 (ER). These are my likely two avenues. I'm having second thoughts (much more than just cold feet) about letting life pass me by, and that its about time I just applied my skills and degrees in the corp world, and start making money now. For reference, I would make ~100k per year and work about 50 hrs a week. I'd also be able to contribute to my family much sooner. I can't beleive I just realized all this - before I said screw my age and this and that, but i guess now that this is a reality, I'm really scared.

Sorry if I sound ungrateful - I'm not. I know medicine is a good opportunity but wondering if that time has passed me by. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sv

It's simple. Go for whatever job you will like more.

Everything hinges on that question.

 

[sv3]

Thanks so much for the replies. QofQuimica was correct - cold feet, but let me tell you, that was the worst case of cold feet ever! I'm glad i had that "breakdown" b/c i think it allowed me to rediscover why i wanted meds and I'm more focused now than ever. Sometimes you just focus on the goal and lose sight of the reasons your on the path in the first place......and I'm better for going through this now.

Cheers

 

[Evergrey]

Thanks so much for the replies. QofQuimica was correct - cold feet, but let me tell you, that was the worst case of cold feet ever! I'm glad i had that "breakdown" b/c i think it allowed me to rediscover why i wanted meds and I'm more focused now than ever. Sometimes you just focus on the goal and lose sight of the reasons your on the path in the first place......and I'm better for going through this now.

Cheers

I know how you feel. There's nothing like a healthy dose of reality every now and then 🙂 It's important to go through these (or at least, I think so) because otherwise we will have SERIOUSLY destructive mid-life crises.

 

[MIAYO]

I'll pick a side 😀 I don't think you should do it!! You've already been in school for so many years and now want to keep going and become a MD?

I don't get it to be honest. Get out there and work then decide if you want to be a MD you haven't even gotten your feet wet. Why do you want to be a MD when your background is clearly financial??

Being a MD for $$$ is always a stupid idea especially the later in life students. If it's not about the inner fullfillment of helping and making a difference I doubt you or anyone else will be truly happy.

I doubt that he is being driven by money. He stated that becoming a GP sounds appealing.

 

[LegendaryPunk]

*snip*

on 8/14/2010

*snip*

on 1/6/2012

I understand that it's worth taking time to think through a response - but 16 months?!?!

😀

 

[0919mmk]

I doubt that he is being driven by money. He stated that becoming a GP sounds appealing.

N-N-N-Necrobump! Wonder if he did it tho lol....

 

[Corpsman Up]

I went through a similiar problem a little over a year ago. I am 27, ex-military, have no family other than an older sister, was a junior at the time and had just gotten engaged. I did a lot of soul searching and decided that I wanted to begin a family and be the best husband and father that I could be. I decided that at the end of the day being a physician was still just a job and living life was more important.

Fast forward 12 months and I am finishing my Ochem prereq and registered for the March 24 MCAT. This is a calling, once you're bitten with the bug nothing else will suffice as a career; at least thats how it was for me. So if this is truly your calling, then in 4 or 5yrs you will probably be back on this forum asking "am I too old to start med school?". But if you can be truly happy NOT doing medicine, then you should prob go down another avenue. Theres no reason to go through all this and rack up that kind of debt unless theres nothing else you can see yourself doing

Edit: Just saw how old this thread was...what a waste of time!

 

[evamaria]

Hi, I'm having cold feet regarding starting a phd.... simular reasons actually, I dont have a 100k job waiting for me, but i do feel life is passing me by and all I do is study..... so I'm wondering what you decided to do, and if your happy with your decision( whatever it was) now?

thanks

 

[squintgeek]

I'm 29, and I hope to start med school when I'm 30. At this point, I have no idea how I'm going to fund it (I will try scholarships but if that doesn't work out I will take a student loan). Many of us at this age are definitely thinking about the things we'll have to sacrifice in order to achieve our dream. But if this isn't your dream, I can honestly tell you that it's probably not worth giving up so much time, effort, money into it.

A great way to look at things however, is to look back to 5 years ago...were you happy doing what it was you were doing? Now look 5 years ahead...could you imagine life not being a physician?

The worst thing, is looking back and thinking "darn, I should have..."

 

[augeremt]

The worst thing, is looking back and thinking "darn, I should have..."

This is precisely what finally got me to go back to school to do pre-reqs and try this medicine thing again.

I'm in the middle of the application process and some of the questions on secondaries are making me rethink the decision to go to med school. But then I remember all the times I'd talked to good friends from high school who were in med school at the time and me being insanely jealous of them, and all that goes away, at least momentarily.

I had given up on medicine in undergrad because I wanted to have a life outside of school and work in my mid-20s. I have that life now, but there's that nagging feeling that I should give med school a shot and if I don't do it now, I never will and I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life. If clinical medicine doesn't turn out to be exactly what I want then there are plenty of other things I can do with my MD.

That's what's driving me to continue on this ridiculous process.