Residency opportunities and age???

[ocwaveoc]

Hello everyone!
By the way, I'm 36 y/o. I read the other thread where people disclosed their ages. I am one of the older ones here. Nevertheless, it's great to have found this site!

Here's my question. Has anyone of you heard of issues obtaining residencies of their choice when the med school graduate is older? I don't mean in the early 30s. But, more or less late 30s to 40s.

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[braluk]

You can find some answers here, towards the latter half of the thread.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=291278&highlight=braluk

 

[vtucci]

There may be some residencies that will not look as kindly on the age as others. However, you can assuage these fears by shining in your clinical years and not dragging ass. From my understanding, the concern is usually that we won;t have the same energy as the kids coming straight out of undergrad to medical school and who are 24, 25 etc. Also, some will love it because it means you have a lot more maturity.

You need to choose wisely. Ask yourself if you want to do the residencies where sleep deprivation could be an issue. Because we are not 24 anymore. It is amazing what a difference 5, 10 or more years makes. LOL.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hello everyone!
By the way, I'm 36 y/o. I read the other thread where people disclosed their ages. I am one of the older ones here. Nevertheless, it's great to have found this site!

Here's my question. Has anyone of you heard of issues obtaining residencies of their choice when the med school graduate is older? I don't mean in the early 30s. But, more or less late 30s to 40s.

There was actually an article I put on SDN a while back indicating that residency directors and employers actually sometimes prefer some of the "more seasoned" nontrads because they have a better work ethic and less of a sense of entitlement. But it would be naive to assume that there aren't some residency directors out their that wouldn't prefer their proteges to be younger than they are, and so some age discrimination may be encountered in some places/specialties. Unless you were planning on one of the lengthier surgical tracks, however, I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[efex101]

I will chime in here with what I have heard from some residency directors....although for most residencies age is a non-issue (this is usually for those that are "shorter" in lenght such as FM/IM/Psych) there are a few that will take into account age. If you start medical school at the age of let's say 38 like I did and graduate at the age of 42 you DO need to be realistic in picking your residency. One example that comes to mind is neurosurgery that is a 7-8 year residency and would put you at 49 by the time you are done. Now, I am not insinuating that you cannot "hack" the lifesytle of those 7 brutal years *but* more importantly will you be able to "hack" the lifestyle as time goes by? surgeons work a lot! and it seems from various conversations with many of them that their life gets worse after residency! with a decrease in reimbursements they tend to spend more time in the OR to make up for this. Also, as you start off at the age of 49 you will not fall into the cush job that many folks fall into later in their career. So again, will you be able to maintain this life well into your 50's? I am not saying the desire will not be there but let's face it as we age things can get a little tougher no matter what shape you are in. Standing for 10 hours at the age of 65 is not the same as at the age of 35.

It is not so much the "length" of training (although that can be an issue to ponder regarding potential income) but the "nature" of the training. More importantly is what is the lifestyle beyond training? As much as I loved surgery and it was by far the best rotation...I will let that one go. I feel that I can do it NOW but will I want to do it in my late 50's?

Lifestyle is another important issue that often pre-meds will glaze over but once you are in the thick of third year it becomes very important. I want to have time to travel, spend time with my family, do other things not related to medicine. Some specialties are not conducive to this.

So to answer your question (sorry for the long post)...Yes, some residency directors DO indeed take age into account. Of course that many prefer more seasoned and mature students but there is a big difference btw accepting a 35 yo and a 45 yo in their eyes. The toll that a surgical residency takes on you is huge and you need to be super super gung-ho about this to attempt it.

 

[S-Mart]

I don't mean to interrupt - well, yeah I do - but does anyone know what happens to the older surgeons? There must be a point when their hands give out. Say it's before they retire... do they switch to a desk job or another residency program?

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

I don't mean to interrupt - well, yeah I do - but does anyone know what happens to the older surgeons? There must be a point when their hands give out. Say it's before they retire... do they switch to a desk job or another residency program?

Remember the age-old saying:

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

 

[smugtroll]

I read about some study about surgeons over 60. (try random google search)

Article said surgeons 60+ were just as safe as their younger counterparts so long as they had busy practices. However the fact that the article selected the age 60 seemed to indicate retirement typical consideration.

So if 60 is the magic retirement age what should we attribute this to?

1) The fact the surgeon had a 30 year career from age 30-60?

or

2) The fact the surgeon is 60?

Perhaps if you are a non-trad and finish residency at 40 you practice to 70?

Just some thoughts

 

[Law2Doc]

I read about some study about surgeons over 60. (try random google search)

Article said surgeons 60+ were just as safe as their younger counterparts so long as they had busy practices. However the fact that the article selected the age 60 seemed to indicate retirement typical consideration.

So if 60 is the magic retirement age what should we attribute this to?

1) The fact the surgeon had a 30 year career from age 30-60?

or

2) The fact the surgeon is 60?

Perhaps if you are a non-trad and finish residency at 40 you practice to 70?

Just some thoughts

Given the current and anticipated shortages in healthcare, no one is pushing doctors out at 60 these days - it all depends on health (and these days 60 is still reasonably vibrant). That being said, if your hands are not as steady as they used to be, you get out of surgery and teach or retire. If you had a research lab while practicing at an academic setting, you could certainly keep doing that (lab animals don't always get the most steady handed surgeons).

But most of the older nontrads will not be retiring for as long as they can help it. The window of practice is too short. You plan to just drop dead in the wards at 80, if they don't throw you out first.

 

[RxnMan]

There was actually an article I put on SDN a while back indicating that residency directors and employers actually sometimes prefer some of the "more seasoned" nontrads because they have a better work ethic and less of a sense of entitlement. But it would be naive to assume that there aren't some residency directors out their that wouldn't prefer their proteges to be younger than they are, and so some age discrimination may be encountered in some places/specialties. Unless you were planning on one of the lengthier surgical tracks, however, I wouldn't sweat it.

I've seen this happen to one of my classmates. He was asking about surgery, incidentally.

 

[efex101]

They work in academia where they have a ton of residents doing the bulk of surgeries for them?