Some honest advice?

[BobRunner]

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Let me first say that I have always been interested in medicine and always have had a drive to help people.Right now I am 28 years young (hah). I did not have the greatest of upbringings. I dropped out of school at 16 after moving with my family many times. I am in my second year in community college right now. I still haven't taken my G.E.D as I didn't need it until I was going to graduate with an associates. This is the 16th school I have been to in my life, that should give a little insight to just how many times I moved and why I decided to drop out. The choice was given to me as a teenager to make a choice that would rob me of any chance of higher learning, or so I thought. I carried that thought with me until I was 26. I was in a dark place in my life at the time and hated my life to be totally honest. I had worked terrible dead end jobs and embraced a lot of harmful habits passed on from my parents. I consider myself a smart person. I am well read and learn very quick.

My main question is it viable to actually even think about med school at my age? I do have good things going for me as I don't have any kids nor a wife whom relies on me. It is basically just me and am able to live on the fringe and have and can go without to survive on little while working through school. As of right now I am just taking basic classes and trying to figure out what exactly is open to me. This is all very new. Most of the classes I have taken aren't college level classes and therefor do not affect my GPA. My current GPA is a 3.2. I do plan on bringing that up. The adjustment from working 70+ hours a week to being a college student has been rough. My current lease on my apartment is up next month and now that I will be moving into a smaller place I can finally stop working so much and focus on school. I am positive I can score high when not having to work 70 hours a week to pay my bills.

Any suggestions about going to med school as an older person? I realize I would be close to 40 when I graduate and that is what scares me. My grandmother was a RN and the first women in my state to be the head of a department (pediatrics). She adopted my mother and while I only knew her for 6 months of my life she affected me tremendously.

I will greatly appreciate HONEST advice from people in the know. This was a driving force in coming to these forums. I will be open to any advice and also open to sharing more details about anything that will benefit my future. thank you

 

[mouthwash4hobo]

There are many areas in medicine. See about doing some job shadowing before diving into the expensive road of college. Also, there is nothing wrong with going part-time (school) if you have to work. It's sometimes hard to accept, but it is okay to slow down - even if you are 28 years old. People career change much later than you.

I'm 26 - been working mostly full-time since I was 18, switched majors way too many times and tried to take on more than I could handle. I would say, don't feel the need to rush, we are non-trads for a reason. We've gained experiences and me personally, I have matured a bit later than I would have liked. At 18, I shouldn't have started college.
When you do decide to pursue an undergraduate degree, have the mindset of truly wanting to understand everything in your classes. There are definitely times when you may feel burn-out, it's normal, especially for people working full-time. When this happens, take some time for yourself and regroup, remember why you are so interested in medicine and remember it is the hard work that gets you there.

 

[Fifimiki]

Hey BobRunner, I think you are in a great position to start this process. It could actually be a good thing that you didn't go to college while you were younger because now those grades aren't coming back to haunt you like mine are.

I have my BA and I'm doing my post bacc now. When I registered for class I thought I could jump right in. Ugh, turns out I'm in remedial math and can't take any science until next semester and I can only take bio. This was a big wake up call to me. At first I thought I could pack it in and be done in 2 years. By having to start in remedial math I realized it's ok to start from the beginning and to take things slow because I need to learn the material and retain it. Ok, so now it's gonna take me at LEAST 3 or 4 years but now I know so I can relax and accept that fact.

Just know that you are not alone. There are a lot of people just like you and me who WANT to do the same thing. But only a few actually take the plunge and start. I think your life story gives you an advantage. But like the poster above me wrote, I think you should shadow early to make sure you WANT to do this.