Too Old for Certain Residencies?

[DrSteve]

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Hello all-

I am planning to start med school this fall at the age of 39. I am very excited, good family support, finances in line, but I am looking for advice regarding specialization at my age (43 when I graduate). Are there certain areas of medicine that I should steer towards (or away) from given that age? I am aware of the lengths of time for each area of specialization, but am asking mostly with regard to any potential age discrimination. I really don't want to get into a discussion as to whether there should be discrimination, but I want to be realistic about where I will have the best and worst possibilities in the future match process.

Thanks!

 

[DarthNeurology]

Hello all-

I am planning to start med school this fall at the age of 39. I am very excited, good family support, finances in line, but I am looking for advice regarding specialization at my age (43 when I graduate). Are there certain areas of medicine that I should steer towards (or away) from given that age? I am aware of the lengths of time for each area of specialization, but am asking mostly with regard to any potential age discrimination. I really don't want to get into a discussion as to whether there should be discrimination, but I want to be realistic about where I will have the best and worst possibilities in the future match process.

Thanks!

I have seen older medical students and residents and many have done FP or IM. I don't think there is age discrimination in terms of what residency you apply for as there are surgeons who are in their 70's who are running circles around their residents. If you have been a lawyer for the past 8 years working 100+ hours a week or other very work intensive field then I wouldn't limit yourself at all. You could do a surgical residency at 43 and do it for 5 years and then practice surgery and if you love it then it works out. Most older students if they haven't made huge sacrifices in their prior work, i.e. being away from family and such, will tend to gravitate to IM or FP with a goal of doing 9 to 5 ambulatory medicine sometimes because psychologically they feel they are "too old" to do something more intense like ob/gyn or surgery.

Residents of all ages decide what type of work pattern in medicine suits them (notice I didn't say lifestyle because some traditionally good lifestyle residencies can be very draining if you are not cut out of it, even psychiatrists can work very long hours and have very stressful lives.)

Once you actually do third year rotations then you will figure out where you would be competitive, which is mostly based on board scores, grades, and clinical evaluations but also heavily influenced if you are the student who everybody knows that he/she loves surgery then you are more likely to get good evals just based on that reputation in a way. But by no means do you need to have a specialty picked out already, even at the end of third year many people are uncertain of what they want to do.

 

[VMSmith]

I've heard there is some in surgical subspecialties, which are hard to get in to begin with. The reasoning being that the residencies are long and more physically demanding, and your career after finishing residency will likely be shorter than in other specialties.

That said, even if you are interested in one of the surgical subspecialties you could land a spot somewhere if you do all the right things.

 

[efex101]

Yes, there will be certain surgical residencies that may take into account your age like neurosurgery.

 

[dragonfly99]

I agree that certain surgical residency programs will likely take your age into account. However, I also agree w/the above comment that if you turn out to be a superstar on your surgical clerkship and show strong motivation for surgery, and have top grades, there are surgical residencies that would very likely take you. It's kind of like the med school admissions process - certain people doing the choosing @certain med schools don't necessarily like older students, while others do like them.

IMHO surgical residency is very physically grueling and I just honestly think there are a lot of people in their 40's who would not be able to physically stomach it...I'm sure there are some who would, but a lot would not. Even IM residency can be pretty grueling when you've been up in the hospital for 30 hours with not sleep...however, with work hours limits, there are fewer and fewer IM residencies that require 30 hour overnight calls, so that may be a moot point soon.

 

[jigga]

I am amazed to know that there are people who actually want to start medical school at 39 and are seem motivated to. And more importantly it is actually possible for them in the USA. As a foreign medical graduate it is practically impossible to get admission in my country at age 39. There is a rule here that after high school 10 marks are deducted for each year you miss out from the national standardized admission test. Maybe stupid but true.

Good luck to you. I believe if you are motivated enough and work hard you can achieve anything provided there are no other variables out of your control affecting you.

 

[jigga]

Correction *and seem motivated too*

 

[LADoc00]

I could never possibly imagine starting med school at 39. I dont what you did prior, maybe you are a retired Navy SEAL or something (and you could be, Ive seen that).

But the thought of stepping out of 15+ years in a Dilbert cubicle world into a MD path literally made me chuckle.

Difficult to say what to avoid without knowing you more though...

If you are locked on tight, ex-USMC recon commando/Delta force killed 2 pirates last week, washboard abs, built like a brick sht-house and are intelligent you could do literally anything I would imagine, regardless of age.


G'luck.

 

[MasterThespian]

I'm 40 years old, just had my first baby 3 months ago, have bad knees and have had rheumatoid arthritis since childhood intermittently treated with steroids/DMARDs (it tends to flare and remit over the years), and am starting internal medicine residency in 2 weeks. Scared ****less about the physical demands. Originally started in a pathology residency at least partly for that reason, but decided to switch and give it a go, since I really came to medical school to do rheumatology. I'm pretty sure I could have applied to any specialty except surgery without too much discrimination- obviously with arthritis surgery was never a consideration for me. Pretty much depends on how healthy you are- if you can handle surgery and prove it during med school, I'm sure you could do it. I chose the most benign IM program in my city (of 3), but it's still IM, so I expect the next couple of years to be tough on me. Wish me luck.

 

[Coastie]

Hello all-

I am planning to start med school this fall at the age of 39. I am very excited, good family support, finances in line, but I am looking for advice regarding specialization at my age (43 when I graduate). Are there certain areas of medicine that I should steer towards (or away) from given that age? I am aware of the lengths of time for each area of specialization, but am asking mostly with regard to any potential age discrimination. I really don't want to get into a discussion as to whether there should be discrimination, but I want to be realistic about where I will have the best and worst possibilities in the future match process.

Thanks!

I'd probably steer away from most specialties: surgical, im subspec.

 

[Coastie]

I'm 40 years old, just had my first baby 3 months ago, have bad knees and have had rheumatoid arthritis since childhood intermittently treated with steroids/DMARDs (it tends to flare and remit over the years), and am starting internal medicine residency in 2 weeks. Scared ****less about the physical demands. Originally started in a pathology residency at least partly for that reason, but decided to switch and give it a go, since I really came to medical school to do rheumatology. I'm pretty sure I could have applied to any specialty except surgery without too much discrimination- obviously with arthritis surgery was never a consideration for me. Pretty much depends on how healthy you are- if you can handle surgery and prove it during med school, I'm sure you could do it. I chose the most benign IM program in my city (of 3), but it's still IM, so I expect the next couple of years to be tough on me. Wish me luck.

I know someone with severe RA who is doing IM at one of the chillest progs in the country. As long as the prog is chill, you'll probably be ok. She has it so bad she carries a folding chair for rounds.

I know another who has one arm, and she does IM really well. Anyway, it's tough and physically demanding...

 

[Dejavu]

I hear you, bro.

I was 38 when Med School started. My advice is to do nothing surgical. It will kick your @ss for sure.

Find a nice anesthesia residency. Rather benign path compared to surgery (as is well known to anyone who reads this forum).

Also, your internship year can kick you as well, and even though I wasn't willing to move the extra time, apparently there are internship years out there where you are on call 1 in 5 with many months of no call as opposed to my 1 in 3 at best and often worse year that I did.

Also, FP programs can be benign as well (several friends of mine agree), so if you want primary care, that path is less stressful than many IM paths.

Hope this helps.

 

[motheroftwo]

Psychiatry is a great specialty, as you can just do it forever. There are several former surgeons and one anesthesiologist and one OB-gyn in my program.
I had a wonderful OB-gyn attending when I was in med school who went to med school at age 39. She was extremely happy in her chosen field, which was very refreshing.