7-30-99 Older Student: Should I follow my interests and go to medical school?

I am 39 years old. I have just graduated from VCU with a B.A. in History (3.5) and a Masters in Teaching/Secondary Education (3.9). During these last six years of school fulltime and work fulltime (law firm job), I also had cancer requiring major surgery and one year of chemo. In the process, I learned I had an interest in the medical profession. I know I will be happy teaching, but I don't want to wake up at the age of 65 and wonder "what if?"

I have spoken with the premed advisor at VCU/MCV and he is encouraging. I will need 10 additional classes to do a premed degree, which would have to be done on a part-time basis. Thus, I'm looking at 2 years (including summer school), preparing for the MCATs and then applying, which would put me somewhere around the age of 42.

My question to you is would you advise someone at this age to follow their interests and should I have any concern about hospitals making an investment in older non-traditional students? I don't want to go this route only to find that my career opportunities will be limited.

First, I wanted to note that I do not feel that I'm qualified to give you advice on whether you should follow your interest in medicine for the simple reason that I have never worn your skin. If I were to give you advice, I can either encourage you or discourage you, but in the end you are the one who will have to bear the consequences of your decision.

That said, I will nonetheless give you my take on this issue. I think what you're looking for in my advice is encouragement or discouragement that will be useful in making your decision. Some things that I will write below could be interpreted as encouraging, others as discouraging. I am pretty sure that this is how you, and others who are in a situation similar to yours, will read my remarks. That is not my intention either to encourage you or discourage you--my goal is to give you more information that you can digest and decide for yourself what you want to do--because in the end it is your life, your happiness that matters.

Ok. The solid fact is that recently someone graduated medical school at age 55 or close to that. So you will not be setting or breaking records. Once you obtain your MD and do a residency, I do not think your career opportunities as an MD will be in any way limited.You will be as much of a doctor as anyone else. You will likely have less chance to become a medical star/chief of a department/ect only because you will probably have 10-15 fewer years to climb the medical ladder before retiring. It may be also harder for you to sub-specialize because subspecialization is usually very competitive and time-consuming--My guess is that you will face some hurdles if you decide to subspecialize.

Personally, I do not think that hospitals/medical schools should care who they educate. If you decide to invest your energies in becoming a doctor--all the power to you. On the other hand, the reality may be different. On a more encouraging noe, I know for a fact that some medical schools actually thrive on non-traditional applicants--Hahnemann, Albany are the one's I know of in North-East.

Obviously, I may be more ignorant than you are regarding your particular situation. You may want to get in touch with Deans of Admission at a few medical schools, just call or e-mail them, and find out what they think about your particular situation. Even though each of them signs thousands of rejection letters each year, they are very approachable and nice folks. Talk to more than one, may be 4-5, and see what they say. You may also want to speak to deans from schools that are both competitive and that are less so.

If you decide to pursue medical career, you will certainly have to show to medical schools that there is more to your decision than your fear of "waking up forty years from now and regretting for not becoming a doctor." This applies not only to you but to everyone else regardless of age or any other characteristics.

The best thing I can suggest is that you really think about it. Pursuing a medical career is a major commitment of time, and money, may I add. Even while taking premed classes, I have had my qualms about going to medical school. I weighted all my options, pros and cons and chose to do this. I know others from college who are more hesitant and some chose not to finish premed requirements, others have decided to wait and will possibly apply in a few years.

Obviously, in your situation playing the "wait and see" game is not the most rational choice. I think you really should think through this decision. You can start taking premed classes and if you decide medicine is not for you, you can just end the affair. You will lose your efforts and the money you paid for premed classes. On the other hand, if you wait before starting to tak premed classes and then decide that yes, medicine is what you want to do, and begin the premed curriculum, you will lose time--which is a much more precious commodity, the only commodity I know that money cannot buy.

You should also consider that you will be approximately 50 by the time you finish four years of medical school and 2-3 years of residency (assuming you will not choose a specialty that requires very long residency). In your situation, you will probably have to think about how this will play out with your family--one thing for sure is that family support is important.

If you decide to march on with your medical career, you may also have to start thinking earlier about paying for medical school. In general most people take government-subsidized Stafford loans, but you still need to have decent credit history to get them--so you probably would want to watch out that you don't get any crap on your credit history for the next four years. It may not matter much if you get to go to a public school--which you may be able to finance through your savings--but private schools are at pretty pricey. Tuition alone will cost at least 40K for four years at public schools and at least 100K at private schoools.

You've certainly accomplished a lot in your life, and it is the easiest job in life to give advice. So my real advice to you is not to take any advice from anyone or at least do not take one person's advice as the "ultimate word of God." .Decide on your own what to do--what is best for you.

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