Analog Synth Guy
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- Aug 28, 2023
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TLDR: 40 years old, BA degree (few/old STEM classes), fear of cost & lost wages, but eager to pursue a higher-purpose calling.
I'm curious how many of you (or if you know anyone who has) started down the road to become a doctor late in life (and has been successful).
I'm 40 now. I only have a liberal arts degree (BA in General Studies in 2019) and a couple science classes which are now over a decade old. My GAP during that degree was 3.9, but I have some older classes, including for an AA and some other random college where I wasn't as successful. Assuming I study for and get a competitive MCAT score by spring of next year, and only apply to schools with no specific STEM pre-reqs, I would be starting medical school at the age of 41. After four years of medical school and another three to seven of residency, I'm staring down the barrel of being around 50+ years old when I start my career as a doctor. If I do end up needing pre-reqs, add another year or two onto that. Not a huge change, but that would mean starting medical school at age 42 or 43.
I know I can still have a long and prosperous career and help hundreds or thousands of people going this route and the way I see it, in ten years, either way I'll be 50 years old; do I want to be a 50-year-old doctor or a 50-year-old still working in IT? I love IT, but I don't feel like it's my calling.
I was active duty in the Army for 14 years as an LPN. I graduated top of my class and loved being a nurse, but about two years ago, I got a couple IT certs and got out of the Army to pursue a career in IT. It's fine, but I feel like I could be (and should be) doing more with my life.
I am working with an AMEDD recruiter who is suggesting I apply for the HPSP, a scholarship through the military where they pay for the whole thing (except MCAT test/prep and school applications) and even give you a stipend for living expenses while you're in school, but given my age, I'm not confident I would be able to commission following medical school, as who knows what health conditions might arise in the next eight to ten years? So, while that's the ideal situation, I might have to fund this completely on my own through loans and whatever scholarships I might be able to get.
If I were to fund this on my own, I would come out of school with several hundred thousand dollars in student debt, with only making $50-$60k during residency. Essentially, I'd have nearly a decade of lost wages. I know mathematically that after that, I'd be looking at probably around $200k+ for the next couple decades. I don't ever plan on retiring (unless boards and regulatory considerations become too cumbersome), so I could easily have at least 20+ years of practice.
While it's not money or prestige that motivates me (again, I do pretty well now and live well below my means anyway), it's the financial situation that really scares me about all this.
I'm curious to know this community's thoughts on my situation. I'll be happy to provide any additional details you like. I guess I'm really hoping to find some encouragement from this community and others (or stories of those you may know) who've been successful pursuing this sort of calling this late in life. I think I understand now why people have mid-life crises; it's an age where you're still young enough to pursue even lofty goals (though I'll likely never be an astronaut) but also an age where wisdom, discretion, and - let's be frank; comfort - temper those goals and expectations. I would absolutely have to make some sacrifices in my free time and extracurricular activities (I'd have to quit my successful cover band), but I don't have children or really anything holding me back from pursuing this full-tilt.
NOTE: Aside from my 14 years as a nurse, I continue to work IT in a hospital and have many doctor friends with whom I have high levels of mutual respect and admiration, all of whom would be thrilled to write glowing recommendation letters, so that, at least, would not be an issue. I'm also a fairly competent writer and have a lot of diverse experiences given my age and career(s), so I think I could write a compelling personal statement. It's really the pre-reqs and/or MCAT that I would need to bust my tail over in these next few months.
What do you think?
EDIT: I will periodically be editing this. I will bold edits so as to differentiate them from the OP, depending on who replies and when.
I'm curious how many of you (or if you know anyone who has) started down the road to become a doctor late in life (and has been successful).
I'm 40 now. I only have a liberal arts degree (BA in General Studies in 2019) and a couple science classes which are now over a decade old. My GAP during that degree was 3.9, but I have some older classes, including for an AA and some other random college where I wasn't as successful. Assuming I study for and get a competitive MCAT score by spring of next year, and only apply to schools with no specific STEM pre-reqs, I would be starting medical school at the age of 41. After four years of medical school and another three to seven of residency, I'm staring down the barrel of being around 50+ years old when I start my career as a doctor. If I do end up needing pre-reqs, add another year or two onto that. Not a huge change, but that would mean starting medical school at age 42 or 43.
I know I can still have a long and prosperous career and help hundreds or thousands of people going this route and the way I see it, in ten years, either way I'll be 50 years old; do I want to be a 50-year-old doctor or a 50-year-old still working in IT? I love IT, but I don't feel like it's my calling.
I was active duty in the Army for 14 years as an LPN. I graduated top of my class and loved being a nurse, but about two years ago, I got a couple IT certs and got out of the Army to pursue a career in IT. It's fine, but I feel like I could be (and should be) doing more with my life.
I am working with an AMEDD recruiter who is suggesting I apply for the HPSP, a scholarship through the military where they pay for the whole thing (except MCAT test/prep and school applications) and even give you a stipend for living expenses while you're in school, but given my age, I'm not confident I would be able to commission following medical school, as who knows what health conditions might arise in the next eight to ten years? So, while that's the ideal situation, I might have to fund this completely on my own through loans and whatever scholarships I might be able to get.
If I were to fund this on my own, I would come out of school with several hundred thousand dollars in student debt, with only making $50-$60k during residency. Essentially, I'd have nearly a decade of lost wages. I know mathematically that after that, I'd be looking at probably around $200k+ for the next couple decades. I don't ever plan on retiring (unless boards and regulatory considerations become too cumbersome), so I could easily have at least 20+ years of practice.
While it's not money or prestige that motivates me (again, I do pretty well now and live well below my means anyway), it's the financial situation that really scares me about all this.
I'm curious to know this community's thoughts on my situation. I'll be happy to provide any additional details you like. I guess I'm really hoping to find some encouragement from this community and others (or stories of those you may know) who've been successful pursuing this sort of calling this late in life. I think I understand now why people have mid-life crises; it's an age where you're still young enough to pursue even lofty goals (though I'll likely never be an astronaut) but also an age where wisdom, discretion, and - let's be frank; comfort - temper those goals and expectations. I would absolutely have to make some sacrifices in my free time and extracurricular activities (I'd have to quit my successful cover band), but I don't have children or really anything holding me back from pursuing this full-tilt.
NOTE: Aside from my 14 years as a nurse, I continue to work IT in a hospital and have many doctor friends with whom I have high levels of mutual respect and admiration, all of whom would be thrilled to write glowing recommendation letters, so that, at least, would not be an issue. I'm also a fairly competent writer and have a lot of diverse experiences given my age and career(s), so I think I could write a compelling personal statement. It's really the pre-reqs and/or MCAT that I would need to bust my tail over in these next few months.
What do you think?
EDIT: I will periodically be editing this. I will bold edits so as to differentiate them from the OP, depending on who replies and when.
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