I’d rather walk back and forth across the country for 7 years straight on foot than retool my career to become a new doctor at age 47. I can’t help but think it’s overkill to become a physician vs putting that energy into the doctorate you’ve already obtained. Or literally anything else. You could dabble in business ventures and probably get a better return in your investment for the time you’ll put in to medicine.
You’ve mentioned some of your motivation, but what drives this deep down? (You can just answer that to yourself, I’m not expecting you to share). Becoming a physician involves seven years of chains. You’ll go to school where you get in, you’ll do residency where they tell you. You’ll be wedded to a schedule that’s rigid, and plotted out by someone who is not you. If you are pursuing this because you feel like your potential is wasted counting pills, then that’s a steep price to pay to get out of that situation. So is the prestige. Who do you know that is going to find it prestigious to be talking to a 47 year old brand new doctor? People are going to feel bad for you more than anything.
I absolutely love my job, which is something a lot of folks outside of psyche can’t believe. I do a tremendous amount of good each day. And I get a fair share of envy from folks who see my role as more relatable and obtainable than if they were to imagine themselves pursuing medical school. But in 15 years of working in healthcare, I rarely have gotten much more than a “thanks for your help” from a patient. Each year I appreciate the prestige factor less and less, and each year I care about being at home more and more.
I had a physician tell me that a physician spends thier 20s getting into and through medical school, their 30’s paying it off, their 40’s living at or above their means to justify the sacrifice getting there (while still paying it off), their 50’s getting ready for the retirement they want, and their 60’s realizing they have to work some more to make that happen. All the while, they are working their guts out. When you recalibrate that logic to what you intend to do, that puts you putting the finishing touches on that last part while you are in your 80’s.
Your situation gives you 3 stinky choices if you want to get into the prescriber game. Medical school is long, and that’s if you choose the shortest residency you can, and forego a fellowship. NP school is too long for what you get out of it. Becoming a PA is a dead end career that doesn’t even know it’s dying yet or why, but the school itself is literally 2 years, which is the redeeming value to the ill informed. I’d suggest you just invest in a role linked to what you currently do, since that’s the territory you are in. By the time you get out of medical training, we could be looking at socialized medicine, along with a fixed wage for physicians. You’ll spend the next 8 years working yourself to the bone, so ask yourself how you want every day to play out, and whether it’s worth it. Hanging out in the providers lounge in your 40’s watching bad tv and playing on your phone when you could be doing something else on a ski slope, (or with friends or family), isn’t my idea of a good time. Go get a directorship of a clinical pharmacy, or go teach, or pick up a second job. Or learn to code.
I’m certain that you will get wherever you want to go. That’s not the question. It’s whether it’s worth it.
