Tell me if it is worth it go forge ahead and go on.

[ManimalJax]

Okay, I am 25 years old.

I spent five years in undergrad. I graduated from my undergraduate institution with a double-major in political science and history. I graduated in the spring of 2006.

Immediately after graduation, I enrolled into a basic post-bac program which I started in the fall of 2006. I took the four basic pre-med pre-requisites and ended with a 3.56 GPA in the program. The program was over in December 2007.

I was going to take the MCAT some time during the summer of this year, and then I realized that my chances of starting medical school by fall of 2009 were shot because of a few science courses I took as an undergrad. I didn't do well in them so those science courses bring my total BCPM to a 2.9 or a 3.0. All of the science courses I took as an undergrad were courses that I repeated in the basic post-bac.

Now I have to take more science courses to increase my GPA. I'm working full-time as a research assistant now and I have been advised to start a more advanced post-bac soon, one in which I take some upper-level science courses in order to bring my BCPM GPA up.

I may not start medical school by 2010 or 2011. I'll be 27 if I start in 2010, 28 if I start in 2011.

All of my friends who have embarked on the medical school path are either finishing medical school or are beginning their residency. It's getting to the point where they won't even hang with me anymore because "I am way too far behind where they are at in life."

I feel lonely.

Should I forge ahead and continue to fight the good fight?

Or, should I just go to law school?

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[AishaMousgoy]

My goodness. I think your friends are being extremely insensitive, and you deserve to be treated WAY better than that!! Just thinking of how they are treating you is making me angy. You deserve to be around loving, supportive, MATURE people.
You see, I posted my first post ever today and I was wondering aloud, "why do people treat this journey to become a doctor as a RACE?" It is NOT about being first to graduate. It is about helping people. That's what we should be concerned about here, if we are to become doctors. At least, I hope that's why people are becoming doctors: to serve those in need! I realize I may be a bit of an idealist, and that some people pursue medicine because it pays well, for the most part.
Look, I am 27 and will still need another 2 years with my prerequisites/ MCAT before I can apply to medical schools. So yes, I'll be older than most people in my class, but what of it? If anything, all my life experience is only going to help me become a better doctor.

Whew! I will now step down from my soapbox.

Thank you.

 

[ManimalJax]

Hey Aisha,

Interestingly enough, I just got finished reading your first post when I found that you had replied to my own. I also am looking forward to working as a doctor overseas, possibly with one of the more reputable non-governmental organizations such as Doctors Without Borders. That is the end goal of me becoming a doctor: international relief work. I even thought about the Peace Corps for a while but financial considerations left me stuck where I am right now.

Your post help me put things in perspective again. You rightly note that in the end, it is about helping people and it is NOT a race. When I tell my friends about factors that may delay my application, they offer since remarks like: "Oops, there goes another lost year in which you could have made $300,000 as a physician."

But thanks for your reply...it gives me the will to go on.

 

[AishaMousgoy]

Gah!!!! Manimal, I hesitate to say this for fear of offending you, but perhaps you should ditch your friends? I am inwardly SEETHING just thinking about their immature remarks to you. Honestly, they may be ahead of you in the process, but they are YEARS behind you in maturity. I wouldn't want doctors like that touching a patient with a 10 foot pole!! Please consider (metaphorically) bitch slapping your mean friends.

I have my moments of thinking, "I am too old for this, I have so far to go, etc etc," as I'm sure many people in a similar situation would think. However, I have the priveledge to have been on the other side of the world in a village no one has ever heard of, and seeing so many people in need of medical attention and not receiving it. These people, who I consider my friends and adopted family, are what keep me going. I will do whatever it takes to go back to my village, or anywhere there are people in need, and work as a doctor. Now the question is, how will I get funding to do so? It's hard to be a doctor without medicine to cure people! That is the only thing I let myself worry about.

 

[ManimalJax]

No offense taken. I made myself a promise not to hang out with them for the time being.

 

[grt398]

I think it's an issue of perspective. I had the same thought process and when I've spoken to a number of older doctors (late 50s/early 60s) who are still practicing and/or teaching at local medical schools, they didn't see any issues with starting med school or a medical career in your late 20s. On the other hand, the younger people I've spoken to (late 20s/early 30s) seem to have a much bigger issue with it and think it's a crazy idea. Like many aspects of life, your view will change significantly depending on your age/experience. Also, I'd be careful using law school as a fallback. If you've never done legal work before, you may be in for a very unpleasant surprise.

 

[ManimalJax]

Okay, I am 25 years old.

I spent five years in undergrad. I graduated from my undergraduate institution with a double-major in political science and history. I graduated in the spring of 2006.

Immediately after graduation, I enrolled into a basic post-bac program which I started in the fall of 2006. I took the four basic pre-med pre-requisites and ended with a 3.56 GPA in the program. The program was over in December 2007.

I was going to take the MCAT some time during the summer of this year, and then I realized that my chances of starting medical school by fall of 2009 were shot because of a few science courses I took as an undergrad. I didn't do well in them so those science courses bring my total BCPM to a 2.9 or a 3.0. All of the science courses I took as an undergrad were courses that I repeated in the basic post-bac.

Now I have to take more science courses to increase my GPA. I'm working full-time as a research assistant now and I have been advised to start a more advanced post-bac soon, one in which I take some upper-level science courses in order to bring my BCPM GPA up.

I may not start medical school by 2010 or 2011. I'll be 27 if I start in 2010, 28 if I start in 2011.

All of my friends who have embarked on the medical school path are either finishing medical school or are beginning their residency. It's getting to the point where they won't even hang with me anymore because "I am way too far behind where they are at in life."

I feel lonely.

Should I forge ahead and continue to fight the good fight?

Or, should I just go to law school?

 

[footballrules]

Okay, I am 25 years old.

I spent five years in undergrad. I graduated from my undergraduate institution with a double-major in political science and history. I graduated in the spring of 2006.

Immediately after graduation, I enrolled into a basic post-bac program which I started in the fall of 2006. I took the four basic pre-med pre-requisites and ended with a 3.56 GPA in the program. The program was over in December 2007.

I was going to take the MCAT some time during the summer of this year, and then I realized that my chances of starting medical school by fall of 2009 were shot because of a few science courses I took as an undergrad. I didn't do well in them so those science courses bring my total BCPM to a 2.9 or a 3.0. All of the science courses I took as an undergrad were courses that I repeated in the basic post-bac.

Now I have to take more science courses to increase my GPA. I'm working full-time as a research assistant now and I have been advised to start a more advanced post-bac soon, one in which I take some upper-level science courses in order to bring my BCPM GPA up.

I may not start medical school by 2010 or 2011. I'll be 27 if I start in 2010, 28 if I start in 2011.

All of my friends who have embarked on the medical school path are either finishing medical school or are beginning their residency. It's getting to the point where they won't even hang with me anymore because "I am way too far behind where they are at in life."

I feel lonely.

Should I forge ahead and continue to fight the good fight?

Or, should I just go to law school?

Continue working your way into a medical related field or work as a research assistant the rest of your life? Hmmm?

You don't need to be a doctor. I repeat, you don't HAVE to be a doctor. You can be a PA. Being a PA is a great career choice. (I'm not trying to be mean)

As far as getting into medical school goes, I will leave others deal with that.

 

[usermike8500]

Don't even worry about being 27 when starting Med School. If you need encouragement about age, you should browse the nontraditional forum. There are plenty of applicants who apply during their late 20s, 30s, and even 40s.

 

[Caesar]

OP, I am going to move this thread over to our Non-Traditional Students forum. Over there you will find many users that are or were in similar situations and can offer excellent advice and support.

 

[Dr Lyss]

As cliche as it sounds you have to ask yourself if you really want this. If you do then do whatever you have to do to become a doctor. Don't worry about age or what your friends think (btw any friends willing to drop you because of "where you are at" may not be worthy of the title) at the end of the day those are all secondary if this is what you really want... but if you are interested in healthcare and can don't care if you are the head honcho consider some alternate paths. There are plenty of different options in healthcare, a lot of which are much cheaper and just as lucrative as being a physician. So I would suggest doing your homework and evaluating what YOU really want to do with your life & where your priorities are. best of luck!

 

[Joannavr]

It's getting to the point where they won't even hang with me anymore because "I am way too far behind where they are at in life."

Find new friends who are not a pack of holier than thou jerks. Your own aspirations should never be put aside because someone else did it faster. You'll all have the same degree in the end, and they'll be one friend the poorer.

 

[GreenShirt]

The oldest person in my class is in his 50s...so 27/28 really isn't too old. If you really want to do it, it's possible (just make sure it's what you truly want before devoting so many years to it). I don't know if you've considered DO schools, but with a good MCAT score you'd have a shot with your current GPA (DO school replace re-taken courses, so your science GPA would be closer to your post-bac GPA). It's something to consider if you just want to get the ball rolling now. Take the MCAT and apply DO (+MD) next year. If that doens't work, you can take more classes at that point.

 

[Buckeye4life]

I can relate with u feeling the age crunch a little bit. I was 29 when I started, will be 33 when I graduate, and will be 38-39 if I get the residency and possible fellowship that I want. Age doesn't mean too much in the long run. I actually am glad I waited because it allowed me to figure out what I didn't want to do with the rest of my life, and now I can just focus on the task at hand. I agree that you should consider DO with ur current stats, and possibly may want to embark on that post-bac to see if you can or want to handle the material. DO has a lot of non-traditional students coming from different careers and many who already have families (i'm married), and you may find some comfort (if that's possible ) in that sort of environment. Sometimes I try and put it into this perspective . . . I'm gonna be 40 years old no matter what, so do I want to be a 40 year old physician or a 40 year old _______. Good luck.

 

[njbmd]

All of my friends who have embarked on the medical school path are either finishing medical school or are beginning their residency. It's getting to the point where they won't even hang with me anymore because "I am way too far behind where they are at in life."

I feel lonely.

Should I forge ahead and continue to fight the good fight?

Or, should I just go to law school?

The question becomes: Why do you want to attend medical school? Are you trying to keep up with your friends are are you truly interested in the practice of medicine? If it's the latter, then you do what you have to do to get into medical school. If you are interested in entering "some profession" or "any profession" then go to law school or engineering school or nursing school or any school so that you can have a job with a professional title.

My guess is that your friends are "hanging" with the people who are in their immediate proximity as medical school and residency don't leave much time for socializing or "hanging" with anyone unless you are studying for something together. This probably has nothing to do with you as a person but more to do with limited time for anything outside of study. Get a new circle of friends and keep in touch with your old ones by e-mail.

 

[MeowMix]

Or, should I just go to law school?

Such a difficult question. Life-saving heroics (Grey's Anatomy) vs. get the bad guys/save the innocent (Law & Order). What to do?

Really, there is no need for so much drama. Figure out what you enjoy and do it. Perhaps it is neither medicine nor law, both of which are stressful and require expensive years of schooling. You have years to find out.

 

[gman33]

No one can answer the "Is it worth it?" question for you.
You can only try to get as much exposure as possible and make an informed decision.

Figure out your current overall and science gpa.
You can't come up with a realistic plan without this info.
If either of those are in the 3.0 range, you have a very difficult battle to get into a MD school. This info is important because it may alter the steps you need to take.
With a low GPA, DO schools are your best bet, as you can retake some classes and boost your gpa in a quicker manner.

Don't worry about your age. There is nothing you can do about that anyway.

 

[Kaya12]

Such a difficult question. Life-saving heroics (Grey's Anatomy) vs. get the bad guys/save the innocent (Law & Order). What to do?

Really, there is no need for so much drama. Figure out what you enjoy and do it. Perhaps it is neither medicine nor law, both of which are stressful and require expensive years of schooling. You have years to find out.

Word

Oh, and ManimalJax, keep you chin up and do some soul-searching... you'll get where you want to go once you really know just where that is

 

[NTF]

Just to put the whole "woe is me, I'm starting so late" thing into perspective. Let's start even later and see what we get.

So say you start at a nice round age of 30.
4 years of medical school. You're 34.
Let's pick a particularly long career path with a fellowship.
Let's say Cardiology.
3 years for IM, 3 years for fellowship. You're 40.

Let's assume you'll retire at 65.
That gives you 25 years to practice medicine as an attending. Sounds like a career to me.

 

[packofneurons]

Just to put the whole "woe is me, I'm starting so late" thing into perspective. Let's start even later and see what we get.

So say you start at a nice round age of 30.
4 years of medical school. You're 34.
Let's pick a particularly long career path with a fellowship.
Let's say Cardiology.
3 years for IM, 3 years for fellowship. You're 40.

Let's assume you'll retire at 65.
That gives you 25 years to practice medicine as an attending. Sounds like a career to me.

Agreed! And look at your 'time lost' as you gaining experience, knowledge and insight. There was a reason that you didn't start medical school at 22, isn't there?
I've read numerous stories of people who have started medical school in their 40s. My class mate is doing her pre-reqs just now and she's in her late 40s! You're still in your 20s! I'd say lay out a map of your pros and cons. And don't listen to your friends!