Hi All,
I’m 45. I have a BA in Art History and Studio Art.
I’ve been married for over 20 years and I have four kids, youngest is 11. My husband and kids are supporting my decision to try to get into Medical School. I’m about half way through the pre-requisites. God willing, I’ll take the MCAT in a year.
Over the years I have mostly been at home with my kids, taking whatever odd job that seems interesting, but never really enjoying them…I always end up bored.
My brother thinks I’ll get bored with being a doctor too. I’ve taken career counseling, “doctor” came up as an option (although I’m sure the counselor is very surprised that this is the option I decided on, simply b/c of my age)…but I am also supposedly “administration” material. Hospital administration is basically a different direction than the one I’m taking.
I feel frozen and indecisive…
Welcome to OPM! I have found this site to be a wonderful resource, in addition to being a warm and welcoming community. I hope you find it to be the same.
Congrats on being halfway through your pre-reqs – that must feel good.
Might I ask why you feel frozen and indecisive? If you need a sounding board, this is a good place for it. No judgments here. 
Welcome to OPM! Hmmm…bored with being a doctor? Not wanting to denigrate your brother’s opinion, but boredom is NOT the adjective that comes to mind when I think about medicine.
I was not bored as a nurse-practitioner - just wanted more scope, knowledge,and skills. But each day brought a patient encounter that was a new puzzle, or a new unique individual to get to know, or a lesson to learn.
If “administration” came up as a possibility but you are not intrigued and riveted by that, then I wouldn’t go for it.
If I can help with one piece of the indecision …it is completely possible for someone your age to get into medical school and be successful. You should probably work at getting some shadowing experience, as this is necessary for your application, and will also help clarify for you if this is the life you want.
Best of luck!
Kate
HpwK
welcome. While I can’t help with your decision (which is your own), you should go for what makes you happy.
And as I always say, if you survived 4 kids all these years, nothing is impossible for you.
Good luck.
Thank you everyone.
I am glad I joined this site.
-hpwk
I like C.S Lewis Kate
I forgot to add, that I have been doing some pre-med volunteering and I like it very much.
So far, I especially like pathology and infectious disease control.
Kate429,
I really enjoy reading the honesty in your responses to those of us aspiring to get in to medical school. I’m curious to know (forgive me because I don’t recall any mention of it on here) 1) if you were interviewed and accepted at both MD and DO schools? 2) what were the criteria used in making your final decision? Any advice that you can share would be greatly appreciated.
Ok, Invictus - here’s the straight scoop. I was interviewed at 2 MD schools, had an interview scheduled at a third school, and was waiting to hear from 2 more MD schools at the time I had to make a decision about my offers of acceptance. The 6th of 6 MD schools I applied to had notified me they would not be interviewing me.
Out of the 2 schools I interviewed at, I was wait listed at one. At the other school, I found out about a Rural Health Leadershop program they were starting, on the day of my interview. The interview went well, and the admissions advisor told me that if I was interested in the RHL program, I’d have to apply SEPERATELY to that and be interviewed for that, and that they would put my application to their main program on hold until I had decided about pursuing that, but that I had exactly the background they were looking for (extensive prior leadership experience and public health experience). I did put an application in for that special program and got an interview scheduled for the program. My sense is, I would have had an acceptance for the regular program or the leadership program, whichever I was interested in pursuing.
Meanwhile, was accepted to 3 DO programs, was waiting to hear about interviews at 3 more. Had to make a decision by December (prior to 2 scheduled MD school interviews).
I had already decided I wanted to go to a program that focused on Rural health (or global health possibly). Planning to be a rural family practice physician and do short term medical outreach in other countries (I’m going to Honduras for spring break - yay!). I was interested in DO schools particularly for a couple of reasons. They have retained an emphasis on the hands-on aspect of medical care. Many years ago, I went into nursing instead of medicine partially because I wanted to be “doing” rather than simply coming in, reading the chart and labs, and writing orders (my admitedly limited view of medicine at the time). I was a nurse-midwife- also a very “high-touch” profession. I wanted to learn Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine as well. I knew that it included some techniques that chiropracters use, some that physical therapists use, and some unique to OMM. It occured to me that in a very low resource or rural setting, there might not be an orthopedic specialist, or a physical therapist, available to deal with musculoskeletal complaints and that having that set of skills in my “toolkit” would be helpful. I also had some experience as a midwife in alternative therapies, including being a level I Therapeutic Touch practitioner, and thought that at an osteopathic school I’d have the opportunity to incorporate some of my existant healing practices. It seemed a better philosophical fit for me.
Finally, in 2 of my 3 DO school interviews, I was impressed with the collaborative learning environment of the schools, the small faculty/student ratio, the accessibility of the professors, and the evident concern for the students’ welfare (chairs or stools in the anatomy lab and very high-tech ventilation, height-adjustable tables for OMM lab, excellent chairs with decent lumbar support for the lecture halls…little things like that). At both of these 2 schools the student representatives we got to talk with were uniformly enthusiastic about the school and the program. The third DO school - not so impressed with the program, the “feel”, or the student attitudes towards the school so I ruled that out.
Could have waited, sure I would have had an MD school acceptance. Wish I’d gone to my interview at Albert Einstein. BUT, I was accepted by my first choice school (where I’m going now :), so I sent letters to all the other folks and withdrew my application
It’s true I’m 54, but both types of schools were willing to consider me. I did have a stellar GPA in my masters program, an acceptable one in my post-bacc, 29 years of nursing practice including 13 years as a nurse-midwife (teaching nursing students for about 7 of them), and 5 years of weekly volunteering at a free health clinic, as well as a decent MCAT score. Plus I’m nice .
I’m really happy with my choice. The curriculum is just what one would have at any first-year medical school, with the addition of an “Osteopathic Principles and Practices” course. It appears that “energy work” type manual therapy is not a part of OMM, but I am finding great usefulness in what I am learning so far, and that class is generally the high point of my week. There is a great attitude of respect to other members of the healthcare team and this is actively taught. The students are very respected, and the teachers are awesome. It’s expensive, but also has very good facilities…which makes one feel that the money is going to good use.
Hope that LONG response was helpful.
Thanks! So do I!
Kate
Kate429
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the honesty in your response. It sounds like the DO school you attend has indeed found a gem and the MD schools have lost one. As for your age, I consider you an inspiration for myself and others who aspire towards medicine. As it is often said, it is only a number and not a true indicator of one’s ability, motivation or desire.
I went to undergrad with a woman who is now practicing Internal Medicine and she was 46 when she applied. In addition, I had spoke to my father’s primary about my desires and where I had went wrong in undergrad. Although some schools might use an applicant’s age as a predictor of how long they can devote to practice (incidentally I told him about my pediatrician who practiced into her 90’s), he nevertheless said to go for it; as he was aware of many who have medical degrees and aren’t doing anything with them.
Again, I appreciate your advice and commentary and always look forward to reading anything you write as it is a welcome addition to the body of knowledge submitted on this helpful forum.
Aw, thanks
Kate