I posted this morning on the student Dr's website. I'm starting to wonder about that site. I've posted here and been encouraged, but on that site I've only been discouraged. The one reply advised me to go PA because of my age.
I've been going back and forth between PA/MD for a while and have finally started leaning heavily towards MD. I want to know if anyone has researched GA colleges, ie: Emory, MCG, Mercer and found out if they were non trad friendly. I'd rather stay in state just to lower my tuition costs. These will be my first choices before I look out of state.
Has anyone researched this and can you give me the benefit of your research to save me time?
By the way. I'm a very 'young' 43 and will apply to med school at 46 which will make me 50 when I graduate.
thanks
Kim
Post here! Stay away from places that discourage you!
Hi Kim!
Go for it! We have proof!
We met Scott M at the first OPM convention in Chicago. He is in his late 40s. He was on the faculty at the University of Georgia, applied to the Georgia schools, and waitlisted at Medical College of Georgia. MCG called him about two weeks before school started. He left his UGA position and started at MCG that fall. He should be an MS2 now.
Maybe he’ll see this message and respond. He’s our proof that a Georgia med school accepted a post-40 non-trad, and we’ve even met him in person.
I would think that both Mercer and Morehouse would also be open to non-traditional students. Emory? Maybe not so much.
Hope this helps,
Susan - Chicago
PS - I’m an Atlanta native, born at Ga Baptist. I miss “the brave and beautiful city,” especially in the spring.
As people who’ve been on this board for a long time can attest, the concept of “non-trad friendly” is one that really pushes my buttons.
Apply to whatever schools appeal to you, for whatever reasons. Don’t triage them by “non-trad friendly” perceptions, which are likely to be inaccurate anyway. Instead, make your best case to them - make it HARD for them to turn you down - make them WANT you in their classes. When you think about it, part of the art of getting into medical school is good salesmanship. Obviously it’s a little more subtle than selling a car, but really it’s the same idea. In the case of a school that is perhaps not known for being open-minded about accepting older students, you show them what they’d be missing if they didn’t take you. At least make them hesitate and think hard before rejecting you! 
But seriously, I would strongly urge you to have the attitude of “well, they’ve never accepted a [your age]-year/old before, so I will be the first.” After all, you’re already being something of a pioneer by going back to school and pursuing this.
If you need to do some economizing in terms of application fees, the only technique I’d use to determine “non-trad friendly” qualities is to ask the SCHOOL - no second-hand info - about the age range of students in their last four classes. If you are within ten years of the oldest student listed, I’d say go for it.
And I love the kids on SDN but good lord, don’t take their advice about age and school! You’re getting young, naive, ill-informed opinions when you ask questions there. Here, you can get old, cynical, and quite possibly equally ill-informed opinions - but at least we will TELL you that our opinions may be ill-informed 
and we’ll encourage you, too.
(It’s always amusing to me to see them give advice to their elders. In many cases you can tell that they are lumping the questioner into a category that includes “my parents,” and they simply cannot imagine being in class with their parents!)
Oh, and it’s true we had a member who got into U of Georgia in his 40s. For a variety of reasons, Scott then decided not to go, and stuck with his existing career; don’t think we’ve heard from him in a long time. My recollection is that he had substantial family concerns and logistics challenges that, in the end, convinced him that his plans wouldn’t make him happy.
Kim, you can absolutely do this. Good luck!
Thanks for the update, Mary. I didn't know Scott chose not to attend MCG.
Medicine's loss, but UGA's gain.
Susan - Chicago
This is all very encouraging. We as pre-meds, are doing some hard work to get into medical school, and some of us are putting up with a lot of stressful stuff on the side. After all this, no student wants to be turned down.
Working hard, and thinking about the motivating factors for wanting to become a physician is very important.
It's one day at a time, and I love school.
My family doctor did not go to medical school until she was 45 years old. She is a young 56 now. I sure can be done, but with a lot of hard work.
SusanB
SusanB,
As a 52 year old who has been accepted to WVSOM beginning next fall (the Class of 2007), I say, go for it! Yes there will be naysayers, but if you actually believe in yourself and stay focused, you can and will make it! I did, and by my calculations starting school this fall will make me 59 when I complete a 3-year residency. And in those seven years between now and then, I will have aged to the age of 59 regardless of whether or not I’m in medical school.
And, again, Mary is right about not classing schools as non-trad friendly. I mean what is non-trad anyway? Anything from 25 and up? You can’t begin to determine how each school will look at you until you package and present yourself in the most positive manner possible.
As to the Georgia schools, I have no idea. But like Mary said, check their average age, and the age range, and if you are no more than 10 years older than their oldest student, then apply! Or spend some time visiting and talking with the admissions office staff, students, and, if you can get an appointment with the Dean, then talk to that very important person as well.
Good luck and keep us posted! 
I think I’ll start posting here more. You guys are great and a source of encouragement.
I guess I have all of the same concerns as most of you had. Being in college after being out of school for 25 years is a big one! I’m finding out that students my age are more serious and passionate about their grades.
I did contact MCG which is my first choice since I live here and also shadow there. It would be great not to have to leave home. They accept 30 or so applications a year from people over 40. Their words were “between 40 and 60”.
Thanks again and I’ll keep you posted.
Kim
Morehouse School of Medicine is definitely non-traditional friendly. I worked there for many years and left as the Internal Medicine Residency Coordinator. There were definitely some senior citizens in the residency program. I would say the mean age of the residency program is around 36. I have seen some nurses in their 40s in the med school and certainly one of the residents when I was working there was also a med student there who never actually got a bachelor’s degree. He was in his late 30s in residency. You can’t really tell by looking at people how old they are, so in all likelihood there are more than those I have seen.
As for Emory, I plan to give them a shot. I just had oreintation for their shadow program which is called “housestaff Assistant Program”. At the end, the Chair of Medicine will compile your monthly evaluations and meet with you and write you a letter for med school. Now that is pretty cool. There were about 5 of the 25 interns who were older, post-bacs in addition to myself. Most were Emory students taking a year off !
Don’t listen to the young folks, they don’t have the corner market on success !
Hello gg23,
I went to Emory for graduate school and interacted with several medical school students (mostly those doing a dual MD/MPH, etc.). It did appear that these students were younger (fresh out of college). I did know of at least one of my fellow classmates (I think she was older) who left our graduate program to attend MCG so I do know that they will at least give non-traditional students a chance.
Good luck!