Hi I am new here. I am 29 turning 30 this year. I had a rough road getting to where I am now I am working towards my transfer to a university from community college. I was told that I was too old to even think about medical school–because by the time I am done with medical school and other steps to become a neurosurgeon I will be in my early 20s. I ignored the person’s advice and am still continuing towards my bachelors in Physiology and Neuroscience.
Like I said I want to get into neurosurgery. I know it’s a crazy thought to some but I believe I can handle it because neuroscience is one of my favorite subjects. I also love how the brain works and functions and it’s something I want as a future.
That’s my little intro. I am glad I found this site it gives me more encouragement to pursue this passion especially when there some even older than I am still desiring to be physicians.
Can’t believe it. Who told you that? A stupid adviser or people that do not know much about a medical career for sure.
By this forum’s standard you are very young. Keep working hard and I am sure you will be a neurosurgeon one day. If this is what you want to do, go for it and don’t let anyone stand in your way.
Hi babelcarlota,
First off, welcome to the forums. You are in good company here.
I am in at a similar point, but a little behind you. I definitely agree that you have plenty of time. You’re still very young.
I think that almost anyone over about 20 probably routinely hears that they’re nuts for pursuing this field and while I’m sure most of the people saying it probably mean well, that certainly doesn’t make them right. There are plenty of living examples here that show that age is not a factor.
Well, anyway… welcome 
~Angela
- redo-it-all Said:
By this forum's standard you are very young. Keep working hard and I am sure you will be a neurosurgeon one day. If this is what you want to do, go for it and don't let anyone stand in your way.
redo-it-all, I was told the very same thing five or six years ago at a ripe old age of around 22. I know I have a lot of coursework to do to catch up, but not that much. I still get told I'm too old. I'm 28 now.
lol I look young is my benefit. This woman that told me this was very negative and talks from experience her friend went through. I on the other hand go by what research tells me and that is this is the perfect time to make these decisions–because I have better critical thinking and cultural sensitivity than those younger than I am. I also know what I want to do. Well we will see what happens from here :). I have an interview with NIH for an internship this month which will get me into UCSD.
Whoever tells you that you are too old, don’t believe them! There are people in my Postbac program who are in their 40s and doing very well. Who cares how old you are when you start, as long as you enjoy what you’re doing! Besides, med. schools do NOT frown upon older people applying - they obviously have more life experience than a 21 year old fresh out of college!
Good luck to you!
One of the pathologists I work with had a career as a firefighter, then started med school in his 30s.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too old for anything. If anything, get in so you can show whomever told you that you were too old to get into med school that they were wrong!
You misunderstood the person’s advice. He was not saying that you are told for medical school, only that you are too old to think about medical school. At your advanced age, geriatric science indicates that you should go to medical school thoughtlessly, thus making you roughly equivalent to your chronologically handicapped classmates.
Btw, if you can start medical school now and finish as a neurosurgeon in your early 20s, please let me know what you’re drinking for breakfast, because I want some, too.
- spoxjox Said:
Btw, if you can start medical school now and finish as a neurosurgeon in your early 20s, please let me know what you're drinking for breakfast, because I want some, too.
Way to make light of the situation.
- spoxjox Said:
Btw, if you can start medical school now and finish as a neurosurgeon in your early 20s, please let me know what you're drinking for breakfast, because I want some, too.
LOL! That is exactly what I was thinking too... I was wondering what was in her mind when she said that. A lot of my professors said that it was normal for individuals to work on their graduate work after their 30s.
here is my plan so far:
I applied for the Bridges to the Baccalaureate program with NIH on my Campus. I have an interview on the 28th of this month. There is a chance I will get in my professor said.
From here I am going to finish 2 more years of the prerequisites for the transfer for the Biology Physiology and Neuroscience Bachelors of Science for UCSD, or Psychobio /Neuroscience at UCLA. I will then graduate 2 years after that. I should be 33 by the time this happens. I have the GPA and extra curricular activities to back me up along with a few honors designations. Aside from this I am guaranteed entrance for UCLA and UCSD once I get into the NIH program.
From there I am going to take the MCAT and apply for a MD-PhD joint program. However, I feel like I need to get more experience on my belt before applying for med school. Anyone have any suggestions? The program with NIH will only get me lab experience. Is there anything else I should consider as well? Or anyone have links or resources I can prepare myself for medical school?
Thank you all for the support!
Babel
Don’t listen to that crap. Go for it. If you don’t, you’ll regret everything that you do and then years from now, you’ll be even more desperate than now. The world is full of those stories.
Too old? I wonder how many people are told that by friends, family, and ill-informed advisors that they are too old to consider medicine.
Tell that to Linda Wilson , who at the ripe “young” age of 58 is on her second year of family practice residency. Or to Kate429
who just started medical school at 53 years of age.
Of course then many get told that anything less than near-perfect undergraduate record, you’ll never get in. Just like OldManDave who likes to say he started college with a major in partying and a minor in frat. He chose to leave just before being thrown out with 0.67 GPA (yes, 0.67 that is not a typo). After medical school and completing a medical residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in critical care at Dartmouth has been a medical director of an ICU and is now a clinical professor at a medical school.
Are you too old for neurosurgery? Perhaps the diary of mpp (mark) now a 6th year neurosurgery resident is Oregon would beg to differ.
Of course, if you start at a late age, you may not achieve much as some have been told. Perhaps like Karen Nichols spent several years as a clinical lab tech before going to medical school and is now the dean of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and a past president of the AOA. Or perhaps like Rebecca Patchin who did not start medical school until 35 and became chair of the AMA board of trustees.
Not only have these recent leaders of two of the largest professional medical societies in the United States started medical school “late” in life, they each have been keynote speakers at recent OldPreMed Conferences.
The only thing that is too old is the misinformation and incorrect advising that is passed on far too often.
So next time someone your too old for medical school, tell them to stick it their ear!
- gonnif Said:
I think you forgot an "r"...
- Adoc2be Said:
- gonnif Said:
I think you forgot an "r"...
I was taking the the otolaryngological view but the proctological angle works well. Of course, I wouldn't want anyone to suffer that not so rare neurological event where the impulses from the optic nerve (cranial nerve 2) flow thru the superior rectal plexus thus resulting in a procto-neuro-ophthalmolog ical depressive state from it.