In need of advice or just moral support.

I am not new to OldPreMeds, but have not been logging in for the last year, started a new job.
My question is, Am I fooling myself about Med School? I am now 46 and by the time I apply I will be 48-49. I am a Nurse-Midwife. I have a Master of Nursing and a Master of Public Health. I have worked as a nurse-midwife for about 8 years. I will need to do Physics, Organic Chemistry, and 1 semester of Gen. Chem before applying. Do I really stand a chance of getting in at 49?

Hey Wanda,
If there is anything to learn on OPM it is this: Yes you can get in at 49. I got in at 48, and there are those that have gotten in at an even older age. In this new era we live in, it seems that our only limitations are those we place on ourselves.
So yes you do have a chance of getting in. Your tone suggests that you are thinking correctly in that taking Physics, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry before applying will be no easy task. There will be many days (and nights) when you will question why you’re doing it!
There are also time considerations: Do you go full time to show that you can handle the course work, or do you take your time to ensure you do well? I started down the road when I was 46, so it was important to me to ‘just do it’ and get it over with. Like you, I had the same burning doubts, which is just one reason why I dove in headfirst and went back to school full time. That rout proved to me (and the admissions committee) that I could handle the load, but just as important, it showed that I liked the learning process – I could see myself doing it for the next four years in medical school.
With two masters degrees you know what studying is all about. Perhaps you need to prove to yourself in some other way that this is the life for you. Search your heart Wanda to determine if this is something you really want – and if it is – then go for it! Life is just to shot to live it in doubt or not doing what you want to do.
Good luck and keep us updated.

Medicine is truly a calling for most of us and once it starts to call, it never goes away. I’m no expert, but I do believe that we are led to do certain things in our lives. This is the calling. It will not be easy. You will have to put up with alot of rejection. Yet, we all must go through this process, anything less is false illusions.





I have a battle to fight to become a physician as well. I’ve been told to give up. But, Medicine is within my heart and soul. It’s not about money, prestige, power or fame. For me, It’s much more deeper than this, It’s spirtual. To heal is a gift. So you see, I cannot give up. And, if medicine is truly a calling for you, as it is for me, it wont let you be. It will push you and drive you in every step you take. Your soul will cry out everytime someone needs healing. Mine does and I speak from my own experience.





Well, I must go rest now…it’s late here. And, I’m battling a cold…so peace be with you.





Jasmine


Wanda,
BAC and Jasmine have already given you sound advice and words of encouragement. Let me add mine.
I am in the middle of my first year of med school, and on Christmas day I will turn 53. So, please do not let your age stand in the way of attaining a goal. When the dream you have becomes a goal, the fires that are started cannot be extinguished. There will always be burning embers that keep the flame alive.
Is it hard? Yes, of course. But it is difficult for every medical student. And the life experience we bring to the table often allows older students to be able to cope with the stresses much more effectively than those who have never faced crises in their lives.
So, anyway, you go for it girl! Age is only a limiting factor if you let it become one!

No, I can’t go fulltime. I have to continue to work fulltime to get bills paid off so I can go to med school full time.
I plan to take the 2nd semester of General Chemistry Summer of 04, Physics and Organic Chem Fall 04 and Spring 05. I plan to take the MCAT Aug 05 and start applying for admission Fall 06 at which time I will be 49.
Does this seem like a workable schedule?

It is encouraging to hear that older premeds are getting in. I am so excited for you. Good luck and hang in there when it gets hard.

For me it is a calling too. I thought that I could statisfy it by becoming a nurse-midwife. If anything that has intensified the calling.
I have worked long hours, been up many nights with laboring women, in the office the next day, and still love it.
No matter what I can’t quiten the desire to be a doctor. It grows stronger daily, it seems like.
Hope you get to feeling better soon. I am sick with a cold. I work in public health now and my health director sent me home to bed. He said flu until proven otherwise.