I would like to start off by thanking everyone involved with this site and associated pod casts, you have no idea what a web site like this means to someone in my position.
Hello all, My name is Matt. I am 41 years old and am beginning my premed journey. I am extremely excited and nervous about this endeavor. This is something that I have wanted to do for quite some time, but it was only recently that I found out that it was possible. When I read posts on other forums I was lead to believe that the only people my age that could successfully enter med school were former nurses and PA’s. I hope to become living proof that even a 41 year old auto mechanic can forge a path to medical school. I have no delusions that I can do this on my own, so I am turning to this site for wisdom and guidance. In return I will do what I can to provide guidance to those who follow me.
Now for the questions
I have no clinical or shadowing experience. I am hoping to apply next June. My intention is to spend the next eight months shadowing and gaining clinical experience. Will that be sufficient or should I put off the application for another year?
I have applied to join the local volunteer rescue squad and am meeting next week to go over the particulars. The commitment will be for 35 hours a month. what else can I do to gain clinical exposure?
I intend to shadow a few physicians across a range of specialties, and then attempt to spend a bit of time with the one that feels like the most positive experience. Is this approach OK or is there a better approach? Also, is it appropriate to ask a physician to shadow on a regular basis or is there a point where you are just interrupting his job?
Thank you for any help that can be provided.
Matt
Welcome, and best of luck on your path.
Your plan sounds good in theory (assuming you’ve gone through all the prereqs and MCAT by next spring). I don’t have a straightforward answer for you regarding the amount of shadowing/clinical exposure.
What I will say is this: you need to be able to demonstrate to an admissions committee that 1) you understand what the role and responsibilities of a physician are in the current environment and 2) that you understand what you’re getting yourself into. The time that it takes for you to get to that point is somewhat dependent on you and the doctor(s) you’re shadowing.
Thank you for your reply. I am currently trying to navigate through the process and it is not easy. I am more than willing to what I need to do to get there, but without an adviser it is difficult to find a path.
I answered this question (and read your review) on this weeks OldPreMeds podcast which comes out tomorrow as I’m typing this! You can check it out at http://www.oldpremeds.org/subscribe
@Jhoke002 wrote:
I would like to start off by thanking everyone involved with this site and associated pod casts, you have no idea what a web site like this means to someone in my position.
Hello all, My name is Matt. I am 41 years old and am beginning my premed journey. I am extremely excited and nervous about this endeavor. This is something that I have wanted to do for quite some time, but it was only recently that I found out that it was possible. When I read posts on other forums I was lead to believe that the only people my age that could successfully enter med school were former nurses and PA’s. I hope to become living proof that even a 41 year old auto mechanic can forge a path to medical school. I have no delusions that I can do this on my own, so I am turning to this site for wisdom and guidance. In return I will do what I can to provide guidance to those who follow me.
Now for the questions
I have no clinical or shadowing experience. I am hoping to apply next June. My intention is to spend the next eight months shadowing and gaining clinical experience. Will that be sufficient or should I put off the application for another year?
I have applied to join the local volunteer rescue squad and am meeting next week to go over the particulars. The commitment will be for 35 hours a month. what else can I do to gain clinical exposure?
I intend to shadow a few physicians across a range of specialties, and then attempt to spend a bit of time with the one that feels like the most positive experience. Is this approach OK or is there a better approach? Also, is it appropriate to ask a physician to shadow on a regular basis or is there a point where you are just interrupting his job?
Thank you for any help that can be provided.
Matt
You could certainly submit an application without experience although the definitive answer lies with each of your prospective schools. In the past I’ve had great luck emailing admin departments individually with specific admissions questions like what you are asking. As strictly a matter of opinion, however, I would strongly recommend against committing to this path until you have clinical experience. This journey is taxing on the mind, clock, and wallet, to a great degree. Clinical medicine has certain nuances to it that are not experienced in any setting outside of the clinic, i.e. the only way to know is to dive in and find out if being a real life doctor - not what you think a doctor is, or what the media tells you doctors are - is really what you are after. Health care is a ginormous field of professions; there is a lot more out there than the M.D. and you would do yourself a disservice by not giving credence to the possibility of professions otherwise.
Best of luck to you.
Thank you for your advice, I will take it to heart and follow it. Would you, or anyone, mind giving me some advice based on the specifics of my situation?
I entered college at 30 years of age. My intention was to pursue a career in biomedical research. My grades were extremely competitive until my last year. In my last year my wife and I experienced the death three immediate family members throughout a 6 month period and the birth of my daughter. My wife suffered from postpartum that was exacerbated by the loss of several family members. It was a very difficult and emotional year and my grades suffered. Even with my poor performance in my final semesters my grades are at or above the listed average for each school I intend to apply. In my second year as an undergraduate I was approached by the professor of a class I was taking(molecular and immunological techniques) about a position in his lab. I gladly took the position. The focus on the lab was on the determination of the genetic basis of antimalarial resistance in P. falciparum. During my time with the lab I gained a great amount of experience that lead to 5 separate publications that I coauthored. It was then that I first thought about medicine. The lab PI spend a summer in Africa while I trained his new grad students. During that summer he sent me an email with a picture if two small children playing. It turned out that these children were patients at the hospital and both were admitted with 8-9% parisitemias!!! I was in awe that days earlier i received samples from these same children. That is when I realized that I was missing the human side to this entire equation. I think (and hope) medicine would be a great fit for me. After a few years my lab group moved to California and I stayed to continue my education here. I did not want to follow because I wanted to pursue a career in medicine or in medical research. I took a temporary job as an auto mechanic so that my family could recover emotionally and financially after that very rough year. After about a year passed I visited my premed adviser. He told me that my performance final year made it very difficult. He also told me that my age was alone too big an obstacle to overcome. I was crushed by this news. I took some time to get past it, but I am going to move ahead. I decided to let the adcoms tell me no. so I find myself with a ton of great research experience, a pool of professors that would be more than willing to write me glowing letters, and a strong desire to pursue this path until its conclusion. I do need to shadow and gain clinical exprience because I don’t know what the day to day life is for a physician, or even if it is entirely for me, but who really does until they try? Any candid advice on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated. And, thanks again .
Matt
Sorry, to clarify my question, Should I take an extra year to really focus on shadowing and experience? I realize my age is a factor and want the best possible application the first time around. Any advice on what to do and when is greatly appreciated. Thanks
A year? Absolutely not in my opinion. I would shoot for a cumulative 50ish hours as long as it is enough for you to have seen what it is to be a doc (not just what’s on TV), reflected on whether it is right for you, and to be able to put into words what you took from the experience and how it motivated you (hopefully not detracted you or you wouldn’t be writing the essay). The point isn’t to become a doctor before you become a doctor. The point is for you to gain enough insight into what is actually involved, like short/frustrating patient visits, mountains of paperwork, making decisions without all of the information you need to actually make the decision, etc. I had zero medical background, followed a doc for 40-50 hrs in the ED, and that was good enough for me. There comes a point of diminishing returns.
Oldest guy in my class started at age 41. A recent graduate from my school had adult kids. You’re not too old, especially if the experiences that got you to this point can make you a better doctor than the undergrad–>med school with no “real” life experience…