Sanity Check for 38 year old

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

Hi Everyone - thanks so much for contributing to a great site. For those with a desire to return to school so they can practice medicine: this site is unparalleled.


Although I’ve read dozens of ‘is this right for me?’ posts, and each has been incredibly valuable, I’m hoping eveyone here might help me with a sanity check. Each person has there own perspective on what’s important.


I’m a 38 year old IT Sales Engineer that had orthopedic surgery 4 years ago, and although it took a long time to heal, I learned a lot about medicine through the experience. The whole process plus a lot of experience as a patient and a desire to leave IT has driven me to want to become an orthopedic surgeon. I have a congenital birth defect called AMC (arthrogryposis multiplex congenita) that required I grow up at the Hospital for Special Surgery. I’d love to be able to help kids (people) the way I was helped.


The extent of my education is some college. My job in IT was six figures and left no spare time to get my undergraduate degree, with the exception of 15 credits or so. My plan is to take the next 2 1/2 years (summer and winter courses included) to get my undergraduate in biology or bioinformatics here is NJ.


Here are my questions, obviously this whole concept is a little nerve racking:

  • Would it really be 13 years to become an orthopod? 3 years of undergrad + 4 years of med school + 4 years of residency + 2 years orthopedics fellowship?

  • Just writing that is pretty scary - can I start practicing at 51? How much of a career could I expect? 20 years would be a lot: I’d be working until 71.

  • Although I have some money it’s not enough to right a check for med school. In three years when I go for financial aid / loans, will they give me a hard time because of my age?


    I’d love to be able to help people the way doctors have helped me - and it’s taken me a long time to realize it; I guess I’m asking myself if it’s too late.


    Sorry for being so verbose but I wanted to get all my thoughts down in one spot. Thanks for any thoughts -


    David
2

Hi, My Next Move,


First of all, 38 is nowhere near too old; there are folks in their 40s and 50s and even 60s going into medicine. It’s all about what you want to do, what your aspirations are, and not about age so much. Of course, the majority of applicants are in their early to mid 20s, but most schools encourage a little diversity in their student population and will let in some older students both for their interesting skills and experience and because they tend to make pretty good doctors.


When you go into the med school interview of course the interviewer is going to be scrutinizing your background and asking you the hard questions: Do you have what it takes to make it through our program? Are you truly dedicated to achieving this goal? If you can convince them (and yourself) that you’re doing the right thing, then you’ll be on the right track.


I would focus on doing extremely well in my coursework–get really good grades, and don’t be discouraged by the road bumps you will encounter along the way. It’s all part of the fun!


Regarding financial aid, there is no age issue, to my knowledge. I’m a lot older than you and I got full FAFSA and PLUS loans to cover tuition and living expenses.


As for specialization, you probably shouldn’t assume you’ll go into orthopedic surgery right from the outset; by the time you finish the next 5-6 years of premed and med school training you may have decided that you love pediatrics, or family medicine, or infectious disease–it’s good to keep your goals in mind but also keep open to changing interests and impressions as time goes by.


Best of luck,

3

hey david! i think i might be able to alleviate some of your stress:

  1. take the 4 yrs of residency + 2 yrs of fellowship out of the equation altogether. granted, as a resident youll be supervised, but residency is where you really start practicing - youre a DOCTOR at that time, getting your hands really dirty in your specialty, and being paid a stipend throughout.

  2. financial aid should be no problem. dont worry about that at all. as long as your credits decent or you have a cosigner (if its shaky), then theres always a way to get the money.


    and finally,

  3. yeah, working until youre 71 would pretty much eat up your retirement if thats how long you decide you want to practice, but ask yourself if you could be ok wandering “what if?” for the next however many years of your life. if your answers no, then go for it. with everything youve got. sure, medicine is a high-stress profession, but i think the old adage still holds just as true here: if you love what you do, youll never have to work a day in your life.


    i hope my perspective (however biased towards “going for it” it is) helps you in some way and i wish you the best along whichever path you choose.
4

HI no your not crazy if so what AM I? LOL


But you are right about the time it takes


If this helps you are a Doctor when you graduate Medical school. You then do residency to specialize


But a DO or MD all the way.


Is this the only specialty you are interested in?


It does not make the money it used to (I’m doing Ortho surgery right now in 4th year clinicals)

5

Welcome to OldPreMeds. The answer to the ‘age’ question has two sub-questions:


Q1: Do YOU believe you are too old to succeed in the rigorous environment to get in & get through medical school & still have the capacity to fulfill a demanding & intense residency such as ortho?


Q2: Is there an ‘insitutional’ bias or prohibition to an aged applicant getting into an ortho program?


A1: This is something only you can answer. I will tell you that ortho is one of the MOST competitive specialties to enter requiring superb Board scores, strong letters of recommendation, having done well in audition/elective rotations & some programs strongly desire having done research. Furthermore, ortho training programs are intense & have a reputation for being highly demanding of your energy & time.


A2: I do not know if there is a concise answer to this; however, I would presume that DO-ortho programs would be a more accessible path for someone not straight out of the ‘traditional mold’, which is what the MD-ortho programs appear to seek - anecdotal observation with no data to back this up.

  • MyNextMove Said:
- Would it really be 13 years to become an orthopod? 3 years of undergrad + 4 years of med school + 4 years of residency + 2 years orthopedics fellowship?



Actually, your math/path is a bit off.

> 3~4yrs Ugrad (tangent upon how much you have left or need to retake

> 4yrs med school

> 5yrs residency for ortho, there is no fellowship requirement, but many orthopods seem to do them. Typically they are in categories such as trauma, joint replacement, foot/ankle, hand and so on.

= Total of 12~13 years

  • MyNextMove Said:
- Just writing that is pretty scary - can I start practicing at 51? How much of a career could I expect? 20 years would be a lot: I'd be working until 71.



Why not? I've seen many a surgeon work into their 60s & 70s. Furthermore, as your career matures, there are a number of non-operative or combined operative + other tracks to take. Many physicians progressively decrease Doc-time & move into the realm of administration. Or, if you are in an academic center, the same can be done with research, admin or education. Having an MD or a DO opens a phenomenal number of career doors. You are limited only by your creativity & willingness to morph.

  • MyNextMove Said:
- Although I have some money it's not enough to right a check for med school. In three years when I go for financial aid / loans, will they give me a hard time because of my age?



Very few folks walk out of med school & residency w/o a shitload of debt. Very very few can pay for this out of pocket. You will not be alone.
6

Whell doncha know… I enrolled ON my 38th birthday for the (whole new) undergrad thing…


I get to be an MD in EXACTLY 10 days…


IF you want to do it… then DO IT, if not don’t…


If you do, remember there are plenty of us who will cheer you on!


Richard