Hi everyone,
Excellent forum!
I decided to join the forum after spending endless hours reading many interesting posts.
I am a 47 year old IT guy earning low six figure salary but no long term job security. Things can happen anytime with lot of uncertainty. I have in the back of my mind always wanted to be a doctor but never got to it. I have been seriously thinking about pursing the MD path but my current earning and commitments stopped me.
However, after reading all these posts it seems like I am not the only one crazy here as this forum is full of few thousand crazy ones with similar passion.
I have a Masters and consider myself pretty smart so getting the pre-requistes and MCAT will not be a problem for me as I am very good in taking tests. However, I am looking at one major hurdle that is stopping me from following my desire.
Assuming I start the pre-requisites in the fall and I complete them in 1 year, then take the MCAT by end of 2012, I think it is safe that I can continue working and earning. That is provided I still have my job.
Question 1- If I do get accepted to a medical school, the big “if” based on my 47 age, do I immediately stop my current job? (i.e. if I still have it)Is there a way that I can still work part time or do IT consulting so I can get some income coming in?
Or do I have to quit working completely with no regular income? I simply do not see myself not earning as that to me will be a show stopper in my dream to become a doctor. It is very difficult for me to see myself not bringing in regular income for the next 6-8 years.
Question 2: Are prople out there that are also doing some PT work to support yourself during this entire process ?
Any advice and comments will be appreciated.
- Med school is 4 years, not 6-8. The years after those first 4 are your residency years and those are paid (albeit relatively small compared to a doctor’s salary, the average is somewhere in the area of 35K/year).
- Most doctors I have talked to tell me they barely had time to eat during medical school, I would think doing any sort of work outside of school would be very highly unlikely, outside of maybe some tutoring work.
- You may have to amend your timeline. People are applying for Fall 2012 start right now-generally expect to put in those apps 18 months before your intended start date. If you don’t have your pre-reqs done and MCAT scheduled in the next month or three, then it’s not almost certainly happening for you in 2012.
Overall, I believe the money issue is a a big part of the issue for us non-trads. It’s really just a matter of deciding if this career choice is more important to you than your financial security as you’ve come to know it is. Personally, I’d eat two peanut butter sandwiches a day and sleep in the stacks at the library to become a doctor (not that I in any way believe it would come to that). For me, the only thing more important than getting into and completing med school is my kids-and they’re getting old enough that, by the time I go to med school (and they’re both 18+ and off to college), they’ll be much less of a distraction. For me, 4 years of living like a poor college student is more than worth the reward.
Definitely take a look at the application timeline.
You may also want to consider how you’ll work during your prereq courses. This all depends on how many prereqs you need, but if you plan on going to school full-time during that year, it can make it difficult to work full-time as well.
As far as income during medical school, they will let you borrow living expenses for yourself and kids on your student loans.(fairly certain kids).
People are working and doing the pre-reqs, but that can adjust your timetable.
Techie -
I think there was some misunderstanding of your timeline. IF you are able to complete Inorganic Chemistry I and II in Fall and Spring of 2011/2012, along with either Bio or Physics (plus labs), and Organic Chem I and II (with the other one of Bio and Physics) in Fall AND spring of 2012/2013, you can take MCAT in the Spring of 2013. That is not actually bad. Even if you took MCAT’s at the end of 2012, the application cycle starts in the spring, so you wouldn’t be able to apply till spring 2013 anyway. You don’t have to be completely done Org. Chem II to take MCAT’s. So lets say you are reviewing all along, and take MCAT’s in April 2013, and apply early in the cycle (June, or July at latest). That will be for starting in fall of 2014.
Meanwhile, you work parttime for the year of school (maybe very little in the spring while doing MCAT prep - borrow some money if needed to have adequate time to study!). Then work full time for one year before med school.
You will be borrowing a LOT probably for med school tuition. $30,000/yr at a state school possibly. My tuition is $54,000/yr, and their “Budget” also suggests about $22,000 for expenses - living expenses and books. Borrowing so much for tuition, the living expenses is actually a smaller contribution.
Does it worry me? Yep! But there REALLY is not time to work when you are in med school - not and be successful.
As baileypup pointed out, though, you begin to get paid when you start your residency.
If you go the military route (I think you could just squeek into the guidelines for navy or army), they will pay your tuition, books, and give you a small salary while in school so you will be earning a little money AND not incurring lots of debt.
Kate
I knew a medical student who was an electrical engineer before entering medical school. He continued working on small projects during his medical school years. Most medical students I’ve met who tried working during medical school were RNs and PAs. One PA in particular made around $40k/year during his first and second years in medical school.
As mentioned above, most medical students do not work - they live on loans. There are some people who are able to work part time, but they are a very small minority. Most of them are people with a medical background (RN, PA, RT, etc) who can easily pick up a shift here and there. I have known a few people with CS or business backgrounds prior to med school who were able to bring in a little extra cash by doing some consulting gigs.
So, at a minimum, 4 years of med school without any significant income beyond loans. You do get paid during residency (and actually, the average amount is a little higher than mentioned above - more in the $45-50k range).
It is a lot of sacrifice. It was hard enough for me to give up my $50k a year teaching job and the relative job security it held to go back to living on virtually nothing for several years - I don’t know if I could have done it if I was making over 6 figures. People do it, though. One of my good med school friends was a software engineer making 6 figures.
I agree with Emergency! Although I wasn’t making six figures, the decision to switch gears and become a physician can become consuming. As pre-med and med students, we have to believe that the choice we are making is the right one; it is hard to tell if it will be. However, the fact remains that we can not allow ourselves to be in a job that makes us unhappy - I am sure that feeling would consume our souls. I know people talk about medical school being rough in terms of financing, but the pre-med part is just as taxing. Believe it or not, there are scholarships that are available for pre-med students-you just have to search for them!
- Techie Said:
Then this will be the end of the road for you to put it bluntly. To paraphrase OldManDave, the founder of this site, "If you can see yourself being happy doing something else, then by all means do it." He also says, "Medicine is a cruel mistress. No matter much you give her, she will just keep demanding more." It seems that you cannot make the same sacrifices everyone else here is willing to make. Therefore, I would conclude that you must be sufficiently happy doing something else.
- TicDocDoh Said:
- Techie Said:
Then this will be the end of the road for you to put it bluntly. To paraphrase OldManDave, the founder of this site, "If you can see yourself being happy doing something else, then by all means do it." He also says, "Medicine is a cruel mistress. No matter much you give her, she will just keep demanding more." It seems that you cannot make the same sacrifices everyone else here is willing to make. Therefore, I would conclude that you must be sufficiently happy doing something else.
Actually, it was Alan Kirk, MD, who said ""If you can find anything else...." at one of the annual conferences at least six years ago, and perhaps a few more. OMD has a plethora of wise words, but that particular phrase wasn't one of them. :-)
Cheers,
Judy
I did a lot of freelance work on holidays and such, but I wouldn’t call it an “income stream” per se, more like some extra pocket money on top of my loans. There was no way I could have replaced my loans, there just isn’t enough time to work in that fashion.
Since this is also an advice site: Never, ever tell a medical school administrator that you plan on working for money during your medical studies. It is considered a mark of unseriousness.
Thanks for setting me straight. I’m sure a lot of quotes get misattributed to OMD. He is a bit of an urban legend around these here parts. 
- TicDocDoh Said:
Oh, I suspect he's made most of them, and a whole lot more! :-) :-) Just not that particular one (which I had the pleasure to hear in person).
Cheers,
Judy