Hi everyone! I’m 30 years old and currently work in communications/public relations. I have always had dreams of becoming a doctor, but while in college I got more into journalism and theater, and somehow my dreams of working in medicine took a detour, and I eventually ended up taking no science courses and majoring in Journalism and French. I always think about taking the step to go down that path again, but I get so afraid because I feel like I passed that opportunity and I’m too old. Anyway, I’m really glad I found this website! Because of the events of my life, I feel like it’s finally time to do something to get to medical soon instead of constantly thinking about. However, I’m not sure how to start. I understand that I would need to take science pre req courses. If I work and take courses part-time and online, I know it will take FOREVER (I had no science courses). I also read about post-bac programs for pre-med. How did others with my similar education history handle this? Do you have any suggestions? Would you suggest applying for a post-bac program or doing it yourself.
I’m really glad I am here. I feel really good about taking the leap this time 
Are you able to quit? Move? Do you have the funds to pay for a postbacc?
While the motto here is It’s NOT a race!! You can move forward without wasting time. If you haven’t missed the deadlines to apply to postbaccs then apply. Have a plan for what you will do if you get in AND if you don’t. Makes no sense waiting another year to get into school when you could finish your prereqs in a year. Now if waiting makes it more feasible to pursue the postbacc then you have a choice to make.
My recommendation? Quit a month before the Summer semester starts. Take a preChem course and math refresher this Spring, then just knock out the remaining prereqs in the Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters.
You and I are three years away from finishing our first semester of medical school… 
Welcome to the journey. I agree with crooze. You will most likely need to take some refresher math and a intro to chem. Start wherever you are and go from there.
When I made the decision to pursue this, there was a sense of urgency to get through this because I’m “getting older”. You’re going to get older no matter what.
Try not to be locked into some sort of self imposed artificial deadline for completing all the prerequisites. Concentrate on doing what you need to do to do well in the classes. Also give yourself time to do the other activities med schools like to see like volunteer, shadowing, research, etc.
When I started this plan, I thought it would take me about 3 years till I could apply, it’s turned into closer to 5 years. I’m 46 years old now. I’ll be applying to med school in 2013 for the second time.
Again, welcome and best of luck to you.
Maria
Hey guys,
I have the same question, but I’m in a little bit of a different situation. Here’s my story:
graduated b.s. bio/pre-med in 2002
graduated mba finance 2007
After undergrad I had a family situation that would not allow me to continue onto med school. I decided I still wanted to continue my education and took my gmats. I worked full time and went to my mba program at night. I always felt like I was missing something by not being able to go to med school. My wife just finished her anesthesia residency a few months ago and is now working full time. In the last 12 months, my mom suffered 3 cryptogenic strokes and, most recently, a hemorrhagic stroke. After spending so much time in the neuro ICU, I realized how much I like neurology. The majority of our friends locally are physicians and one of the neurologists currently treating my mother even let me round with him to get a better taste of neuro. I have been reasonably successful in finance. However, I do not feel I have been fulfilled. My wife thinks I’m crazy for wanting to start now. I’m 33 years old. I know part of the reason she says that is because she knows first hand how stressful residency was. She also believes that I would not be able to deal with the initial lack of income and potential long term pay cut. I tried to explain to her that if I make the decision to move forward with med school, it is not financially based. And that If all I cared about was the financial side of things, I would continue doing what I do. However, I would love to hear other thoughts on whether I am crazy or if this is something I should go after.
Thanks!
- Neil Said:
I have the same question, but I'm in a little bit of a different situation. Here's my story:
graduated b.s. bio/pre-med in 2002
graduated mba finance 2007
After undergrad I had a family situation that would not allow me to continue onto med school. I decided I still wanted to continue my education and took my gmats. I worked full time and went to my mba program at night. I always felt like I was missing something by not being able to go to med school. My wife just finished her anesthesia residency a few months ago and is now working full time. In the last 12 months, my mom suffered 3 cryptogenic strokes and, most recently, a hemorrhagic stroke. After spending so much time in the neuro ICU, I realized how much I like neurology. The majority of our friends locally are physicians and one of the neurologists currently treating my mother even let me round with him to get a better taste of neuro. I have been reasonably successful in finance. However, I do not feel I have been fulfilled. My wife thinks I'm crazy for wanting to start now. I'm 33 years old. I know part of the reason she says that is because she knows first hand how stressful residency was. She also believes that I would not be able to deal with the initial lack of income and potential long term pay cut. I tried to explain to her that if I make the decision to move forward with med school, it is not financially based. And that If all I cared about was the financial side of things, I would continue doing what I do. However, I would love to hear other thoughts on whether I am crazy or if this is something I should go after.
Thanks!
Have you looked at the forums here?
I will say that you might want to listen to your wife and really, and I mean REALLY, take time to think about what she is saying. Why is she saying what she is saying? Is there any truth to it? Is it truth that you refuse to admit to? Just sayin...
Now I will say that newly minted attendings suffer from PTSD from residency and their opinions are suspect. My own mentor discouraged me from pursuing medicine while he was an MS-4 and during residency. Now? He denies every having done it and thinks medicine is the greatest of professions. He's also making 2.5x more than the salary surveys said he would... So if nothing that your wife says is true....
Welcome aboard the crazy train. You're story is very different as I don't think any of us here have sugar-momma's bringing in anesthesia $$!
I definitely appreciate the input. I have thought about why she says what she does and I believe it’s mainly because she believes by starting now is going to take away from potentially starting a family. I don’t think her reasons about me not being able to deal with the lack of income are valid for a couple of reasons, the main one being that the last business I started was bought out in May and I receive residual income for the next five years. That being said If I personally felt my decision to change was financially motivated, I would not have taken it this far. Many of our friends, who are all recent graduates of residency or are still fellows have told us both that they feel I would be a good candidate and are very supportive. However, part of the reason I wanted to hear other opinions was because I wanted to see if people have dealt with a spouse that discourages them and what the outcome has been. Maybe you are correct about the ptsd and that is why she responds that way, but that’s why I wanted to hear these opinions.
As far as checking out the forums, unfortunately I have not had a chance to read through the website extensively. I have researched non-traditional med students a bit, but just came across this website earlier today and started in this thread.
Again, I really do appreciate the opinions and this will hopefully clear things up for me.
Thank you all for your responses. They were very helpful! I took my state university’s math assessment practice exam and have concluded that I really do need math and chemistry refreshers! I’m looking into signing up for two evening/online courses this spring at a community college.
I have also been considering another option as well. Before making my final decision to go into medicine, I was considering getting my MBA at my state university. Would it be feasible to be in graduate school and take my science courses? I figured if I need to go back to school anyway, why not get another degree while at it?