Too late to go to med school?

[SpeedDemon]

Is 38 too late to go to med school? I always wanted to be a doctor and my life to mean something. Have a purpose and such. I am self-employed and the income is stable, but it's boring. I always felt I was put on this earth to do more. Perhaps not, but who knows. I do know that several medical schools in NYC will offer free tuition if I become a GP. I can consider specializing later. My brain does well with science and math, and it's something I've wanted for decades. I never pursued it because my family didn't think I could do it and financial issues. Well, they've been wrong for most of their decisions, and I've been 50/50 or better.

What does the community think? Is 38 too late to go to med school? Am I wasting time? Is it a fruitless dream?

 

[Stephen89]

It's never too late.

If it's what you want to do then go for it. You have purpose and it would mean your life would mean something and your income is stable.

 

[speed dawg]

Is 38 too late to go to med school? I always wanted to be a doctor and my life to mean something. Have a purpose and such. I am self-employed and the income is stable, but it's boring. I always felt I was put on this earth to do more. Perhaps not, but who knows. I do know that several medical schools in NYC will offer free tuition if I become a GP. I can consider specializing later. My brain does well with science and math, and it's something I've wanted for decades. I never pursued it because my family didn't think I could do it and financial issues. Well, they've been wrong for most of their decisions, and I've been 50/50 or better.

What does the community think? Is 38 too late to go to med school? Am I wasting time? Is it a fruitless dream?

Do you have an undergraduate degree that is compatible with medical school?

If so, have you registered/passed the MCAT (or whatever the medical test is)?

If the answer to those questions is no, then you are looking at 4 years in school, 4 years in medical school, and 3-7 years residency per Google. That puts you at 51 when you become a doctor. Then add in the costs of it, which I'm assuming you'll have to finance.

I mean, I'll be the wet blanket and say maybe you are too old? Depends on what else is going on in your life. If you're single, go for it. If you have a family, I'd focus on making money now with the training and skills you possess.

 

[Bible_Belt]

If you can avoid a giant, life-crushing debt in this adventure, it is different than most people who have to take out loans, and they are looking at something like a 20 year break even. PA school lacks the long residency, and is more like a 12 to 15 year break even on loan pay back, and by that I mean the point at which your increased salary does more than just make giant loan payments. But good luck getting accepted, it is actually harder than med school due to the huge number of applicants.

 

[SpeedDemon]

I have most of the credits, I would just need to take some pre-med classes and the MCAT. Single and no kids, own business, not hurting for money. NYU and Columbia have grants that cover the tuition for medical school as long as I stay a GP for five years. I live close but also have a building I rent out in the city, so I can crash in one of the apts in Harlem. I just thought it would be something interesting and actually something I'd like to do. My career is fine, but boring. Not really what I wanted to do in life. I enjoyed my previous career earlier, but social media killed it and a company bought us out just to eliminate us as competition. I miss that career, but I wasn't willing to move to California, so I took the money and ran. I've done okay with my new business, just bored since I have employees doing most of the work. I negotiate the service and they take it from there. I am grateful that I am okay financially, but I've always wanted to be a doctor to help people. I don't do debt, so that was a big drawback. Now that obstacle is not in the way, I thought I'd be a decent GP or ER doc.

Still thinking it through. My parents and siblings think I am crazy.

 

[ArcBound]

My medical school class has someone in their 40s and about three people in their 30s. NYU tuition is just free now regardless of specialty. There are a lot of scholarships if you just want to do GP regardless of school.

 

[spinich]

You might want to confirm that those credits you have are current enough as most medical schools require them to be within a certain time line. One word of advice: the health care field is not what it used to be. It will take a full seven years for you to complete all schooling, internship, ect before you can practice. And be aware you will take copious amounts of sh*t from professors, other medical personnel, and fellow interns. It is not fun. And you need to swallow it or you will be gone! Once you complete all the training you can figure on earning somewhere south of 6 figures initially, unless you are a specialist, which requires additional time and training. That all said, if that is your dream go for it and don't look back!! Just go into this with a large dose of reality. Good luck!!

 

[SpeedDemon]

Yep I will. I am sure there's a few things I need to take. I have an MBA, but I do not think any of those courses will help for pre-med.

 

[DEEZEDBRAH]

.

What does the community think? Is 38 too late to go to med school? Am I wasting time? Is it a fruitless dream?

Majority of people are phaggotry. Marrying *****s, raisin playboy baby and has really low testosterone.

Who gives a ****?

Preferably, if you are at 38 invited into med school, have a way to pay for it, have a arrangement made for payment via working for XYZ to clear student debt.

As for a dream, at 38, did you have your finger in your ass for 4 decades? Reminds me of a guy i know. Taljs med school. Does nothing.

I have a buddy who was med school bound. Had acceptance letter and magically, his gf got pregnant conveniently. He's not a doctor and likely won't ever be. He know works absurd hours for a fraction of what he truly could make. The girl knew, if he got to med school, he would drop her, and she stopped taking the pill.

The blue pill is a cuck fest.

Op, do you have the credentials for med school? Have you applied?

 

[eli77]

single ?go for it gp don't make much but do what you love despite age

 

[Pandora]

Go for it. This is coming from a guy that graduated from a foreign medical school but I didn't take the USMLE step 2 yet ( prob won't ever take it). 38 is not too late. You will only be 43 when you become a resident. If you actually enjoy medicine then there is no thing as too late. If you are doing it for the money, then it is too late.

If you love learning disease processes then you will enjoy medical school and you will not even think about your age. I had men in their 50s in my graduating class. They are now great physicians at good hospitals. The older students were actually the best ones.

 

[thatfeel]

Without having every single little detail about your life in front of us, I would say realistically it's too late. Mostly because you will face a lot of competition and financial strain. I don't think it's worth it. If you want to balance the best of being both practical and 'making a difference', consider becoming an RN and then after a few years of that become a nurse practitioner.

I have the same feeling all the time as you OP (I watch a lot of House M.D.) but we have to be realistic with ourselves. It is not blue pilled to have properly calibrated expectations for the reality of the outcome(s). In USA, unfortunately there are not great social safety nets, so you have to work (unless you inherited wealth) whether or not you manage properties or you sit behind a desk. I think your life would benefit more if you had a relatively low stress way to earn an okay income for yourself now, while using your downtime to pursue other passions and hobbies.

This might sound harsh but (and for myself included) the 'dreams' of doing something grand usually don't amount to much more than being mental gymnastics that distract you from being able to take actions towards improving your current situation in the *now*. Think about it: you can essentially put off having to deal with the present as long as you're planning in your head that things won't be where you want them to until you're a doctor 12 years down the road.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

What does the community think? Is 38 too late to go to med school? Am I wasting time? Is it a fruitless dream?

Can your desire to do more ONLY be fulfilled by being an MD?

Do you want more than only doing more, (e.g. respect and salary of a doc?)

Most docs hate being docs, and it's likely going to get a lot worse.

Universal healthcare will probably be much more likely by the time you finish school (assuming you're in the U.S.) these means most of your patients won't feel grateful in the least.

They'll feel entitled to your services.

Even vets are starting to kill themselves.

Unless you are hard set on being a doc (for reasons other than just helping) consider figuring out some better way to find a more fulfilling career that won't end up in trainwreck of despair.

Find some kind of professional career counselor to help you sort through your ideas, goals, needs, etc.

Med school is a long commitment, and it would SUCK to realize you'd made a HUGE mistake in your forties.

 

[evan12]

Is 38 too late to go to med school? I always wanted to be a doctor and my life to mean something. Have a purpose and such. I am self-employed and the income is stable, but it's boring. I always felt I was put on this earth to do more. Perhaps not, but who knows. I do know that several medical schools in NYC will offer free tuition if I become a GP. I can consider specializing later. My brain does well with science and math, and it's something I've wanted for decades. I never pursued it because my family didn't think I could do it and financial issues. Well, they've been wrong for most of their decisions, and I've been 50/50 or better.

What does the community think? Is 38 too late to go to med school? Am I wasting time? Is it a fruitless dream?

I have a suggestion, why not start taking the first steps and see if you are really into it, register , take exams , and see if you really want to continue. you have no obligation (except the money you will loose ) to take it all the way to the end, you can always drop out at any stage.
I used to think doctors are another breed , but when I became more mature, I learned they are like all other poeple doing their job for money and status. I have interact with many doctors , most of them treat me like customers and if I take more than they expect they keep looking at their watch as if I am making them loose money. if you want to help people there are too many ways better and more efficient to do that .

 

[eli77]

Do you have an undergraduate degree that is compatible with medical school?

If so, have you registered/passed the MCAT (or whatever the medical test is)?

If the answer to those questions is no, then you are looking at 4 years in school, 4 years in medical school, and 3-7 years residency per Google. That puts you at 51 when you become a doctor. Then add in the costs of it, which I'm assuming you'll have to finance.

I mean, I'll be the wet blanket and say maybe you are too old? Depends on what else is going on in your life. If you're single, go for it. If you have a family, I'd focus on making money now with the training and skills you possess.

working around alot of nurses and doctors i can honestly say medical sales is where its at