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Do I have a chance or am I too old?

I am 38. Female. I completed postgraduate - MA in Media and Film Studies in 2001 (Polish Uni 5 years master study), so my degree is not within science. My degree was "b" (Polish grade), I suppose it is equivalent of v.good degree in this country.
I am Polish, have lived in the UK for 5 years.
No A/As Levels.
GCSE English - grade B (2009).
No recent science grades. I have a full time job as a care assistant in a nursing home for 2 years.
Courses: nvq 2 in Health and Social Care, First Aider, Administration of Medicines.
Have been volunteered for Citizen Advice Bureau as an adviser for 2 years. I am doing counselling skills in university of york, due to complete in March this year.

What would you advice? Access course or A-levels?

Reply 1

Democracy

Have a look at these pages :smile:

http://www.wanttobeadoctor.co.uk/main.php?page=26
http://www.medschoolsonline.co.uk/index.php?pageid=141

Reply 2

xSkyFire

You're not too mature to study but you aren't qualified enough, there are access courses or you could go back and do A levels and then apply. I'm not sure how well your first degree has in getting you into the unis that accept a 2:1 in any degree for medicine but you could start studying A levels and apply with the degree you already have.

Reply 3

purpleduck

no, you are not too old! I know someone who trained as a doctor in their 40s. Age is only a number!
However, if you are older, you will need to consider if you physically and emotionally prepared for all the hard work training and being a doctor requires. (another 10 years atleast to be a consultant in which case you will be nearly 50?)
I strongly recommend you do some work experience, ti can be really helpful in allowing you to assess if medicine is really suited for you. You may be surprised by how much you hate it or love it!
you say you have done no science, that is only worrying in terms of the fact, how do you know if medicine is for you? you might hate or find science very hard?
Also, one last point to consider is your family life? Do you have kids or planning any, because training as a doctor may make this difficult? Considering your qualifications, I thnk you will defiantely face a challenge getting in to medical school, but that doesn't mean its impossible! if you want it enough, you can get it
Anyway, i wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do!

Reply 4

Gizmo!

you are an ol bugga, macca.

but not too old.

Reply 5

krisblade

I don't think you are necessarily too old (although some one said its at least 10 years to consultant, its much higher, considering medical school is 5 years, foundation years are two more, theres no way it only takes 3 years on top of that to become a consultant, otherwise there'd be many consultants in their late twenties!) age isn't so much a barrier, many older people enter medicine. However, you are extremely under qualified. To enter a graduate course you generally need a 2:1/1st science degree, and to enter a normal five year course you need A level or equivalent qualification focused on the sciences, your NVQ is only GCSE level.

Also without any experience of science subjects, how do you know you'd be able to cope with the academic work load? I think personally, you need to go back and study A levels which takes about two years full time, as your current application would not be strong enough to gain you a place on either a graduate or 5 year course.

Reply 6

blacklight

I'm not sure you are giving everyone all the details. You are educated in Poland I assume. So I imagine you have polish 'high school' qualifications, correct? Whatever your scores are for these are equivalent to A levels that people study in the UK. So if you got top grades, AND covered chem+bio that is excellent and already enough for entry.

As for your MA. Isn't an MA a masters or is it different over there? If you have a masters, does that mean you studied 4 or so years full time for this qualification? In which case if you acheived a good grade on it, then that's good too, though it's not the ideal subject of course.

Providing your degree scores and high school graduation scores are good (best check medical schools for what you need in polish quals) then you are in for a shot with the 5-year course. All you would lack is recent science/study experience I would say. These could be filled by an extra A level at A grade minimum (I'd do chem) or level 2 Open University courses at distinction.

The other possible route is GAMSAT for 4-year entry. You would need to select one of the schools that uses GAMSAT and allows ANY degree for entry. Your degree would need to be equivalent to the UK 2:1 grade or better. Then you must perform well on the GAMSAT (which tests science knowledge primarily). Graduate entry is always very difficult however, but you do have an edge with your job! Once again, you would need proof of some recent academic achievement.

In short, all of this hinges on your old school qualifications OR degree being of sufficient quality and relevance however. If your old academics don't meet this then I think your only choice really is to complete a 3-year science degree and reapply, or redo all your A levels and maybe even GCSEs and reapply. No medical school will even count a degree that is deemed as equivalent to less than 2:1.

They're not allowed to discriminate based on age for applications I think. If you get an interview be prepared for them to grill you on it though :P. I'm 26 and they grilled me about it even!

Reply 7

int_applicant

yona

I completed MA in Media and Film Studies in 2001. I am 38.
No A/As Levels.
I am Polish, have lived in the UK for 5 years. GCSE English - grade B.
No recent science grades.
I have a full time job as a care assistant in a nursing home.
Courses: nvq 2 in Health and Social Care, First Aider, Administration of Medicines.
Have been volunteered for Citizen Advice Bureau as an adviser for 2 years.

What to complete to apply and do I have a chance? or just too mature to study?

You are not too old...I dont think you should be worried about ur age...u shld be more worried about ur qualification........unfortunately, I dont think you can get into ANY school with thouse qualifications....if i were you, I will invest my time in doing A levels...make sure you dont get anything less than a B in all of PHYSICS.CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY ....

Otherwise, those qualifications will not get you anywhere.....I hope :o:

I wasnt too upfront....

Reply 8

yona

I am female, 38 years old.
I completed postgraduate - MA in Media and Film Studies in 2001 - 5 years masters, but not within science. It's "b" grade according Polish standards. Have no scientific A/As Levels.
GCSE English - grade B.
No recent science grades.
I have had a full time job as a care assistant in a nursing home for 2 years.
Courses: nvq 2 in Health and Social Care, First Aider, Administration of Medicines.
Have been volunteered for Citizen Advice Bureau as an adviser for 2 years. I am on counselling skills certificate in york university, due to complete in March this year.
I would like to shadow a junior doctor this spring...

Can I complete Access course or A-levels? or just too mature to study?

Reply 9

Becky21

There's no age limit, within reason. They say the guidelines are something like 'you have to be able to make a good contribution to medicine after you qualify.' I see no reason why you wouldn't be allowed on an access course.

Reply 10

overtherainbow

theres a medic on the course here that looks about 55- im sure age wont be the problem!!! (although she could just look like that though i am being pretty generous...)

Reply 11

jaderocks

You're not too old, but I would definitely reccommend getting some A levels, particularly in science as I don't think any uni would accept you with NO science in your background. And it's even more competitive to get on a course as a post grad so you'll need all the qualifications you can get!

Good luck!

Reply 12