Studying medicine in your 40s THE JOURNEY TO GET THERE.

Hi
I have decided to retake my GCSEs and take a certificate in higher education so that I can study medicine in my 40s. I am 38 at present. I’m in the U.K.

Is there anyone else who is studying medicine in their 40s in the U.K.? Or studying towards it?

Good luck on your journey.

Hi

I have decided to retake my GCSEs and take a certificate in higher education so that I can study medicine in my 40s. I am 38 at present. I’m in the U.K.

Is there anyone else who is studying medicine in their 40s in the U.K.? Or studying towards it?


Good luck on your journey.

Be prepared for rampant ageism on this forum, the mods in particular. From me, best of luck and I wish you well.

Be prepared for rampant ageism on this forum, the mods in particular. From me, best of luck and I wish you well.

Hi

I have decided to retake my GCSEs and take a certificate in higher education so that I can study medicine in my 40s. I am 38 at present. I’m in the U.K.

Is there anyone else who is studying medicine in their 40s in the U.K.? Or studying towards it?


Good luck on your journey.

Hi.

Yes unfortunately I can see you are correct. I do not know why people don’t just skip and move along instead of being negative and jumping on a post that has absolutely nothing to do with them.

Just remember this: the medical profession is haemorrhaging doctors after only a few years of practice. Older people coming into the profession are filling those gaps. If you look at Rachel Clarke’s book (entered training at 29) and Adam Kay’s book (entered training at 18), they make the same points but it’s interesting that the older entrant is still working in medicine after leaving for a spell and the younger entrant has left for good.

Age is one factor among many that will determine a person’s success in any career. I got a place in medical school (two in fact) based on my level of experience, my academic ability, and the strength of my performance at interview. I’ll succeed or fail in medicine based on my skills and those alone. Yes, there are other challenges that come from studying medicine in your 30s or 40s and from being a junior doctor in your 40s but there’ll be bonuses in other areas that compensate.

In terms of your studying, I would recommend UpLearn to support your learning (worked for me) and getting a bunch of different textbooks. Just make sure you have a really clear plan.

And have a plan B. Always makes sense to have a plan B. I will point out that I out earn the majority of doctors in my current AHP role so there are potentially more lucrative roles in healthcare to channel your energies to if you decide against medicine. Either way, I do wish you the best.

a) the VT are not mods

b) the VT you are indirectly referring to has left the site, due to harassment by users in much this manner

c) pointing out the challenges inherent in working as a junior doctor in your 40s is not ageism, it simply provides a perspective that may be helpful to would be applicants



I would definitely recommend you make sure your qualifications will be accepted by the medical schools you want to apply to - particularly the CertHE. I know some medical schools may accept this (KCL I think do more or less formally accept that as a possible route, although dependent on content and provider), but others may or may not. Definitely worth getting in touch early to make sure they will accept the specific CertHE you are looking at - and if they need you to take any specific modules/options on it (KCL for example requires if you study with the OU that you take certain modules with them as I recall).

Also for GCSEs, see what the requirements are - if you mainly target medical schools which just have minimum GCSE requirements, you may only need to (re)take English language/maths/maybe science to meet those! This could save you a bit of time and money if so

As alluded to above, there is I understand a big difference in studying medicine and working as a junior doctor - the latter can be quite challenging as the rotas can be pretty brutal I hear. So something to just mentally prepare yourself for!

Also something to bear in mind, after you graduate for the first 2 years at least (sometimes up to 5 years, depending on specialty) you'll be rotated around hospitals in a region every 6 months, so may need to move around a lot or have longer commutes (also some of the regions are very large!). So if you are looking to buy property in the next couple of years (or if you own property now!) it's something to consider (e.g. whether to put those plans on hold for a while, or if you do own property already or go through with a purchase soon, think about how you might rent it if you did need to move away for a while). Some specialties may let you "settle down" in an area a bit sooner though which may end up being preferential for you (I gather a lot of GEM grads go into GP partially for this reason - more control over hours and location!)

Hi

thanks but I created this post to hear from others who are working towards studying medicine or who are already studying medicine that are in my age bracket. I already know what universities accept higher education certificates and what the work demands ect are. I work with doctors in my current role in health care so I am familiar. I am not looking for a debate about why i should or shouldn’t take this career path at my age. If I was, I would state it in my original post. I think the post about ageism was spot on. I’m not looking for criticism or debate.

thanks.

If you think my post was criticism or debate you may need to manage your expectations of what you consider "criticism" to be.

Also you titled your post "the journey to get there" so the process of both applying to medicine and working as a junior doctor are involved in that "journey", and is relevant information - not only for you, but for others who may in future come to the site, find this post, and look for similar information.

Having a chip on your shoulder about things like this is not going to help you in life, regardless of your path. Best of luck.

Everybody take a deep breath please

If you have complaints about "mods" (who are paid members of staff that manage the report and not volunteers) please post them here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=1215

Though given the entire mod team has posted once in the Medicine forum, I would be surprised if this could be called ageism.

Fine. “Helpers”.

Because of the timings of GEM and entrance points I will be 50 when I apply!!!!!!! Older applicants are less likely to drop out and age discrimination is illegal. The way I see it, mortgage companies expect me to be working until I'm 67- that means nearly 20 more years of career left. The country can't have it both ways. I'm a pretty sturdy workhorse. If you believe you can do it and you want to do it from the bottom of your heart, do it. I'm just going to keep applying until they let me in!

I'm slightly younger (28, but soon turning 29 - will be 33 when I graduate) and just started first year. Just wanted to say good luck we have a couple of people in their late 30s in my course - and I think someone in their 40s but haven't had a chance to meet them yet.

I'm slightly younger (28, but soon turning 29 - will be 33 when I graduate) and just started first year. Just wanted to say good luck we have a couple of people in their late 30s in my course - and I think someone in their 40s but haven't had a chance to meet them yet.