Medical school at 50 entry am i mad ?

I am 48 maybe considering trying for medical school eventually.I dont drink smoke i have no debts no kids at home one at uni only.i have a lodger.I am in education alevel currently trying to sort out grades gcse alevel.I have 8 years care experience.I have a medical school on doorstep in city i live.If not i will enter nurse degree if fail to reach AAA as i love healthcare.I know the structure ukcat/bmat tests & 5 years 2 years foundation,specialty etc I have rheumatiod arthrits controlled well & aps syndrome.I have never done a degree before.advise welcome.

I am 48 maybe considering trying for medical school eventually.I dont drink smoke i have no debts no kids at home one at uni only.i have a lodger.I am in education alevel currently trying to sort out grades gcse alevel.I have 8 years care experience.I have a medical school on doorstep in city i live.If not i will enter nurse degree if fail to reach AAA as i love healthcare.I know the structure ukcat/bmat tests & 5 years 2 years foundation,specialty etc I have rheumatiod arthrits controlled well & aps syndrome.I have never done a degree before.advise welcome.

Hey!

I study Graduate Entry Medicine at Swansea University, and I definitely know of people who are over 40 and into their early/mid 50s studying on my course. I'd say to weigh up the pros and cons as medicine is a massive undertaking, but if it is your true dream, why not?

Hope Henry - Swansea Student Ambassador and Third Year Graduate Entry Medicine Student.

Absolutely no reason not to apply- age is no problem whatsoever and you cannot be discriminated against on the basis of age- that would be illegal.

I know of someone who began their medical career at 50.

I don't know about mad, but completely unrealistic, yes. Maybe 3 years nursing to qualification, but not a Doctor. Even if you got through all the training you'd only be beginning a useful career in your late 50s. You've effectively got one year of useful delivery for every year of training. Plus, and I say this as someone a decade older - you are getting older! if you'd said you were still doing competitive triathlons etc then maybe but.....

Nothing wrong with retraining, changing career etc, but you do need to be realistic.

From your first post it sounds as if you're working towards both GCSEs and A-levels at the moment. Even if you're doing these concurrently, presumably it will be at least a year or two before you can apply to med school. Assuming you're accepted at 50 (and as you're only applying to one med school from the sounds of it, the statistical likelihood of an acceptance is low) you'll be 57 or 58 when you finish Foundation training, which means you'll be almost as close to retirement age as you are to your first day at med school. Rather than "Is it possible?", it feels like a more useful question would be "Is it worth it to you?". Lots of things are theoretically possible, albeit rare, but that doesn't automatically make them a good investment of your time and energy.

What is it about medicine that appeals to you more than nursing or another healthcare role with a shorter training pathway? This isn't clear from your posts.

surgery to be honest what appeals to me the most always has from the offset but i could do nurse degree then specialise i have been accepted in university for nurse degree this year.

There are plenty of people who do medicine and never practice. Even if you only did foundation years, you’ll still have contributed more than those who drop out. If you do it that is. There is more than one way to look at it.

Not here to tell you yes or no. I’ll just share my perspective and my story. And maybe offer some additional suggestions.

I’ve meandered back and forth on medicine for years. I finally bit the bullet and applied a final time, telling myself in my mid thirties that if I didn’t do it then, I never would. I wanted to be able to enjoy a full medical career, not to basically finish before I even got started. And if I didn’t do medicine, I would at least have something else to fall back on which I would do instead. The reality of medical training is that it’s long. A minimum of ten years from first year of medical school to completion of core training to complete the shortest possible training programme, which is GP. I want a good fifteen or twenty years as a consultant or a GP. Not worth my time otherwise.

Now I’ve got in and I’m here to tell you, it’s bloody hard. It doesn’t let up, either. And if I didn’t have another means of earning whilst I study, I’d be thinking, no, too old for this much of my time and effort to be going into something with no financial reward. And I’ve barely got a pension to speak of. Don’t know where you stand, but if I were your age, I’d be having to think about that.

You say it’s between medicine and nursing. But you’ve actually said that it’s surgery that interests you. You need to look at the competition ratios for surgery. And the career structure for it. And to be really honest with yourself.

I can’t help but notice your choice is presented as being binary between nursing and medicine. There are potentially a lot of roles you’re overlooking. One thing to maybe think about. Does your uni offer a degree in operating department practice? If you’re interested in surgery, this may be the way to go. You’ll have a role within your own right, you’ll be working in the field that interests you, and you’ll have a chance for full career development that medicine will never offer at your age.

I would really encourage you to look into the allied health professions. There may be one that really suits you and where your experience and age will be valued.

thanks for this reply I know about ODPs but have chosen Nurse degree then theatre nurse i can specialise later on down the line.One thing that gets me lack of senior surgical experience for theatre nurses

There are now surgical nurse practitioners who will do surgeries in future. It is another 2 year degree course I think on top of regular nursing. This may appeal to yourself.

I am 48 maybe considering trying for medical school eventually.I dont drink smoke i have no debts no kids at home one at uni only.i have a lodger.I am in education alevel currently trying to sort out grades gcse alevel.I have 8 years care experience.I have a medical school on doorstep in city i live.If not i will enter nurse degree if fail to reach AAA as i love healthcare.I know the structure ukcat/bmat tests & 5 years 2 years foundation,specialty etc I have rheumatiod arthrits controlled well & aps syndrome.I have never done a degree before.advise welcome.

I am in my late 40s and about to go into second year of med school. My age was never a factor in the application process. If this is what you want to do then go for it!