Please crush my dreams: No med school for me, right?

[Anonymous]

Speaking as a 33 year old whose husband is in 4th year med school (also 33), if you want to be a surgeon, you will have a very long, hard road in front of you and your family. We have a baby and my husband specifically has stayed away from surgery because the residency is so brutal he would barely get to see our kid.
You can definitely do med school but if you need to take all the prereqs, that will add on another year or two (some of it is timing). It will be a long road but there are people who have done it.

I would see if you could shadow different people to get a feel for what their day is like. Nurses are really different from Surgeons (who, in general, do not spend tons of time interacting with patients and can be pretty type A).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your pre-nursing classes will not be the same as the those that you need for medical school and you can't take the MCAT before taking the pre-med reqs.
You'll need:
a year of college biology
a year of college chemistry
a year of organic chem
a year of physics
and generally
a year of calculus and at least a class in biochemistry.

The pre-reqs are very similar - the first year of med school is very similar to the first year of nursing as it is pretty much all sciences then it splits off. The only pre-req on your list that I didn't need for nursing was organic chem. For nursing we also needed anatomy and physiology and microbiology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your family will suffer during your residency.
Go for the Nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist route. It is more manageable.

This. I'm married to a physician and residency/fellowship is tough. We've moved 8 times in 13 years, all because of the different places where he was "matched." I would ask yourself whether it would be feasible for your husband and kids to move around at least once or twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your pre-nursing classes will not be the same as the those that you need for medical school and you can't take the MCAT before taking the pre-med reqs.
You'll need:
a year of college biology
a year of college chemistry
a year of organic chem
a year of physics
and generally
a year of calculus and at least a class in biochemistry.

The pre-reqs are very similar - the first year of med school is very similar to the first year of nursing as it is pretty much all sciences then it splits off. The only pre-req on your list that I didn't need for nursing was organic chem. For nursing we also needed anatomy and physiology and microbiology.

You don't need calculus for nursing school. It is really competitive to get into med school. Did you graduate from a top university? What was your undergrad GPA? Where are you taking your pre nursing classes? If it a community college and you got a B in a core class, it doesn't look good. I don't want to sound harsh but for the 2012 school year 45,000 people applied to med school and only 19,000 matriculated. It isn't like law school where you can go yo a third tier school if you are wiling to pay. There are NO lower tier med schools in the US. That is why some have to study in the Carribean or Mexico.

[Anonymous]

Try to get into med school, OP. I wanted to do it at 28 and also thought I was too old. 15 years later I still regret it. Did a PhD in a related field, but it's not the same.

[Anonymous]

I would say forget it. First you have to ensure you have the correct undgrad courses, take the MCAT and then get into a local medical school (assuming you want to stay in the area). Then you have to go into $300,000 of debt to pay for 4 years of med school. Then assuming you land an internship/residency locally (difficult to do), you won't make much money for those years. If you do anything highly specialized, it will require more training. Now you are in your mid to late 30's and you have to land your first job (relatively low paying) and put in long hours to "pay your dues." Good luck. Most physicians I know are going into concierge practices or leaving medical practice entirely to have a normal life and not have to deal with insurance companies, etc....

[Anonymous]

My husband is a doctor and I have been with him during pre-med, med school, and residency. Let me tell you, it is a HARD road and we are in a lot of debt. Residency was awful, and we only had one year of it overlapping with being parents. That year when we had a newborn, he would be gone for 36 hours at a time, be home for 10 hours then do it again. We are deep in debt and he is in a low paying field (peds).

I would say do it only if a) you don't have to take out loans exclusively to pay for it AND b) you have family nearby who can and will help a lot.

[Anonymous]

No, it's NOT too late. Go for it if it feels right. You already know it will be really hard.

(Don't settle for pharmacist or dentist!)

[Anonymous]

Physician's Assistant is another track that is a possibility. I know a PA who assists a Cardiac Surgeon. She makes good money.

My mom is a professor of nursing, and I know she would say become a nurse over a physician's assistant since you would have more career flexibility in the long run.

All this being said, you are not old. If your husband is supportive and doesn't mind moving around a bit, take the MCAT and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Go for it. You usually regret the things you didn't do, not the things you did.

[Anonymous]

First get divorced and give up custody of your kids. It will be much easier then....

[Anonymous]

Why do you want to be a surgeon specifically? Given all the cons everyone is pointing out, you need some serious pros to make the calculation work out.

Are there jobs that would be close enough (e.g., surgical nurse)?

I am not in the medical field, but even if I felt it were my calling, I'd have a hard time committing to a job path that would run my entire life.

[Anonymous]

OP, I've posted before as the RN urging you to really think and explore your options. Do you know anyone in the medical field? Specifically a surgeon? I ask because I'm wondering if you know the full implication of becoming a surgeon. While I wouldn't go as far to say get divorced and give up custody, your family life is going to take a MAJOR hit. Med school itself is difficult, then you have a residency, then a fellowship. The residency and fellowship might cause you to move to different cities. Unless you go to a top med school and are a top student, you might not have much of a choice which city.

Then, finally, you are done. And then you're the low man on the totem pole. You'll be doing the shit hours no one wants and the on call hours no one wants (holidays etc). You'll spend a couple of years just trying to prove yourself so that you can work your way up, and hopefully begin to pay off all the debt you've incurred throughout the whole process. At this point, your kids will be halfway (if not more) out of the house.

I know this post sounds a little mean, but you REALLY need to explore your options and all that goes into it. And then weigh the options...is becoming a surgeon really worth uprooting your family (possibly multiple times), going into massive debt, and missing a huge chunk of your children's lives? You're not too old, but you have a lot more to consider than if you were 18 and deciding on pre-med for college.

[Anonymous]

Don't do it OP!!! Live a normal life where you can see your kids.
Dentist, PA, PharmD, NP - all worthy fields where you can help people and have a good lifestyle without the liability and stress.

I don't recommend it, ESPECIALLY if you want to do surgery ( only one female surgeon got to her 5th year in residency without getting divorced in 3 consecutive classes where I went to medschool - it's a strain not many marriages can take).

But if you are truly passionate and your career is first and your personal life second, then go for it. I see those crazy surgeons who are in the hospital for 110 hours a week and actually like it- rare breed but they exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your pre-nursing classes will not be the same as the those that you need for medical school and you can't take the MCAT before taking the pre-med reqs.
You'll need:
a year of college biology
a year of college chemistry
a year of organic chem
a year of physics
and generally
a year of calculus and at least a class in biochemistry.

Organic Chem and Physics will be your weed out courses for med school, and sometimes BioChem. I wouldn't even look at a MCAT prep book until you get those courses out the way. But you are definitely not too old, and if you have a supportive family that understands the sacrifices everyone will have to make, then go for it!!