I regret not going to med school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, as a 35 year old who did a post-bacc at 29 and did not matriculate, I say do this, do this, do this, do this. Don't wait. Just do it. Don't look back.

Well, maybe get some exposure to medicine in a research capacity or as a medical assistant or something, but don't look back. Just jump.

I wish I had.

Why didn't you end up martriculating?

In mee school, I mean. Because I got pregnant with #1 and the cost of med school (detailed above quite well) scared me off. I have two prior masters degrees and debt to match.

I'm now considering np programs. I was considering pa programs until I heard it described as a resident forever! That sounds terrible!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Thank you to everyone who posted. My dh has been considering med school but would need two years of science in the evening classes prior to sitting the mcat. Then a year of applying before starting so we too are looking at a long road. We have 1 child and 1 on the way in the fall. I love the idea of. A large family but don't know how realistic it would be to continue on in the baby preschool years as basically a single parent. For those that went through medachool or had a spouse do it with young children was it doable? Was medschool harder or residency? I Was thinking if we could be done with babies by residency it might not kill me. Any other advise would be awesome too.

The only way it would work for your Dh to do this is if you are a single parent. I am the pp above and that was the other reason I did not pursue it - Dh has a demanding job, and we have no family support. It would have been fine in med school, but impossible for residency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who went from wall st to med school for pediatrics at 32. Six years later she's so so so much happier.

amazing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Thank you to everyone who posted. My dh has been considering med school but would need two years of science in the evening classes prior to sitting the mcat. Then a year of applying before starting so we too are looking at a long road. We have 1 child and 1 on the way in the fall. I love the idea of. A large family but don't know how realistic it would be to continue on in the baby preschool years as basically a single parent. For those that went through medachool or had a spouse do it with young children was it doable? Was medschool harder or residency? I Was thinking if we could be done with babies by residency it might not kill me. Any other advise would be awesome too.

So many factors. Age gap of kids. Sex and personality of kids. What you do for a living and how much you earn. How much help do you have - paid or family. How smart your DH is. What specialty your DH is interested in.

I think you will be fine if you have money, meaning savings or family. If you don't have money (savings or family) and don't have physical help (paid or family), I think it will be a very hard few years. Not impossible but hard on you. At the same time, true single moms have to do it so you should also be able to do it.

I met DH when he was in med school, got married when he was a resident, had our first child at the end of residency and 2nd child during his fellowship. Those first few years are a blur but we had local family. My mom was recently retired and helped us out immensely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, as a 35 year old who did a post-bacc at 29 and did not matriculate, I say do this, do this, do this, do this. Don't wait. Just do it. Don't look back.

Well, maybe get some exposure to medicine in a research capacity or as a medical assistant or something, but don't look back. Just jump.

I wish I had.

Why didn't you end up martriculating?

In mee school, I mean. Because I got pregnant with #1 and the cost of med school (detailed above quite well) scared me off. I have two prior masters degrees and debt to match.

I'm now considering np programs. I was considering pa programs until I heard it described as a resident forever! That sounds terrible!

I'm the pp who said DH said PAs are like forever residents. I didn't mean this in a bad way. DH is a specialized surgeon and he needs a second pair of hands, usually a resident. The PA is just like a resident who assists with the surgery. They are paid well ($100k+) and depending on how competent they are, assist with most of the surgery.

[Anonymous]

I am also married to doctor, he did a surgical residency than a two year fellowship. Unlike pp dr's wife, I'd encourage you to follow your dream. yes, it was be an hour intensive (but no where close to what it was like before the mandated hours restrictions for residency), but I have seen my husband's peers who are women and younger residents and fellows complete their training and have children. Once the training is complete, many of the woman surgeons and medical doctors I know are able to work p/t schedules that I'm completely envious of, and can't think of a single other professional occupation which comes close in terms of flexibility. Go for it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, as a 35 year old who did a post-bacc at 29 and did not matriculate, I say do this, do this, do this, do this. Don't wait. Just do it. Don't look back.

Well, maybe get some exposure to medicine in a research capacity or as a medical assistant or something, but don't look back. Just jump.

I wish I had.

Why didn't you end up martriculating?

In mee school, I mean. Because I got pregnant with #1 and the cost of med school (detailed above quite well) scared me off. I have two prior masters degrees and debt to match.

I'm now considering np programs. I was considering pa programs until I heard it described as a resident forever! That sounds terrible!

I'm the pp who said DH said PAs are like forever residents. I didn't mean this in a bad way. DH is a specialized surgeon and he needs a second pair of hands, usually a resident. The PA is just like a resident who assists with the surgery. They are paid well ($100k+) and depending on how competent they are, assist with most of the surgery.

Some PAs assist in the OR, others are responsible for patient care. Many hospitals are hiring PAs to do the tasks the residents did before the reduction in resident work hours was mandated. PAs work regular hours, however, although some do work weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work with doctors on a day to day basis and categorically they discourage people from becoming doctors. A lot of negative changes as a direct result of Obamacare. Lower reimbursement, expensive EMR, and more stress.

You must work for private practice doctors, those who work in academic medical centers tend to be happy with their jobs because more cutting edge work and the doctors don't deal with the business side.

[Anonymous]

My dad switched careers and became a nurse when he was 55. Never to Late

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work with doctors on a day to day basis and categorically they discourage people from becoming doctors. A lot of negative changes as a direct result of Obamacare. Lower reimbursement, expensive EMR, and more stress.

You must work for private practice doctors, those who work in academic medical centers tend to be happy with their jobs because more cutting edge work and the doctors don't deal with the business side.

yes, but they often make half the money.
Not the end of the world but a big consideration.

[Anonymous]

I also regret not going to med school, but I also regret not going to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Thank you to everyone who posted. My dh has been considering med school but would need two years of science in the evening classes prior to sitting the mcat. Then a year of applying before starting so we too are looking at a long road. We have 1 child and 1 on the way in the fall. I love the idea of. A large family but don't know how realistic it would be to continue on in the baby preschool years as basically a single parent. For those that went through medachool or had a spouse do it with young children was it doable? Was medschool harder or residency? I Was thinking if we could be done with babies by residency it might not kill me. Any other advise would be awesome too.

If your husband goes to medical school, he will lose a decade of income in his prime earning years (residents are paid but it is barely enough to live on). For most people that is a loss of at least a million dollars. Added to that is the cost of medical school. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges here is the table of debt for medical school graduates in 2014.

And this includes all those who graduate with NO debt because they are SELF-PAY (parent pay). In many schools this number is around 50%. There are lots of wealthy people who pay cash for their children's medical education.

Public/Private/Combined
Pct. with Ed. Debt: 86% 82% 84%
Mean debt: $167,763/$190,053/$176,348
Median debt: $170,000 /$200,000 /$180,000

If you have dependents who will need their own college educations paid for in 15-18 years I think it's incredibly sobering to think of spending this much money on education in your 30's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also regret not going to med school, but I also regret not going to college.

Definitely not too late to get an associate s or even a bachelor's degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am also married to doctor, he did a surgical residency than a two year fellowship. Unlike pp dr's wife, I'd encourage you to follow your dream. yes, it was be an hour intensive (but no where close to what it was like before the mandated hours restrictions for residency), but I have seen my husband's peers who are women and younger residents and fellows complete their training and have children. Once the training is complete, many of the woman surgeons and medical doctors I know are able to work p/t schedules that I'm completely envious of, and can't think of a single other professional occupation which comes close in terms of flexibility. Go for it!

Perhaps you are referring to me when you refer to the pp dr's wife. We know plenty of female surgeons. Best case scenario, OP will finish med school at 35 and will start residency then. You don't know what you are talking about if you think OP will be able to have kids during surgical residency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Thank you to everyone who posted. My dh has been considering med school but would need two years of science in the evening classes prior to sitting the mcat. Then a year of applying before starting so we too are looking at a long road. We have 1 child and 1 on the way in the fall. I love the idea of. A large family but don't know how realistic it would be to continue on in the baby preschool years as basically a single parent. For those that went through medachool or had a spouse do it with young children was it doable? Was medschool harder or residency? I Was thinking if we could be done with babies by residency it might not kill me. Any other advise would be awesome too.

If your husband goes to medical school, he will lose a decade of income in his prime earning years (residents are paid but it is barely enough to live on). For most people that is a loss of at least a million dollars. Added to that is the cost of medical school. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges here is the table of debt for medical school graduates in 2014.

And this includes all those who graduate with NO debt because they are SELF-PAY (parent pay). In many schools this number is around 50%. There are lots of wealthy people who pay cash for their children's medical education.

Public/Private/Combined
Pct. with Ed. Debt: 86% 82% 84%
Mean debt: $167,763/$190,053/$176,348
Median debt: $170,000 /$200,000 /$180,000

If you have dependents who will need their own college educations paid for in 15-18 years I think it's incredibly sobering to think of spending this much money on education in your 30's.

The financial aspect is daunting as it would be a huge loss in income and completely stall retirement and children's education savings. Not to mention wipe out our savings and delay home ownership. What we do have going for us is being young, dh would be starting at 28. Assuming a 5 year residency for a speciality but not crazy intense surgeon years he would be done at 37. So although retirement by 40 would be out there would still be plenty of working years making a high salary.