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.

My cousin is a pediatrician and said she found getting in medical school harder than actually being in med school. The military paid for her medical degree also. She loves her job too.

Being that you have no children, I would go for it now. University of Maryland also has a science in the evening program so you can get all of your pre-reqs to get into medical school.

It seems like the admin side may be your best bet OP. Honestly, you may end up liking it. Give it a try! Good luck!

Say you make 100K per year...

One year post back and four years of med school cost you:
$450K lost salary
$250K Tuition (500K plus interest)

Residency then would cost $200K in lost salary.

In total:
1.1 million dollar investment.

IF you get into a well paying speciality it would take at least 8 years or more to simply break even with that calculation (minus taxes).

So you would "break even" at age 45 or beyond. Not to mention if you aren't married it would probably push back your personal life goals considerably as well.

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.

DH is a military doctor and has no student loans. He has an awesome schedule. Depending on the specialty you go into, the military route may not be a bad idea.

OP, I think you should do it, but consider the time and money ramifications considerably. Really read back on the Student Doctor forums, ask questions, and see if you can get a real idea of how grueling and intensive medical school will be. It is a great forum and they will help you, but you need to be prepared that the information you find out won't be favorable towards pursuing a career at 30.

That being said, my husband is a military doctor and he is starting his career relatively late (36, first year of residency) but being in the military means he's in fantastic shape and can do the physically demanding duties with no real issues. It's nice not having to worry about money and having a huge student loan debt over our heads, but military medicine doctors aren't getting paid the same as their civilian counterparts, and there isn't a lot of stability either, especially if you have a family.

Think about all of your options, especially monetarily. You are definitely not too old to start.

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?

The problem with medical school these days (and especially going later in life) is that medical school has gotten REALLY expensive. Tuition alone (so no living expenses) is $75K/year at all the area schools (and every school in the US except for state programs).
Then you'll be loosing income for a decade plus (you are paid during residency but only $40K a year so it's essentially a wash).
So grads coming out of school these days are $300-400K in debt unless they have someone else footing the bill (parents, the military, a high earning spouse, etc).

It didn't used to be the case. My husband went to Hopkins for med school 15 years ago and his tuition was 35% of what it is today!! In those days it could make financial sense to attend at age 40 and work for only 20 years. Now it may not make financial sense to
pay all that tuition money (and decade of lost income--which is HUGE) to have a 20 year career.

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.

My mom got her MD in her forties. Had a very happy and meaningful career for twenty years before she retired. Do it.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't recommend it.

Surgery, especially orthopedic surgery is physically demanding. Long hours standing, need for manual strength, stress and little sleep during training.
Additionally orthopedics is very competitive, who knows if you would match. Would you be ok being a general surgeon? Or a family practice doc?
And having hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt? I know many physicians who would not choose to go to medical school again if time was turned back.

Just my perspective.

DH is ortho. He and his orthopod friends all earn around $500k with very decent hours. Depending on your specialty, surgeries can be short. Most of DH's surgeries are 1-2 hours each. He also has friends and colleagues who earn $1+ million. They work longer hours.

the correct term is Physician Assistant, not Physician's Assistant.

I wouldn't recommend it.

Surgery, especially orthopedic surgery is physically demanding. Long hours standing, need for manual strength, stress and little sleep during training.
Additionally orthopedics is very competitive, who knows if you would match. Would you be ok being a general surgeon? Or a family practice doc?
And having hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt? I know many physicians who would not choose to go to medical school again if time was turned back.

Just my perspective.

Op here, I wouldn't mind working as a Physician's Assistant. I will have to try to figure out how to squeeze in the patient contact requirement as well as prerequisites. I plan on attempting to have one kid by 35 which is 6 years away max. But I'm not in a relationship at the moment, so that's a long shot.