Training to become a doctor at 26 with 2 children! Is it doable?

[Genesys]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice please 🙏

I'm 26, I'm wanting to train as a doctor, I have 2 children aged 5 and aged 6 months, is it do able?

My partner currently is unemployed, but has said he will support me as much as he can, he is looking for work, but I'm worried its not doable!

I have never been to uni and I only have 2 GCSE's that are B grade so I'm sure I'd need to gain better grades in Maths and Science to be able to go to uni? I'm actually not sure where to start with this!

For back ground I'm a self employed driving instructor, I'm on maternity leave. My son was born with a heart condition that required Open Heart Surgery, I'm interested in medicine anyway but this has inspired me I guess to look at my options before I get "too old" 😫

Thank you for reading!

I know you feel passionate about it and it seems exciting, but the reality is it will be very very hard with 2 children. Some 20 years ago, (when I was in my early 30s,) I tried to do an Open University degree with 2 young kids and a part time job (3 days a week, with 4 days work crammed in, and very demanding,) when my kids were 5-6-ish and I really struggled, and bailed on the degree after the first year. I just couldn't do it.

My job was quite demanding, and having 2 infant age children was too. On top of looking after ailing elderly family members, and keeping house and home, I found it so hard. It was not a 'hard' degree either (like a medical one.) A medical one will be longer too. 5 years I think?

What about training as a paramedic or GP nurse to start with? Something like that? As people have said, you will surely need to do more GCSEs, and the A Levels, and then be accepted on to a degree course.

Good luck @Genesys

Thank you everybody for your replies, I need to do much more research, I think starting with redoing GCSEs may be a good start.

I see medicine is very competitive, I'm not even sure I have what it takes, I'd like to try!

I was a HCA a few years ago on agency, it was hard but i enjoyed it, this was prior to covid and they reduced my hours (here is when I trained to be a driving instructor!)

My partner would find work he was made redundant recently to add!

Thank you everybody

Bluntly, if you left school without achieving more than those grades, then no, I don’t imagine even getting in to med school, far less completing it around the demands of two children, even with a supportive partner, is realistically achievable. It’s great that you’ve developed an interest in healthcare, but I think there will be more realistic routes into working in the field for you.

What were your GCSE results so poor the first time around? It really doesn’t sound like you are particularly academic so medical school isn’t suitable.

Friends daughter is off to do medicine this year with A’s in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and a B in Further Maths. Straight 9’s at GCSE. That’s the sort of results they want and she didn’t get loads of offers even with lots of work experience.

That’s even before you get in to the hours trainees doctors work and the uprooting to a new area for each rotation for very crap pay initially. Are you happy to miss every sports day, parents evening, school performance etc?

Listen to/read the Adam Kay book for a truthful account of NHS life. Grim. You will kill people as well as save and not many people can hack that reality.

Op, if you were previously a HCA, would you look at something like being a Health Visitor instead?

I have to be honest and say I’m not sure it’s realistic to be a doctor in your situation. I have 9 GCSEs, 3 A levels, a degree and a 2 year old, and I still wouldn’t even consider it. As others have said, I understand it to be a very competitive field with only people who get top grades being accepted.

Is there any particular area of medicine you’re interested in, that you could possibly work in at a lower level? :)

As I say @Genesys maybe think about Paramedic first? Good stepping stone... to maybe advancing higher in medicine. Although remaining a paramedic is absolutely fine. It's an amazing job they do!

I googled 'how to become a paramedic without going to uni?'

If you don't have a degree but want to work as a paramedic, you can apply to be a trainee with the ambulance service, but you'll have to continue your education while you're working. At least five GCSEs in grade 4 or above, including English, maths, and science, are normally required.

Even for nursing you still need 5 GCSEs at C or above. I had to do a 5th before I could start my degree, even though I had a higher level qualification.

If you're interested in something cardiology-related then you could look at Cardiac Physiology, which is a 3 year degree. digital.ucas.com/coursedisplay/results/courses?searchTerm=Cardiac

To get onto one of those degrees you would need A-levels or an access course. It would be more usual for someone your age to do an access course. You can search for a relevant local access course online: www.accesstohe.ac.uk//en/course-search

To get onto a relevant access course, you would need Maths GCSE. If you are able to find somewhere that offers a GCSE Science evening class (unlikely) or an online course, that would also help you. It's not too late to start working on this qualification this year.

This route could have you in an NHS role with steady hours within 5 years!

You could also take relevant free courses on FutureLearn to help you get back into studying: www.futurelearn.com/courses/heart-health

Nursing is very hard and academic as well. I’m in my final year OU, working and studying in my spare time as well as placements and this final year is almost breaking me, the level and standard of work they expect is horrendous and I am just about coping.

I was born before women were considered as equal so it was difficult to have a career, marriage and children within medicine or dentistry. A colleague of mine who owned her own practice, went into Labour at work in the morning, had her baby in the afternoon and was back at work the following afternoon. Many women who trained in dentistry would give up work when they had a family because there was no maternity leave or pay. They would have to find a locum to look after their patients while they were off and often pay part of the cost despite earning no money. If they weren’t willing to do this they lost their job ( self employed dental associates had no job security) However, the early 90s saw massive changes and the introduction of maternity pay in response to the loss of female dentists from the workforce and I was able to have it all.
It is likely that training for future doctors is going to result in some sort of compulsory commitment to working for the NHS for a set period post graduation. This may be offset against tuition fees. The government needs to stem the flow of doctors from the NHS. The same may apply to newly qualified dentists if NHS dentistry survives.
I have recently retired along with a huge number of people from my age group. We don’t see a future for NHS dentistry. It is a stressful profession without the current level of red tape and tick boxing. There’s no way I would encourage my DS or nieces into a system that is so broken. Fortunately, having seen behind the scenes they have no interest. There are far better ways to earn a living.

Thank you everybody, its been really eye opening to read all of the replies!

Foundation courses in medicine to give people without traditional quals a shot at medicine. I would focus your research here and speak to lots of medical schools about entry for mature candidates.

this a really inspirational (albeit very unusual!) story :

Mother-of-12 to start studying medicine: ‘I stopped worrying colleges were going to laugh at me’

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/people/2023/06/24/its-like-something-that-happens-to-people-on-the-telly-or-on-twitter-not-to-me-the-dream-is-coming-true/

Unless you are Lucy Letby you will not kill them.

They won’t all survive perhaps, but it won’t be your fault.

What a strange comment to make.

OP - I was a mature medic and found it very challenging. I have since left medicine and I am 9 months away from qualifying as a psychotherapist. Personally, I would not recommend medicine for anyone, regardless of grades. IME - medicine (especially surgery) is still largely old boys club. It is very competitive and IME colleagues are ruthless. Work life balance is also very difficult. Medicine is increasingly becoming data driven and box filling exercises. The complexity of the human being and life is very reductive. There is a shift to try and be more holistic (an often used buzz word used but without substance), but with the power of big pharma, litigation risk, privatisation, to name a few, it is in direct conflict with 'holistic care'. I have seen a lot of damage done because of doctors (I know there are great doctors - but I think they are rare and for those who had the chance, they have been eroded by the current health care model). I'm happy to talk more if you like so just pm me. I will add - one of my medic colleagues did start from scratch - so it is possible, if you feel you can get the grades (I would not be inclined to rush in and just assume that the grades you currently have reflect your potential) because life throws curve balls and this can be pretty challenging and limiting if it happens during adolescence and I have known ex medic colleagues who started with low grades. Of course it's not many, but it does happen and therefore it does require a lot of work. These same people also studied/trained as single parents.

Unless there were very extenuating circumstances when you did these exams, you aren't academically minded enough to cope with a levels & a medicine degree.

Look at other NHS roles - there are loads which will be far more feasible and allow you to start earning quickly

I would also recommend reading Adam Kay. I couldn't finish reading this book as I did find it very triggering and very accurate in just how brutal medicine can be.

Suggestion for pre-reg courses are a good suggestion, but you would need to have a strong reason why. So work as a support worker or HCA in a hospital setting would be a good place. However, it may be that you have compelling personal reasons why you would like to enter medicine. Another option is another allied profession, such as physio, OT etc and then to do grad medicine (which is what I did). Therefore you gain a 'trade' and it can give you the chance to prove your academic strength (although you would still need to get the grades to get in these courses so you'd have to research this). Although I wouldn't recommend medicine, I wouldn't say to anyone it's impossible for you. It's a case of looking at your options and going from there. FWIW, top grades (although required to get in) does not equate to becoming a good doctor.

Have you considered becoming an ambulance officer? Still medicine but a shorter course as not a degree and you don't need the high gcse grades like medicine.
this is a link to look at uni degrees if interested
https://www.whatuni.com/

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/ambulance-service-team

I work in Careers Guidance and would say it’s a very tricky to get into medicine without already holding both strong GCSEs and A Levels. Retaking is also hard as FE colleges rarely offer them now! . A few Universities say they will take Access to Medicine courses but do they in reality and these courses are very hard to find? please have a look at why it’s medicine , if you look at the fab NHS careers website you’ll see lots of allied roles like healthcare scientists , radiographers and paramedics etc which cover some aspects of a Drs role and you can get into by taking an Access to Science course and potentially just Maths and English GCSE.

I was a nanny for a lady who was a ( sperm donor and no immediate family ) single
mother to twins ( I looked after them from 2-4 years old when she was training / doing night shifts) she was in her mid thirties and doing her doctors training. She is now a GP with her own surgery, a beautiful home and great security. It’s doable! So impressed by her always 💚

I'm not sure that medicine is particularly realistic given the circumstances you have given. In particular, I'm surprised you haven't looked into the basic requirements of a medicine degree, which will include three A levels in science and/or maths, usually including chemistry at high grades as well as relevant work experience. Most aspiring medics know this early on and it is their sole focus and even then the majority will miss out at the applications stage. I mean this kindly but it seems you have grossly underestimated how competitive a field this is, with only the most academically able being selected. As others have said, where there is a will, there is a way if you are truly determined but even the A level courses in these subjects are notoriously difficult and you would need excellent grades in all of them as well as evidence of caring, being in a medical environment etc. To be accepted onto the A level courses you will need at least grade B at GCSE or equivalent. Some places will accept Cs but not all. Good luck with your decision but it seems you haven't really considered how to make this a reality.

Your wish to study medicine is indeed very noble ,however it is a challenging career .Even Nursing is very academic now.My DS was born with Renal problems and I greatly admired the Doctors and Nurses that cared for him so well.Maybe think about other Careers in the NHS? .I have GCSEs and A level and remember thinking "Gosh I couldnt do that" You have a young family ,there will be years of study ahead and it will be very hard with young DC.

My grandson is a 4 th year med student. It is very,very hard work with very long hours when you are on placement. He already has a med science degree and went on from that. When he qualifies next year that will be 9 years of study plus he wants to specialise- another 2 years. It costs a fortune in uni fees, too, which he will have to repay at some stage. My cousin is also a doctor and it took her around 7 years but she didn’t have children until after she qualified.

You might be able to do an an access to medicine course for mature students. Failing that you could do a few higher than a levels at night school to get into the degree course