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!

Have you considered a nurse instead? Two B grades at GCSE won’t get you anywhere, so you’d need to retake all GCSEs then do A levels all which would take at least three years.

I would say that 2 GCSEs at B level and the rest at D level or below suggests that you aren't academically suited to medicine. I'd expect mostly A's at GCSE level and you'd need 3 A's at A level as well. DS got all A's at GCSE but still didn't manage to get 3 A's at A level. I can't imagine trying to study for those with young children.

If your husband does find work, who is going to look after the baby? It's going to take years of full time study just to get into medicine, and then many years to complete it.

I have to be honest here - this is completely unrealistic.
You only have 2 GCSEs. The D grades do not count as passes.
What were the reasons for those results?
It would imply that you are not academic enough to have a chance at medicine. Were there some kind of extenuating circumstances which meant that you were not able to pass?

I think you should look at a range of careers allied to medicine and see what the entrance requirements are. People are suggesting nursing or paramedic or radiology but all of those are also academic these days and you will need GCSEs.
Someone also suggested physio - again, academic, needs good A-levels to get in and the course is hard. (I have a close friend who has just graduated with a physio degree as a mature student. It was really hard work - she did well - but there was a lot of essay writing and a lot of difficult topics to get her head round).

I think your first step is to research a bit more about what kind of careers are possible and what the entrance requirements are, including alternative routes.
And you will need to do GCSEs.

If you do start doing GCSEs that will give you more of an indication of whether you would be able to manage A-levels or an access course.

You might enjoy this book - about a woman who decides to becomes a doctor she's 28, and got married/had two children during the training (which was part time for a while as a result). She is apparently still working as a GP now.
She had studied GCSEs and A levels, but not that much maths and science, and had a degree and job in English, so had to go back and do some further qualifications.

www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58640330

Thank you for this! I will take a look :)

Thank you, am I being unreasonable to think that maybe 10 years later I may be more committed to achieving better grades?

I didn't have a great childhood, my dad brought me and my 2 siblings up he was an alcoholic, I was the oldest practically bringing up my other 2 siblings, at school I didn't really focus much, I loved being at school and I loved science, I loved to learn, I wish I revised more! I wish I had family that pushed me more! It's not an excuse, just my reasoning I guess 😮‍💨

Its disheartening reading the mass comments where people have stated I'm not academic, I probably wasn't at 16 but I may be now?

Its all food for thought, though! So I do appreciate it 😁

For context I know three doctors. All three had straight A/A* at GCSE, all A’s at A Level and then onto uni. One still didn’t qualify for medicine and did a BSc in biochemistry before going on to do medicine as a postgrad. It is insanely hard and competitive.

What concerns me initially, OP, is that you don't appear to have even googled entrance requirements for medical schools yet? Or any access routes.

I've been mulling over the idea of going back to college for a while and I thought I'd post here first, to see if training to be a doctor is doable with having 2 young children!

Realistically only a small proportion of people are smart enough to study medicine. You can be as committed as you like to getting better grades but you need to ask yourself if you're actually smart enough? I was very bright at school and qualified as an accountant, I'm not daft, but I know I'm not academically gifted enough to get into medical school. It's insanely competitive and kids with top grades still don't make the cut. You need to ask yourself if you wish you were smart enough to get those grades, or whether you actually are.

Can you do GCSEs at college? Mine only offered maths and English to students who were doing it alongside A Levels or a BTEC.

Is it impossible to qualify in medicine from a starting point like yours? Probably not. Very little in life is completely impossible. But it would certainly be extremely challenging and demand a lot of sacrifices from not only you, but your family too. Stories like the ones mentioned upthread are newsworthy because they are so unusual. For every one person who succeeds there will be large numbers who don't that we don't hear about.
There are more non traditional paths into medicine now than in the past so you might have options other than the standard GCSE/A level route but there won't be an "easy" way. All access routes will be highly competitive and I would imagine they'll want to see evidence of a commitment to medicine and a very realistic idea of what it all entails. Besides your HCA experience have you any other work or voluntary experience in any medical fields? You probably need to start by researching all the possible access routes and figuring out what you'd need to do to get yourself to a point when you might be in a position to realistically apply to medical school.
Then bear in mind that in terms of medical training, University is the easy bit. Studying for professional exams whilst working full time is a whole new level of difficult, and most people doing it will be substantially younger than you and won't have the same kind of family responsibilities.
Realistically, even if you started on this path immediately and everything went smoothly you'd probably be into your mid 40s before you were eligible for a Consultant post, a few years less if you opted for GP, older if you opt to work less than fill time. That's a very big chunk of your life, and most of your children's formative years, and to be honest, it doesn't really get easier once you are a Consultant- it's just difficult in a different way.
Personally, I probably wouldn't attempt it. Medicine is indeed a rewarding career but also one that makes huge demands of you, even if you are coming from the ideal starting point. But with all the added complications you'd be facing, I wouldn't do it. There are lots of other less well known heathcare roles that are essential parts of the team and really make a difference to people's lives, but which are more compatible with family life, and probably more attainable in a realistic time frame from where you are now. I would broaden your search and look at different options. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned ODP - operating department practitioner? If you are interested in working in a surgical setting this could be an option for you. I know ODPs who have come from a really wide range of backgrounds and it's a vital and varied role. But that's just a suggestion, there are many other routes you could look into.

@MariaVT65 You realise that being a HV is also an 8 year slog?
2 years for GCSE, 2 years for A levels, 3 year degree in midwifery or paediatric nursing and a year at post graduate level for HV.

I admire your ambition OP. Why not make a start on an access to higher Ed course and see where it goes. You might really enjoy studying again, you might not. But if you don't try you won't know. I wish you all the best.

Yes, I was pretty sure HV needs a degree as well. I’m sure OP at least knows she would need a degree to study medicine so I suggested this as a slightly more realistic route :)

Absolutely. The years will pass anyway. There are so many options in patient care these days. Jobs you may never even have heard of.

OP, I get what your’re saying as I think adults can absolutely be more ‘academic’ than 16 year olds. I have certainly understood maths a bit better as an adult.

HOWEVER, I don’t think what posters are saying is unreasonale. To realistically get into medicine, you need to be capable of going from 2 GCSEs to several more GCSEs with top grades. Plus top A levels or similar.

I would look into doing your GCSEs again and see how you get on. It's always good to have GCSEs and that will just be a year or two of work, and then decide if it's worth committing to further study. Worst case scenario, you get some extra GCSEs!

A couple of years ago my DH had surgery and the surgeon (who looked like a teenager!) told us she had had a child when she was 19, was a single parent, and still managed to complete medical school and surgical residency. So with determination, many things are possible.

I don’t know if you have this in the UK, but in the US we have nurse practitioners. They are nurses who complete a masters degree in nursing, and then do many of the things that doctors do, with doctor oversight. It’s a different route to being “almost” a doctor but it doesn’t take as long and you can work as a nurse while completing the second degree. Still a tough road though especially as a mum of two. Good luck! I hope you can find your path.

Laughing at those who suggest nursing with 2 GCSEs! That's really quite insulting.

I think this is sensible advice. Almost any kind of upskilling that involves college or uni will require GCSEs, even apprenticeships will need them or you'd have to do the equivalent alongside.

I think anyone who is suggesting nursing is doing so under the assumption that the appropriate academic qualifications would be fulfilled first. It would potentially be quicker and easier than a medical degree.

My niece left school without many GCSEs and asked me if I thought she could do nursing and I said 100% yes, but she had to go and do all the necessary exams first and it took several years, but now she’s a nurse.

She has Ds in other GCSEs.

I know several people who didn’t do very well in GCSEs at all when they were at school but then went into nursing later on, actually!

Thank you everybody!

I agree with those saying to improve my grades, that is the plan I think! And just see where it takes me!

I've just found my GCSEs! They're not the best!

To even be a nurse you need scqf level 5 in maths and English, not sure what English equivalent is as I’m in Scotland