To think I could study medicine aged 48?

[Nooname01]

Just that really.

I've long wanted to be a doctor but thought I couldn't for various reasons.

I am academic enough (v high achiever, 1st class degree in a different discipline) and we could afford it financially.

Dc would be 16, 14, 12 and 8.

Would I just be too old on graduating though?

[baloosbaloos]

@nadimohan , this thread is 8 years old! 👀 Although I would be interested to know how the poster feels now, at 48, and whether she ever did retrain…?

[nadimohan]

Dont give a damn to people telling you that you cant do something your heart is set to do. Work hard, achieve and make them all wrong. whats the worst that can happen? you fail, but the journey would be fun and you wont live your life in regret that you could have tried😘

[Kundry]

It doesn't necessarily matter - there is the specialty doctor route and I know many happy specialty doctors but posts are less common doing this and pay is not comparable which given at age 55 you will have accrued about £40000 of debt in training, could be a substantial issue.

[throwingpebbles]

Cross post!

My son has a chronic illness and we get tons of support from specialist nurses and they are very knowledgable. We only see consultant once a year, it is the knowledge and expertise and skills of the specialist nurses that make a difference to our lives

[throwingpebbles]

Being dim here but does it matter if op never becomes consultant?
In my field (lawyer) there are plenty of lawyers who don't aspire to be a partner so I just assumed it would be the same?

Op or how about training to be a nurse as an alternative? My mum did this in her 40s and now is a highly respected specialist nurse and she qualified to prescribe medicines in her 50s. (She's easily academically bright enough to be a Dr)

[Nooname01]

Thanks again all for your thoughts and insight.

I think it's probably just mid-life crisis kind of thinking. Totally unrealistic and I need to accept I already made my major life choices!!

Now I've got the idea out of my system I can be more realistic.

Thanks for the offer of info on ODC (or is it P?!) training I will pm you.

I also think I know someone in a similar job so I'll talk to her.

I'll also look into nursing, I don't really fancy midwifery.

[mamadoc]

I often think that if I had my time over I wouldn't choose to be a Dr. Even though I love my job it is all consuming in a way that normal jobs don't seem to be. It has constrained my life choices a lot in a way I did not realise it would do when I was 18. It is definitely a career and a vocation not just a job

Good stuff- really interesting and exciting, mix of science and people skills, a window on people's lives and a privilege to be involved, doing good, making things better. Job security, good pay and pension, respected profession.

Bad stuff- long, antisocial hours, no choice of annual leave or shifts and no notice either, endless compulsory (expensive) exams for years, endless study for exams in free time, starting over every 6 months for 8 years before you get a permanent job, extortionate compulsory GMC and defence union fees, taking abuse from patients and relatives on the chin, patients dying, breaking bad news, never switching off, incompetent managers and 'service reconfiguration' (cuts)

I sometimes think there would have been easier ways to get the good bits. I think if I had my time over I might be a physio or an OT, a therapist or even a support worker.

[parallax80]

To be fair, I have so far done all my postgrad training within a 15 mile radius of where I live, but that's because I'm in London Deanery which is itself split into smaller areas and of course being in London has its own issues. (My specialty is struggling to recruit to training posts at registrar level as the cost of housing and childcare are so much higher here than in other parts of the country.)

[CrabbyTheCrabster]

I can only echo what others are saying... I think you've no clue (I'm not being nasty here) about just how intense, punishing, stressful, exhausting, all-consuming medical training would be. That's if you even got onto a course.

I studied midwifery and dropped out after two years. I had relevant experience, was academically able to do it, got onto a hugely competitive course at a very good uni/hospital. I had no fucking clue, really, how hard I would find it on my physical and mental health, and how it would impact on family life. My friends from the course who graduated and have been working for a few years... I have massive respect for them but there is no fucking way I could cope with the stress they are under working inthe NHS. Criminally understaffed and overstretched, penalised for the tiniest mistake (resulting from the former situation), watched like a hawk in a blame-heavy, litigious culture. Awful. I am a huge supporter of the NHS, but the conditions so many HCPs (including doctors) are working under are unsustainable.

Would you be interested in becoming a CFR? I did this for a while. It has it's upsides and downsides, but overall it is a very rewarding thing to do, and satisfied my medical/wanting to help people urges after leaving midwifery.

[SilverBirchWithout]

www.uea.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree/detail/mbbs-medicine#requirements

Take a look at the entry requirements for UEA, you would need at least 2 Science and 1 other A-level - all Grade A minimum with another subject at B Grade at AS level. They will also require you to take them at the same time and not staggered over several years. Your first degree, not being a Science degree will not be considered relevant.

If the questions around age, family impact and the intense training have not given you a big enough reality check, you need to accept that your existing qualifications are not sufficient and you will need to 3/4 A-Levels first.

[watchingthedetectives]

Has anyone who is a Dr on this thread said go for it? I don't sit on interview panels anymore but I would be reluctant to give a place to someone who wouldn't qualify until their mid 50's. It hard work emotionally and physically and a lot of consultants in their 50's (and the OP would be in her 60s) find the on call too much. It's going to get worse with a much more consultant led service and routine 7 day working. It's a harsh fact that someone at 18 is going to be better value to train than someone of 48, the competition is horrendous so unless your application is amazing you are also unlikely to get through.
It feels mean to dampen aspirations but I just don't think this is feasible.

[reallybadidea]

There are surgical technicians in the UK. Usually lower banding and less responsibility than ODPs.

[VivaLeBeaver]

If you did nursing after you qualify you could do further study and become an advanced practitioner. My hospital are using these more and more and are paying nurses to do the study.

They have them in paeds and also a&e and I think ICU. That's just areas that I know of. These nurses work at the level of a junior Dr and can do pretty much everything that a Dr can. Treatment plans, prescribing, diagnosing. They're paid at band 8b so nearly 50k a year I think.

I saw one when I took did to a&e recently, never saw a Dr. I also work alongside the paed advanced nurses and they're very,very good.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Yes, an ODP

[lljkk]

one of my cousins just qualified as a surgical technician. As well as I understand, it's a like a technician helper during surgical operations, she keeps track of equipment and logistics of equipment. Not about the bodies, yet She's right in there helping out. As soon as she started the course she helped with a sex change & a C-section, loves it apparently. Took less than 2 yrs to qualify IIRC.

is there an equivalent in NHS?

[TTWK]

Please do it. I would if I could (would probably have to re-do my GCSE'S though!).DO IT! Good luck! Life is short.

It's because life is short that it's a rubbish idea. If the OP was going to live to be 150 and retire at 125, I'd say do it too.

[reallybadidea]

Hi OP, I'm an ODP. If you'd like to chat about the training (only 2 years at the moment) then feel free to PM me. I also know a number of people who recently trained as odps who I could put you in touch with if that would help.

[lljkk]

UEA also has nursing, midwifery, pharmacy school, emergency medicine, bio-med degree. I suspect most the placements while on course stay in county.

[lljkk]

I find the mechanics of the human body amazing and fascinating.

Physiotherapist, occupational therapy.

UEA open day is soon, not that I know what it takes to definitely talk to anyone in Allied Health Sciences or Med school up there.

[FraggleHair]

I think you'd be mad to do it for all the compelling reasons given by doctors on the thread. If you were a single person I would give a cautious 'why not' but you're not single and I think the upheaval to your family would be too great.

Your first given reason for wanting to be a doctor is 'I like the hospital environment. I like jobs that help people. I find the mechanics of the human body amazing and fascinating.'. There are many careers aside from doctor that this could relate to. As others have suggested you should look into a related field such as radiography or physician assistant.

[eyebags63]

Radiotherapy radiographers (the kind where they do the treatments, not the diagnostic x-ray stuff) could be an interesting career.

[toffeeboffin]

Please do it.

I would if I could (would probably have to re-do my GCSE'S though!).

DO IT!

Good luck! Life is short.

[eyebags63]

I always wanted to be a doctor, but for various reasons I was never able to get the A-levels.

I thought about going back in my late 20s and I thought I was too old then! It is a 5 years degree + 5 to 7 years specialist training. Depending on what subject your first degree is in you may even need to go back to college and do A-levels or a foundation year just to get into university.

I'm sorry but I think at 48 you are too old, you would be pushing 60 before you fully qualified.

They are talking about bringing in physician assistants to support doctors soon, perhaps you could consider that or an alternative role in medical care?

[Kundry]

If you are in Norwich, and family will be staying in Norwich, the Eastern Deanery covers a massive geographical area. Given you can do all your traning jobs at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, your commutes will be a lot more than 15 miles, just because Norwich is so isolated. And of course you will have to try to get a job in the Eastern Deanery for starters.

Looking at AHP roles seems much more sensible - as is speaking to people in those roles, not just what the university tells you