Too old to train to be Doctor?

[Doobydoo]

Just wondered what thoughts people may have.
DP is 47 he has an MSC in medical Physics and Maths[think that's right!].
Is 47 too old to retrain to be a doctor?
Thank you in advance

Argh Knackered not knickers, laundry is on my mind, just got back from holiday

I think he could! I know people who are in their 40s on the graduate medical courses.

It takes 9 years to make it to GP - 4 years on a GEP course, 2 years in foundation training & 3 years specialisation.

Assuming he gets a place (& it sounds like academically he would be fine) the NHS bursary system could not discriminate on the grounds of age! Currently on a graduate course there are no fees for years 2, 3 & 4, & there are bursaries on top of the ordinary student loans you can take out.

I tutor on a graduate entry medical course and we usually have 2-3 people in their early 40s with each cohort, but entry is even more competitive than at school leaver age. Even if he passes the initial entrance exam he'd need to get through our tough interview process. His age won't be a hindrance in theory as our course has no age limit, but in practice he just may not make the cut for all sorts of reasons related/unrelated to his age.

One of my lovely ex-students who was in his 40s when he started the course has just turned 50 and is in the 3rd year of urology run-through training. He'll be 54 when he gets his CCT and he plans to work until he's 70!

Why would you fast track GPs? As a GP you need a much broader grasp of medicine than you do as say a psychiatrist or urologist. It's one of the few branches of medicine where all the stuff you learn at medical school is useful. Training to be a GP takes 8 years minimum if doing 4 year course.
He would be doing alot of shift work as a junior doctor in his 50s.

Hi - the medical training would be minimum 4 years at medical school if you get a fasttrack. Given the time of year you would have to apply to start 2013 as you have missed 2012 entry. Then he would do f1 and f2 years - poorly paid and unsociable hours. After f2 you can apply for a specialty - the shortest training would be gp which currently is 3 years after f2. However they extending this to 5 years likely from next year. So if he is 54 now then he would be 56 when start med school and 60 when he left and 62 when finished f2. I don't think he would be considered at this age for a training programme like gp. So think it is abit impractical to train at this stage.

Sorry just seen he is 47. Therefore if stars at 49 he would be gp at 58 or 60 if the likely added on two years for more gp training goes ahead

Hi. I have just joined and seen your message. What has happened? I just wish to say that part of life is the journey, who you meet what you do etc? If you can afford to do the studies or get sponsorshop then do it. I am in the law field and was in contact with a lawyer who is 86, and he is still writing, and doing cases in court and arbitration. There is so much you can do - private practice, go to other countries in need of doctors etc. We are all living so much longer. So if you finally qualify at 58-60, you will have 15-17 years of practice left - that is the current retirement age for judges in the UK! I know a judge who upon retirement decided to then go and do a degree in Oxford. Overall, find out inspirational stories, people who have done what you have done, or people who are simply working in a field well past 70 for the necessary inspiration. In the time that you are training, you simply do not know what opportunities will turn up, or what future organisation you can also set up with your expertise. Do drop a line and let us know.

nlp1

There are so many other exciting things to do in your short life. Medicine is getting more and more complicated and doctors are trying to retire as early possible because workloads getting harder and harder to manage and they getting burnt out!!!

true.

I wonder if they will ever introduce fast track qualification for those that would like to be a GP.

I realise this is a zombie thread but just had to say, do you have any idea how offensive that is to GPs? We have to have an extremely broad knowledge, filter the real pathology from the rest and it is a positively made career choice for most GPs. 50 years ago it may have been the case that if you failed at your chosen career you became a GP, not any more.

I wish OP would come back and tell us what her DH decided to do.

I would love to know what happened with op too.

GP training may be only 3 years post foundation years, but a lot of GP's have done other stuff before committing to gp training, and are the better for it. A lifetime of living, even if not in medicine, will surely count towards that.

I hope OP's DP went to medical school
you're going to be that age one day anyway.. 4 years is nothing, the qualifying is hell, but it's one of those things you don't just toy with in your head. If you have seriously considered it, I think it's hard to let it drop really irrespective of career path, degree choice etc - better get rid of the niggling doubt than always wonder what if.

I did it late, although I wasn't quite as old as 47, precisely because of a niggling doubt and not wanting to keep thinking what if.
My CCT is getting towards being in sight now, but in all honesty I wish I hadn't done it. My quality of life is terrible in comparison to what it was before.

Feel free to contact me , although the UK and USA systems don't have all that much in common!

Hmm. This is true, I wish I hadn't done it either
BUT
the nagging doubt wouldn't have gone away, at my desk - I had to know. I am sticking with my choice, and I don't regret making it but I do know I've made things very difficult and how much more straightforward my life would have been if I had stayed in my old job, how much more of my son's life I'd have been party to, how much less entirely stressful and chaotic and pressured things would have been (still stress, but a much different scale!) But I do think everyone should do it if they've never got rid of the thought. at least you know for sure! [bad advice klaxon]

[USMLE grimace] good luck NappyValleyMum!

I console myself with thoughts of being useful - who'd you rather have on a plane in an emergency? exactly. life skills. maybe everyone should go to medical school, then branch out into normal society afterwards.... um

also huge well done Badger

Add message | Report | Message poster CharlotteBronteSaurus Sun 10-Apr-11 09:43:19
he wouldn't really be able to become a consultant or a GP. but if he feels up to the shifts and is happy bobbing along as a staff grade in an unpopular speciality then he might be able to convince a medical school to take him on. is there a particular reason he hasn't looked to train earlier?

Just wanted to say you can be a gap a lot quicker than a staff grade. Go = 2 yr foundation and 3 go trainee years.

Oh and medical schools don't discriminate on age. 55 is the max for funding. But you will still have to pay your fees - due to second degree.

Yes, I've just popped back because I forgot to say good luck to NappyValley, we need a fingers crossed smiley!

I've had a plane emergency once DrLego. It's an interesting moment when the stewardess says "the captain wants to know if he needs to divert?" No pressure there then

He could become a gp in ten, maybe nine years. I don't think it is too old. I am an f1 who is a mature student.

You "start" your career after your degree, which can be 4 years as a graduate. F1 training still means you are a fully qualified paid dr, that is the "2 years training" a pp refers to. Drs train throughout their careers, as (well) paid qualified doctors.