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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Would you train to be a doctor at 31?

55 replies

boredwantachange · 10/12/2007 16:13

i did a degree in medical engineering, then a PhD then post doc'ed for a bit (had 2 children) and now with the youngest approaching school age i am thinking, i don't want to continue in academia but love the medical aspect of my job, so was thinking about going and doing medicine.

I have a 2.1 and a PhD both in sceince subjects, so i think that should be ok.

but i am i crazy to embark on a 5 year degree and then the extras years of training? i quite fancy orthopaedics.

Finacially it would be a struggle but DH has a good wage and we could re-do the mortgage, but i could get a student loan ect.

OP posts:

scorpio1 · 10/12/2007 16:15

I would, and i still may at some point in the future.

I'm currently training to be a Social Worker.

Not crazy.

Original poster

boredwantachange · 10/12/2007 16:18

thanks

i guess the biggest hurdle is getting in!

wouldn't start until Sept 09, when the littlest starts school.

OP posts:

BellaBear · 10/12/2007 16:19

My sister started a medical cpourse at 27 - and says he is not the oldest by far. One student is in his forties.

moondog · 10/12/2007 16:19

Why not?
Most peopel wouldn't think twice about trainig as a teacher at this stage ( which takes 4 years). Sounds like the academic discipline bit is well and truly in place.
Best of luck!

Kathyate6mincepies · 10/12/2007 16:22

An ex-boyfriend of mine this this - he went from being a philosophy postdoc to a medical student, which was an even bigger leap.
I think he found it quite tough (and annoying in many ways) to be talked down to like an undergraduate when you are doing the training, but if it's what you really want to do and you can afford it, why not? You will at least be able to pull in a decent wage when you're done.

MerryAnnSinglemas · 10/12/2007 16:22

I would do it if I were you ! sounds great - I used to go out with a med student so know how tough it is, but it'd be a fantastic experience and a really interesting career

newy · 10/12/2007 16:23

I went back to college and trained to be a nurse at the age of 28. Although 3 years seemed a long time, I figured that the 3 years would still pass whether I trained or not and this meant I would have achieved my goal rather than just thinking about it still. I think there is a medicine degree you can do in maybe 3 or 4 years if you already have an appropriate degree.

I'd say go for it, you don't want to forever be wishing you had. Good luck!

Original poster

boredwantachange · 10/12/2007 16:25

wow - thanks was expecting a few your crazy's!

just wished i'd switched as an undergraduate when i had the chance!

OP posts:

Blandmum · 10/12/2007 16:26

Not sure what the attitude of med schools is like for mature students.

I do know that for the kids in the sixth form they have to show that they have done relevant voluntary work for a sustained period of time, before they apply. My last student who got in, spent a year doing voluntary work in a local care home, for example.

Not sure if they would expect the same from a mature student with other commitments. Might be worth while exploring this in advance.

Standard offer for the kids is 3 A grades

JingleBelgoHoHoHo · 10/12/2007 16:28

boredwantachange - go for it! You'll regret it if you don't.

BellaBear · 10/12/2007 16:31

marianbishop is right - all the courses my sister looked at required some voluntary work in the health sector, which took a while to set up. She volunteered on a ward in a hospital for over six months.
You also have to look into all the different application tests, which you need to take as well as having great a-level grades. Different courses accept different tests and some are take very early in the academic year. I think my sister took the GAMSAT? But there are others for different universities.
I think more and more professions are opening up more to mature students, which is great.

BellaBear · 10/12/2007 16:32

*martianbishop

suedonim · 10/12/2007 16:38

My ds2 got a First in Psychology and was subsequently offered a place in 3rd Yr Medicine, even though he hadn't actually applied to med school, so maybe you'd be accelerated as well, with your qualifications? (Ds went on to do a psychology PhD and is now a 'proper' Doctor ) There are also med schools in the UK which specialise in post-grad students. If it's what you want to do, go for it.

tortoiseSHELL · 10/12/2007 16:44

I don't think you're crazy at all!!! Ime there is no rhyme or reason as to who they give offers to - when I applied for uni, 4 of us applied( at the time I wanted to do medicine), but we had 8 choices, so I put 5 down for medicine, 3 for music, I got 4 offers for medicine, 3 for music, by which time i had changed my mind and did music . But of my friends, they all got 1 offer, and they all had the 'relevant experience' and were school prefects etc (which I wasn't!!!). All I could put it down to was that they liked the fact that I could argue the toss as to why I had put music down as well, and wasn't afraid to speak my mind!!!

So I guess as a mature student you need to be able to justify why you are a good investment!!!

tortoiseSHELL · 10/12/2007 16:45

Having said that the NHS is in a rubbish state for doctors, and my family who are all doctors said they wouldn't advise anyone to go into it because of the total cock up in jobs - i.e. not enough jobs to go around, and the bottleneck that exists at senior levels.

soiph · 10/12/2007 16:47

the undergraduate training is tough, but you must realise that you don't finish at the end of the 5 years. To become an orthopaedic surgeon will require years of tough nights and weekends in addition to studying for postgraduate qualifications. From starting medical school to becoming a consultant orthopaedic surgeon will require at least 11 years of extremely hard work. Are you prepared for that? Are you prepared to put all your time into that, in the expence of time with your children?

tissy · 10/12/2007 16:56

bored, mature students are usually welcomed, but I would aim for one of the more "modern courses", rather than Oxford/ Cambridge. I'm presuming you'll need a course as close as possible to your home, so start investigating NOW. Find out requirements and expectations and about the design of the course. TBH, at your age and with your background, I wouldn't bother with a course that does an intercalated degree, and at some places they're compulsory, so you need to be sure where you're aiming for. Your application will be looked on more favourably if you have direct "hands-on" experience of patient care, so if you can, volunteer in a nursing home, or something like that, and do it now, and regularly. That sort of commitment will impress the aplications people. Your academic qualifications are not in dispute, but you will be up against MANY 17/18 year olds with 5 A levels, who've been volunteering during their 6th form years.

Assuming you get in, you'll probably find the course a breeze, BUT as things stand at the moment, you would struggle to get into surgery, especially orthopaedics. Things may improve, but medical training has had a major overhaul recently and it's not a happy place to be (I mean postgrad training). If you straight from graduation into Foundation years 1 and 2, you then need to get a place on a surgical training scheme, which is at least 6 years long, depending on specialty chosen, and you HAVE to make your decision then, during FY2, before you've even worked in the specialty .

Another thing to consider is that medical training is (relatively) family-friendly, but work on the wards and in surgery isn't. Yes, they have an obligation to train you flexibly, if that's what you want, but in practice, the system doesn't work very well, and you will have to plan your family life with military precision- you cannot leave a sick patient in the throes of a heart attack because you need to pick your child up from school, and you won't necessarily be able to get your leave during school holidays, and you will probably work through Christmas....you need at least two fall-back arrangements for each day that you are working!

Having said that....if you want to do it, go for it!

mumof3teens · 10/12/2007 17:11

BWC - don't think you are crazy at all. My DS1 is a 3rd yr medic at Manc and he said there are lots of "mature" med students. As I think someone mentioned earlier, there is the Grad entry route, which is 4 years rather than 5. Go for it!

pooter · 10/12/2007 17:20

Hi Bored. I have a bee in my bonnet about this too. Having been a biology teacher and spent lots of time helping students get into med school - i now think i want to do it myself. I researched it, and although i'd love to do it - my ds is only 10mo and i want more, plus im already 33 i think ive missed the boat. Im no help to you at all - but i certainly dont think you are mad! One of my students said that theres a 50yr old woman in her med year, so maybe there's hope for us all! Good luck and tell me what you decide!!

Ubergeekian · 10/12/2007 18:50

Go for it. From conversations with people who teach medical courses, they really like mature students. I think they get thoroughly fed up of the daddy's-a-doctor-so-I'm-going-to-be-a-doctor clones in nice tweed jackets ... many/most of whom hate it and never practice.

There are moves afoot to make medical training wholly postgraduate in the UK, as it is in the US. Ie, do a first degree, then go on to med school.

I'd strongly suggest contacting a few medical schools which offer the graduate accelerated route and ask if you can meet someone and discuss things. Ask them what they are looking for by way of previous experience, voluntary work and so on. And remember, different institutions may have very different approaches, so get a range of views.

deenymcqueenygoreandguts · 10/12/2007 18:53

Oh jeez its great and all that but dear God the hours are just awful and you would be expected to put them in.

How would this impact on your family life?

Sorry to be a pain but honstly, the hours are truly awful.

Original poster

boredwantachange · 10/12/2007 19:03

thanks for all the opinions

i'm going to discuss it with Dh and have a long hard think.

OP posts:

Tamum · 10/12/2007 19:10

I am one of the people Ubergeek describes and it's true, the mature students are often very rewarding to teach. I had one last year who had done Philosophy (ohmigod perhaps it was Kathy's ex) and he found it very, very tough but is doing very well. Quite a few of them have said that they feel rather socially isolated though, because they are obviously surrounded by drunken 17 year olds, but that will depend on the numbers of mature students on a given course. The only thing I would suggest is trying to watch some of the BBC4(?) series that's on at the moment catching up with the doctors they've been filming since the mid-eighties. Last week's was particularly depressing, but a lot of them don't seem that happy.

deenymcqueenygoreandguts · 10/12/2007 19:13

yes tamum, i watched this when they first filmed it in the eighties and im enjoying it now.
Very depressing and a big way of putting any one off wanting to become a Doctor.

Elfsmummy · 10/12/2007 19:14

I discussed this with someone else quite recently. I did medicine as an undergraduate although have left medicine for now whilst my family are small.

Orthopaedics is a hard-core career choice for a woman, never mind a woman with children.

I'll run a search and post a link as I don't have much time tonight.

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