Would you train to be a doctor at 31?

[boredwantachange]

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.

Not crazy, My mum trained to be a nurse at 36 shes now almost 50 and is at the toip of her nursing ladder and opportunities are coming her way to do more and she loves it!

Nursing is entirely different in that you are trained in a few very local hospitals and may even be the same one throughout, House jobs will be in different hospitals often in different cities within your rotation area.. thats the difficulty, before we had children we moved home every 6 months to a year mostly in the east, great if you dont like somewhere, then reg jobs we moved from scotland to the south of england then consultant up north and back down south now! Its tough!But family can stay put and you can do the commuting I know a LOT of families who do that and manage and in 5 years your kids will be a lot bigger!

I went back for an MPhil then PhD at 39 - I think committed mature students do very well. But I would be very concerned about what medical degree was leading to - as others have said - it's a long time to study if you don't end up with the right kind of career at the end. So perhaps you need to look at a range of options there.

Oh and - a postdoc IS a job - not further study....

Sorry - not read all the thread, but just to say that T&O is very competitive once you get past medical school and the first couple of years (although you'll be aware it's all changing year by year at the moment...). You're much more likely to get a post in geriatric medicine/palliative care/renal medicine - maybe not as 'attractive' but keep an eye on the competition ratios on the MMC website (www.mmc.nhs.uk) for an idea of what to go for. Good luck!!

What did you decide to do, bored?