Anyone have experience, or know of anyone, doing a medicine degree as a mature student? Friend of mine is looking to retrain – it’s a bit of a speculative idea at this stage but I thought I’d throw it up here to ask the STW docs.

First off, is this even possible? Do they take students 35 plus? I used to tortureteach med students organic chemistry but it was a while back and I can’t remember if there were any older students.

Second, what do docs think of the idea of taking on a med degree in your late 30s? It sounds a long long haul.
From my mate’s POV she’s an academic high flyer (PhD pharmacologist, was a successful scientist in pharma before it all went south). She’d also be ok financially to do it AFAIK, but she does have two kids.
I think it sounds like something she could do but I have no idea what the nitty gritty of studying medicine is all about. Doable or pipedream?

looked at doing this a few years ago. Some places run a 4 year grad course however was still really hard to get in. wanted to see loads of voluenteer type work. A number use the GAMSAT tests

I’ve met people older doing this. And hopefully someone like that will be along.

One question to ask. What is her goal? Even with a truncated course she is going to be studying/ working for 9-10 years before she has any real career autonomy. But life as a junior Dr is hugely better than when I did it. If she is doing it for curiosity and fun that’s great. Education is never a loss. And despite all the whinges I hear from colleagues it can be a great job.

Good luck to her

one of mrs TTS mates is a pharmacist and is retraining at 30 at the mo. just finished 1st year. Advantage is he has obviously is he has a well paid job they can do during holidays weekends evenings etc.

Doable.

Even 30 years ago there were mature students in Medical Schools. In my year there were 8 of them as opposed to 142 of us and the number of applicants was roughly 1500 in each category so getting a place was several orders of magnitude harder.

Things have got more sensible in the intervening years and now 10-15% of entrants are graduates with different schools having different entrance requirements see here. They cannot discriminate on age but may take likely length of training etc. into consideration.

In addition to entry for the standard 5 or 6 year courses there are also a fair number of Schools who will do 4 year accelerated courses for graduates. Listed here.

Life has got a little easier over the years for junior doctors as well. 132 hour weeks were not really compatible with family life and I remember a converted lawyer I worked with suffering as a result. Post EWTD the limit is 48hrs and its shift work so that makes it more sensible as well. There are also part time further training opportunities post medical school but as you have to do the same training time then taking 10 years to finish your specialist training when the rest of your peers do it in 5 isn’t necessarily an advantage.

Whether you are a graduate or an undergraduate at entry the important thing is that if you really want to become a doctor then you will. The people who don’t make it are the ones who aren’t prepared to put the effort in, either because they decide it’s not worth it or because they think they are too clever to need to.

In the end it has to be an individual decision for her and her family as to how much she wants it and, if the opportunity is there, then whether it is worth the cost.

Thanks for the detailed replies – pretty encouraging really, thought it might be no **** way.
She’s a scientist at heart I think, so not someone who has that burning desire to be a medic for its own sake. It’s more a way back into frontline research, but from the clinical direction. So long term (and it sounds long term), she’d probably be looking at the interface of medicine and biomed research.

She’s a scientist at heart I think, so not someone who has that burning desire to be a medic for its own sake. It’s more a way back into frontline research, but from the clinical direction. So long term (and it sounds long term), she’d probably be looking at the interface of medicine and biomed research.

I do remember one of the graduate students I trained with saying his reason for studying medicine was that as a researcher he had and would get paid a pittance but had noticed that his medically qualified colleagues got paid a bigger pittance than he did.

Mrs FD graduated as a mature student 4 years ago from the full 5 year medical degree having previously done a PHD and previous degree. She enjoyed the course, although medical exams are pretty damn hard compared to other degrees and the amount of information you have to retain is way beyond what I could.

Placements within the degree period can be any where within a huge area so you tend to need transport and be prepaird to commute for 1hr + each way and work days and nights.

I can only commment on Mrs FD experiences from a surgical trainee perspective as this is what she has always wanted to do..

48 hour week is rubbish. Mrs FD since graduating as routinely worked 60 hrs + and thats the norm (100 hours + not unusual). Shifts patterns vary all the time ie not one week on nights, one days etc.

Jobs are hard to come by, well at least one you want. You have to be prepared to change regions/area of the country (as happened to us) and you have little or no say where it is.

Foundation 2 year training is hard (just gettng up to speed) rotations last 4 months, so you can only plan your life 4 months in advance, and in reality not that well paid for the hours you put in. + if you want to get on in your specialist area you have to spend more than £1k per year on courses (out of your own pocket)

After doing your foundation training the job lottery starts again and you have to re apply for jobs ranking them in preference. But again you dont decide, the powers that be decide so you could have to relocate again.

If you are very very lucky you can get an 8 year training number (ie 8 year contract) most just get a 1 year contract and then have to reapply the following year. Mrs FD was lucky enough to get an 8 year training post so this means she is in one region now for 8 years, which is great, but she can still be moved hospitals every year, and the regions are that big that she could end up with a 2hr + each way commute.

10/12 hr days are the norm. If you have kids this makes if VERY difficult if you have to arrange childcare too, you cant just leave at 5:30 if you have a sick patient (although I imagine some of the less committed Dr’s do)

At 35 Mrs FD admits she finds it hard, and wishes she had started younger as the hours, workload etc etc would be easier in your 20’s than 30’s. However she also says that her maturity helps her do the job well, which some times is lacking in younger Dr’s.

My perspective has husband and father. Its hard as I dont see that much of Mrs FD. We often have to swap our son over as I come back from work and she goes out. It feels like she works lots of weekends, but the reality is probably 1 in 4. Without grandparents around we would really struggle. You have to work at spending quality time together as Mrs FD can often be shattered when she is not at work.

I know this all sounds very negative, but it is a hard career, however Mrs FD finds it very rewarding, helping other people (although they are not always that grateful). No 2 days are the same, and she never complains of a boring day, and she wouldnt change her job for anything..

If you want to know any more let me know.

I’ve just graduated from a four year course. 35 would be the upper age range of the year group but certainly not too old. I’m working with a guy who is 41 in his second year of medicine at the mo. its hard work mind but good fun!