While many aspire from a young age to become doctors, others find their true calling in medicine only after pursuing other paths.
“Older students enter medical school with a wealth of experience that can be advantageous during their training and beyond,” says Sylvie Inkindi, a 42-year-old certified public health microbiologist and first-year medical student at Burnett School of Medicine at Texas Christian University.
The average age of a student starting medical school is 24, according to the American Medical Association, but med students come in all ages. Recent ages of students entering medical school have ranged from the late teens to the mid 50s, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
“There is no official age limit for admission to medical school, so technically, one could say it’s never too late to apply,” says Dr. Christian Cable, associate dean of admissions and students at Baylor College of Medicine–Temple in Texas.
Here are some tips on applying to med school later in life.
Let Age Be Your Edge
With age comes experience, which can set older applicants apart, experts say.
“The strengths that older applicants bring to the table include maturity, responsibility and an increased sense of discipline, which admissions committees appreciate,” Cable says. “We look at an application from a 35-year-old schoolteacher or nurse much differently than that of a 22-year-old traditional applicant.”
[Read: Are You Too Old for Medical School?]
Younger applicants often have to look for and sometimes manufacture life experiences, he says.
That’s generally not the case for older applicants, he adds. “Play to your strengths. It’s important to connect your unique background to your decision to pursue medicine.”
Inkindi says age and experience can be pluses for older applicants and that her med school application reflected a strong sense of purpose, direction and commitment.
“As a public health professional, I worked during pandemics and contributed to various outbreak investigations,” she says. “This experience showcased my ability to navigate challenging situations and showed that I can bring a distinctive set of skills and viewpoints.”
Evaluate Whether Medical School Would Be Worthwhile
Students are in med school typically for four years followed by a specialized residency, so experts suggest reflecting on whether you’re prepared for the long commitment to a medical career.
“Medical school is the beginning of a seven-year journey to practice,” Cable says. “Four years, plus a three-year residency to practice general internal medicine, general pediatrics, family medicine or emergency medicine.”
After medical school, additional specialty training can take typically three to seven years to complete. So it’s important to consider whether you have “enough working life remaining to justify the investment in training and to provide a reasonable duration of service to the patients you intend to serve,” Cable says.
[READ: How to Maximize a Gap Year Before Medical School]
Dr. Oliver Schirokauer was a tenured math professor at Oberlin College in Ohio when he quit his job to begin medical school at Case Western Reserve University at the age of 47.
He decided to pursue medical school after several family members were diagnosed with cancer.
He realized how difficult it can be to navigate illness even with medical support, and how much they relied on friends and family in health care to make sense of medical tests, reports and complicated decisions.
“My primary goal was to be in a position to provide to patients adjusting to major illness support focused on communication, information processing and decision-making,” Schirokauer says.
He’s now director of Medical Facilitation, a program that meets those goals, at MetroHealth System in Ohio, Cuyahoga County’s safety-net hospital. He’s also a faculty member teaching Case Western medical students.
Balance Life and School as a Nontraditional Student
Medical school cost is also important to consider. It’s not uncommon to leave medical school with $200,000 or more in student loan debt, according to the AAMC.
Inkindi says she knew that going to medical school as an older student would require significant sacrifices.
“I left a stable, well-paying job to pursue my dream,” Inkindi says. “It is a sacrifice I am willing to make because I know there is so much more I can accomplish as a doctor.”
When deciding to apply to medical school, she started building her savings to avoid worrying about finances while in school.
“Anyone considering applying should carefully weigh the loss of income and the time required to complete medical training,” she says.
A hidden cost to keep in mind is that medical school is a full-time job, Cable says.
“The volume of material and clinical responsibilities makes even part-time work unusual,” he says. “However, a nontraditional student is more likely to have a partner who can work to support them both in the effort.”
[READ: How to Showcase Diversity in a Med School Essay.]
Manage Time to Apply to Medical School
Applicants need to study for and take the MCAT, and retake or complete prerequisite courses if too much time has passed since college, experts say. At Baylor College of Medicine, for example, prerequisite courses must be completed within 10 years of applying to medical school, Cable says.
“The MCAT is content-driven and vast,” he says. “Most nontraditional students will need to study a year to post a competitive score. It is worth looking into free or commercial preparation materials.”
While Schirokauer says he showed evidence of success in recent coursework, he thinks doing well on the MCAT was vital “because a high score on this test would be good evidence that I could do the work. I studied a lot for that test.”
Applicants should also expect the application and interview process to take a year, since medical schools usually enroll only one class each year starting in July, Cable says.
“You can continue to work as interviews are conducted by Zoom with optional open houses that do not affect the admissions decision,” he says.
For Inkindi, it was important to craft a strong application rather than rush the application process. It took her about three years to put together an application that made her feel confident, and she credits a strong support network for keeping her motivated and providing guidance.
“Finding great mentors who are knowledgeable about the medical school application process will make the experience much smoother,” she says.
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Tips for Becoming a Doctor Later in Life originally appeared on usnews.com
