Career change

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Need to change careers at 50 years of age. Anyone have any advice on how to enter the medical field? Thank you!

Tony

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

What part of the medical field do you want to enter? I'd suggest meeting with your local college's career counselor then perhaps take a medical terminology course and other basic prerequisite courses.

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I'd recommend determining if you want to stay in your current geographical area - if so find a job that is in demand and has training in your areas of interest.... then job shadow / observe while taking common pre-requisite courses.

If you are willing to move to an area supporting a job not in demand or with local training.. then i'd recommend doing some general searches on careers... it really depends if you are looking at a 2 year associates.. or perhaps you have a BS in biology... or whatever situation you might be in and past that you might have...

....we are partial to nursing here ;)

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

We would need more information other than your age. What were you doing? Did you go to college to get into that profession? How long ago did you go to college? and what area of healthcare are you looking to get into.

Age and/or sex makes no difference when applying to nursing school

Best of luck to you :nurse:

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there are many areas in medicine with varying in the length of time that training is required

a cna [nurses aide] you can be certified in two to three months

an lpn course is typically 12 to 18 months

rn is 2 to 4 years

for the nurses that is the ideal but probably more than half take longer than that because of class size etc

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Step-Down, and ER.

Tony, What qualifications do you have? Degrees? In what field? What sort of work have you been doing your entire life?

Its important to know all those factors in order to decide what part of medical field will be best for you. Be more specific and we might be able to suggest you a few options that might just work out for you.

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Specializes in ICU.

To be an RN, you have to finish an Associates of Nursing program at a junior college and then take the NCLEX exam before you get a license to practice from your state. The ADN took me 2 1/2 years to complete even though I had a B.Sc. in Liberal arts with all requirements fulfilled except A&P 1 and 2 and Microbiology. That's why it took 2 1/2 years instead of 2. Nursing school was the hardest experience I ever went through--that is until I actually became a nurse and started working. Then the first year of nursing became the hardest experience.

During nursing school, I didn't work. So, while it only cost about 5,000 for the program, the lost wages were huge. My wife supported us. She retired from the AF one month before I finished and got my license, so it all worked out, and we don't have any kids.

Therefore, I don't recommend nursing for you. I recommend nursing assistant or x-ray tech. Unless, that is, like me, you want to live as close to the Gospel in your work as you can. Then it becomes a religious obsession and nothing else matters. Somehow, I don't get that vibe from you.

Good luck.

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... of course based on your experience you might have a bachelors and some pre-reqs done.... there are accelerated BSNs which you can complete in 11 months, there are accelerated ADN programs you can complete in 10 months.. there are direct entry nursing masters degrees which could enable you to pass the NCLEX and then recieve training to be a nurse practicioner in 24 months.

-really depenedent on your situation, plenty of options- ;)

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