41 man told to go into nursing because...

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he was too old for medical school! A man in my precalculus class heard this from someone on the admissions committee at a nearby medical school. He was told they would never admit someone his age. Mind you, he is only two years away from his BS, which means he would be out of medical school before he was even 50. I don't even know if this is legal.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Seems like age discrimination. But we can't give out legal advice.

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I'm not looking for legal advice...

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Good.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

you are never too old.....for anything. go for it ! :heartbeat

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Since when is 41 old. Its like the new 30.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Physicians have always more actively controlled the people they have allowed into their profession -- with a set, national standardized admission exam (MCAT), discouraging women, insisting on the highest of GPA's in specified courses, etc. They openly restrict admission to people they feel will not graduate or who will "waste the slot in the program" who they feel will not have a long-term career in medicine.

It doesn't surprise me at all that a prospective student was told this.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I don't remember where I heard this, but I know I've heard of some sort of "age limit" when applying to med schools. I'll have to look it up.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Surgical ICU, Medical ICU.

I dont really see anything wrong with it either way. It may be age discrimination but really, I understand. That may not be OLD old but you dont have as much energy and vigor as you do in your 20s. MD is a greuling profession that requires a lot of training and he will be 50ish when he becomes an attending!!! How many viable years does he really have in the profession then? Also I just dont see why a 41yo man wants to be an MD. If he can do it though, heck, more power to him. But I can see why people would think hes not a good fit for the medicine profession.

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The problem for your friend is not that he is necessarily unfit for med school. It's that there is no shortage of candidates with near perfect gpa's and high mcat scores. So all things being equal they will naturally take the younger person.

If however he is absolutely intent on trying for med school, you can recommend he reasearch D.O. schools and Caribbean schools as an alternative to allopathic schools in the US.

He can also research SMP programs, although they do usually run two to three years.

He can also look into gaining experience in research(if he does not already have it).

I hope this information helps.

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20/20 ran a special several years ago of people in their early 40's that were starting medical school.

At our hospital, we have an OB-GYN that used to be an attorney for 5 years before he decided to go to medical school.

We have another phyisican, a pediatrician, who is in his 60's, of all things, used to be a NURSE (RN) before he said, "Let's do it!" and went to medical school.

I also have a friend who has an MSN and ran a substance abuse clinic for 10 years before she decided to go to medical school to be a physician.

Personally, if was good at Chemistry, I would consider that or Pharmacy school...but I am really, really bad at Chemistry and won't have to take any more with the schools I have found.

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How many years does it take to pay off the massive student loans if a person does not start earning until their late 40's or later?

My brother said his Caribbean med school tuition was $50K a year.

Of course schools should not discriminate about age.

I would hope a person considering med school would have a sound financial plan whatever their age.

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