8/18/2023 0 Comments Dr tom vu![]() So what?”īy the time Pickard met Joshua Sonkiss, MD - a forensic psychiatrist and addiction medicine physician - she had already earned a degree in journalism, left behind a career in telecommunications because the field had become less innovative, and given birth at 30. “I thought about doctors as body mechanics,” she recalls. University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucsonįor most of her life, Kirsten Pickard had little interest in becoming a doctor. Several older students shared their stories with AAMCNews, including their tough times, strengths earned by age, and motivation to serve patients. “Things that might worry a 20-something just kind of roll off them,” Ganchorre says. Once older students adjust, admissions officers say, they often emerge as leaders in their classes and excel in areas where younger students stumble. ![]() Some are informal virtual networks that students tap into as needed, while others are official clubs, such as the Student Spouses Club at Uniformed Services University, and a group for nontraditional students at Michigan called Winding Roads - so named, Gay says, “because it took a longer, winding road for them to get here.” The path is eased by support networks that nontraditional students establish, providing everything from friendship and advice to parent-child activities, social events, and peer-led panel discussions. ![]() “B ut once they figure out the way they need to study, they make those tweaks, then they go on a glide path and do very well.” Robert Liotta, MD, associate dean of recruitment and admissions at the Uniformed Services University’s F. “There may be a curve where initially it’s harder to get their feet wet,” says Capt. A study of students who entered medical school after working as adults in other careers, published in the Southern Medical Journal last December, found that “career changer medical students show a small, persistent academic lag in the first 2 years of medical school,” but then catch up. Their time away from the rigors of higher education can make their new academic demands especially daunting. Managing family and school life demands all the time-management skills they’ve honed throughout adulthood, Gay says. In school, older students often face special stressors, such as the loss of income from their previous careers, significantly less time with spouses and children at home, and the added pressure on their spouses to run the household. “Being able to balance between all of those things is a significant strength,” says Steven Gay, MD, assistant dean for admissions at the University of Michigan Medical School. They’ve juggled career and family responsibilities and built resilience by working through financial, professional, and personal ups and downs. Nevertheless, admissions officers say they look favorably on many older applicants because they bring life skills that don’t show in test scores. “ They might never have taken a standardized test like the MCAT exam – it requires a way of thinking and testing that’s hard to learn in a short time.” Ganchorre, PhD, director of student development at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson. “It’s a lot of ground to make up,” says Athena R. ![]() Largely due to their long absence from college, admissions officers say, older students typically face particular struggles on the admissions test. Older students tend to face challenges that differ in intensity and type from those of traditional medical students, but they also bring different assets.įirst comes the Medical College Admission Test ® (MCAT ®) exam. And it was one of the best days of my life when I walked across the stage.” “Graduating at 50 was extreme, and there are days I wonder if I should have,” says Karen Thiele, MD, who left a nursing career. From the 2000-01 through 2019-20 academic years, 1,143 such students matriculated into medical schools - comprising about 0.3% of the 375,188 total matriculants during that time span. These students are part of a tiny cohort: medical students age 40 or above. Cat-Tuong Vu, 44, felt inspired by doctors whom he watched guide his wife through a frighteningly complicated pregnancy with their twins. Kirsten Pickard, 41, had grown disenchanted with her telecommunications career and aspired to become a doctor after marrying one. Thomas O’Leary, 41, was an Army combat medic searching for his next career move to support his family. They found their way to medical school along circuitous paths, propelled by life experiences their younger classmates can only imagine.Ģnd Lt.
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