Going back to school: insights on applying to Medical School in your late twenties
Deciding to retrain was a big decision for me. I felt far too old to be a ‘Fresher’ again and the idea of blowing my savings and taking out student loans was unappealing, to say the least. Plus all my friends were buying houses, getting married and having children. Did I really want to start from the bottom again in my late twenties and only qualify in my early thirties?
But my partner at the time made it quite simple for me. He said: “it isn’t a decision of whether or not to do it until you have the offer of a place at medical school”. He was right, of course - the decision of whether or not to apply for something and whether or not to do it are very different things.
Then, when the offer of a place came through, it was instantly obvious that my decision had been made long ago. Of course I would take up the offer to read medicine on the Graduate Entry course at the University of Oxford– if I was completely honest with myself, this was what I had wanted to be doing all along.
I was always very jealous of my doctor friends, no matter how much they moaned about their work. I wished I had such interesting things to moan about! True, I could definitely earn more per hour if I climbed the career ladder from till operator to manager at fast food restaurant than as a foundation doctor in the NHS, but that would not give me all the things I crave, only the French fries.
I have loved my time as an ‘mature’ medical student ever since. I’m realistic about a career in medicine; the hours are ridiculous, the responsibility is intimidating, the pay is pretty awful and the bureaucracy will restrict my ability to do the job in the way I’d like, but I still feel like there’s no more worthwhile way to spend my working years.
I’m in good company too. The intake on my course (A101 BMBCh4) ranged in age from 22 – 34, a couple of whom were fresh-faced and clued up directly from their first degrees but others had given up Olympic sporting careers, six figure salary city jobs, prestigious government roles and successful research careers to join me in the classroom. Medicine, for whatever reason, has always been in the back of our minds and finally - we got into medical school!
But it was not easy. Graduate entry courses in the UK offer an accelerated route to becoming a doctor in just four academic (roughly 3.5 actual) years. However, only around 800 places are available annually across 15 medical schools, making them even more competitive than applying as an 18-year-old. For many applicants, the offer came only on their second, third or even fourth attempt. As an older person, you cannot easily stand out from the crowd by having a few extracurriculars. You can’t necessarily rely on having prior medical knowledge either as 9/15 courses accept graduates from a non-scientific backgrounds. So how do you stand out?
I’ve discussed this at length with my colleagues and a common theme, at Oxford at least, seems to be honesty. Many did not do brilliantly in the BMAT/UKCAT and not all of us have straight As on our CVs. I wasn’t the best school student. I was far more interested in sports and distracted by teenage angst than being engaged in my studies.
As is not uncommon among graduate entry applicants, my academic record only became impressive when I started University, so this was the first thing I acknowledged in my personal statement. Appreciation for education came late to me, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less driven to becoming a good doctor than a teenager who dreamt of doing nothing else since childhood. I might even be better off for having had to talk myself into doing it despite having a good career. The benefit of life experience can mean that you are even more suited to long and arduous undertaking such as medical school, as you probably had to think long and hard about the practicalities of doing so.
I also believe that an important benefit of experience is the ability and self confidence to say “I don’t know”, which, in my opinion, should be a minimum requirement for any doctor in training. As an older medic now mixed in with standard entry students, I’m reminded of this far too often. I also remember saying this a lot in my interviews, and it likely served me well. When asked to describe to the interviewers the recent restructuring of the NHS, I said “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can as I’m not sure I understand it myself”. But what I could say with certainty was that policy makers needed to make it clearer, as if I didn’t understand it, having researched it at length in preparation for medical school interviews, their job had not been done well.
What I could also say with confidence was that I understood the sacrifice I was making, personally and financially, and that I was making a lifelong commitment to learning and training with my eyes wide open and well read. When I asked for feedback on my successful application, I was told that my realistic and pragmatic attitude that made me stand out, and that these were the qualities that my now tutors would expect from a doctor that was treating them.
So my advice is this, don’t try to hide or disguise the fact that medical school, or whatever you now want to retrain for, was not your first path or choice in life. Embrace the experience you now have and know the reasons why you want to retrain. Acknowledge what it is you will be giving up and be able to explain why you plan to do it anyway. And make the application regardless of whether or not you are completely committed. I would bet all golden crispy French fries in the world that your reaction when you get the offer will be your answer, either way.
Author: Megan - Oxford
DPhil Regenerative Medicine
I am currently in my penultimate year of reading Medicine at the University of Oxford on the Graduate Entry course. Prior to this I spent five years in medical research and gained my Doctorate, also from the University of Oxford, in the field of cardiovascular regenerative medicine.
