How old is too old?

Umekichi

Hi,
I am thinking about applying to do the GAMSAT and hopefully get into UL GEMS at the age of 32. I'm currently finishing my nursing degree and hopefully will be qualified by 29-30. Is 32 too old to do this course? I know age isn't a barrier and that I should go after my dreams but I'm also realistic that it could be too old for a career in medicine. There are other options I am considering but medicine keeps calling to me, especially while I am on the wards.

lozenges

It's not at all! We had plenty of GEMS older than that who joined our year. Bear in mind that different training schemes are different lengths - e.g. Psych is very short, general medicine/anaesthetics a bit longer and surgery pretty long. But if you want to do it go for it.

There was one lad in his 50s who got on the surgery scheme - he didn't progress but that's cause he was an unpleasant person who pissed off everyone around him, not because of his age per se.

Umekichi

lozenges wrote: »

It's not at all! We had plenty of GEMS older than that who joined our year. Bear in mind that different training schemes are different lengths - e.g. Psych is very short, general medicine/anaesthetics a bit longer and surgery pretty long. But if you want to do it go for it.

There was one lad in his 50s who got on the surgery scheme - he didn't progress but that's cause he was an unpleasant person who pissed off everyone around him, not because of his age per se.

Thank you so much, I had a few people tell me I would be too old for the course but glad I'm not. Would you be willing to tell me what the timetables are like? Is it possible to work part-time around them? I'd probably do agency nursing at the weekend if its possible.

Recap

Umekichi wrote: »

Hi,
I am thinking about applying to do the GAMSAT and hopefully get into UL GEMS at the age of 32. I'm currently finishing my nursing degree and hopefully will be qualified by 29-30. Is 32 too old to do this course? I know age isn't a barrier and that I should go after my dreams but I'm also realistic that it could be too old for a career in medicine. There are other options I am considering but medicine keeps calling to me, especially while I am on the wards.

I'm sitting the GAMSAT in March and will hopefully start at RCSI in September 2020 (I'm going to be 34). From what I've been told, there are plenty of people who are older than we are and age is not really a barrier. Just know the long hours you're going to be facing, which can or cannot be hinderance if you have a family or other 'adult' commitments.

lozenges

Umekichi wrote: »

Thank you so much, I had a few people tell me I would be too old for the course but glad I'm not. Would you be willing to tell me what the timetables are like? Is it possible to work part-time around them? I'd probably do agency nursing at the weekend if its possible.

It's pretty full on - I did a 6 year undergrad course, the graduate entry course in UCD was only 4 years (admittedly the stuff in premed wasn't super relevant, so they basically learned in 4 years what we did in 5).
Obviously you'll have weekends off but you'll be exhausted. I would work as little as possible during college tbh - you'll start earning and paying back loans pretty quickly once you've graduated.

Sorry for posting at random times, in the US at the moment!

Flimsy_Boat

The oldest student in my GEM programme is 39.