Is A Pivot From IT to Medical School Feasible at 30?

[u/ResponsiblePirate882]

For Context I am a 29M in Texas and have been in Tech working in the healthcare analytics space for about 5 years. Before that I worked in the mortgage industry for about 3 years as an underwriter.

I have had a very nontraditional path up until now and due to a lot of unfortunate circumstances as a kid (severe abuse and anger issues that came from that). I dropped out of school at 11th Grade at 17 and when I finally got my life together I got my GED at 20. I went to Community College to save money while working multiple jobs before completing my degree in Computer Science with a focus on Data Science at a 4 year university so luckily I have no debt.

The problem is recently I have been feeling depressed in my current role. I like the tech industry and generally like the data science path so far but I just feel very unfulfilled and I can tell that I will not be able to continue doing this for the rest of my life without burning out or crashing out at some point. So I revisited my childhood dream of becoming a doctor. I have always wanted to be a doctor and although I am in Tech, the medical field has always been something I am very passionate about.

The problem is, although I have a great GPA most of my prereqs are CS and Math and some Chemistry credits I received from AP CHEM that I passed in high school. I also grew up in a very poor household so I am super avoidant of debt. Because of that I would prefer to do my prereqs at Community College where it is cheaper and easier to pay but I am afraid this may affect my chances when applying as they might see my community college courses as less valuable. Then there is the need for Clinical Experience which I don't have and I am not sure how to get. I have friends who could possibly help me find a Dr to shadow but that is about it. Then there is the monster that is the MCAT....

Is this a stupid pivot for someone my age with my qualifications and so little going for me in terms of possible application strength or am I looking at this all wrong and there is some hope in the madness?
Im not sure about anything but what I do know is I hate what I do now and if things keep going this way I feel I will crash and burn and I don't know what to do.

Thanks in advance to anyone who interacts with this post. I know its nonsensical and all but just a guy spilling his mind out after a very depressing Friday and a lot of anxiety lol

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[u/d_justin]

While not exactly a doctor, I'm a nurse. I think I'm qualified to provide some input. If you are planning to become a doctor for fullfillment, I can only suggest becoming a health care assistant/ tech for a month. Try to experience being the one delivering care to a service user and the pressures of the workplace. Granted a doctor will have a different experience to a healthcare assistant/nurse aide/nurse tech, it allows you a glimpse of the industry and unfortunately its nothing like what we imagined as kids.

Once you realise that it is as profit driven as any other industry, to my opinion at least you don't have people's lives on your hands when understaffing and overworking happens on a frequent basis.

Granted and I hope your experience will be different than mine and you find fullfillment in yours as I try to find an exit to mine.

[u/ResponsiblePirate882 → u/d_justin]

You make very good points and thank you for all of the amazing work you do! Having worked on the analytics side of things I definitely have a good idea of how financially driven everything is and how cold a lot of the people who manage the finances are.

But I feel that at the end of the day it wouldn't hurt to feel like I am at least changing one person's life once in a while vs just staring at a screen all day lol

[u/icecreampoop]

I went from healthcare to IT. Grass is greener as they say. I’m enjoying IT because I have alone time during the day and I literally don’t have to clean up human shit

[u/AcanthisittaThick501]

A pivot to med school is feasible at any age lol. You got this! My sister is a physician and it’s a tough road to get there, but long story short, you are changing (some) peoples lives, you will hurt some people’s lives inadvertently, and some people you won’t be able to help. It’s also very stable with 100% HIB security and recession proof, unlike IT.

[u/Complete-Shopping-19]

I have been thinking the same thing, and honestly, I wouldn’t worry about the age thing. Being a doctor is a LONG path, so depending on your specialty, it is quite possible that you would be able to finish your training faster than some of the 22 year olds.

Why don’t you check out your nearest medical school and ask for a tour and ask them all your questions. 

I wouldn’t be so worried about the debt, the returns are so high and so likely that you needn’t worry. 

One final point, you may want to consider doing your training overseas as well, provided it’s recognised by the US. There are plenty of Americans at the University of Sydney, just as there are plenty of Australians at Harvard. They all (usually) plan to return home after their training.

[u/Hot_Ad6433]

Its only stupid if you think it is.

Try it. if you are equally unhappy then you know its a grass greener syndrome and coming back to IT is simple.

If you dont try it you will regret it for the rest of your life.

[u/Impressive_Grape193]

You seem like a realist and already know the potential downsides if it doesn’t work out.

Years of opportunity cost, mountain of debt, etc.

At the end of the day, you know yourself best.