When was the last time an american-born citizen received a medical MD degree?
From what I understand, most medical schools do not accept anyone over the age of 35, because they feel that the student will not be practicing long enough in his career as a doctor to use the assets of the medical school.
What are the age limits of US medical schools in admitting new students?
I know in the old days, it didnt matter how old you were to do anything, but today, there is lots of age discrimination(ironically since in the old days age discrimination was not outlawed, but today it is).
Also, other countries may not discriminate on account of age like the United States does, so my question is directed specifically to american born citizens applying to and being admitted to medical school.
Anybody know of any age limits of medical schools and what are they? DO or MD?
What is the oldest person admitted to medical school that you know of in recent times?
Do you maybe mean the highest age an American-born citizen received an MD? Otherwise, this specific question doesn’t make sense to me - I have a friend, American-born, who received an MD 2 years ago, and I’m fairly sure that there have been a significant number since then, likely within the last four months.
I have no way to answer your other questions, but was confused by this one.
Legally, the med school can’t discriminate because of age. How that translates into the real world is hard to say, but there’s no reason why a doctor setting up at age 70 (which your friend would be by the time he finishes) can’t have ten productive years.
And why would they care what the doctor does afterwards? They’re getting paid to teach medicine. If the doctor doesn’t practice afterwards (after, say, getting hit by a truck two weeks after graduation), it’s no skin off their nose.
Same with hospitals. They need interns and residents, so as long as you’re qualified, they’ll take you.
Your chances of getting med school scholarships, loans and grants certainly decrease with age, however, if you have the cash and perequisite education and the university has the room, I do not think you will be arbitrarily kept out.
The problem is, when it comes time to do clinicals and internships, will you be able to find a hospital willing to entrust you with the position at such an advanced age (60+). Probably not, which is why you would be discouraged from attending med school since you stand little chance of being able to obtain the requisite practical experience in order to earn your M.D.
Almost all medical schools have at least one older student per class. They occasionally admit older students, but it is true that it’s difficult to get accepted if that’s your situation. The school’s rationale is that there are so many potential young doctors waiting to devote their whole life to medicine, it wouldn’t seem right to give some person a seat in the class (in which space is very limited) who could only practice for a short time.
To answer your question, I would bet that a senior (above 60) has been admitted within the past year at one of America’s 126 or so medical schools. There is a man that attends my university, who is around 60 years old, that is applying to med school next year. He is a minister and is going to a university for the first time, and the premed advisors think he has a good chance.
There is a neat book called Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) and it has tons of statistics of people entering med school. I think it has even has info on the ages of people entering. It should be available at your library.
They do care, at least the ones I’ve talked to. They are serious about ethics, and they enjoy knowing that the hard work of their teaching will eventually pan out into decades of service for each student. They are aware there’s only a limited number of seats and usually believe that they should be filled by people who will be able to help people the rest of their lives. They also know there are some exceptions, of course.
Susanann, why discourage this person from trying? If anything, he should be encouraged to do those things which are life-affirming and keep him on his toes.
So how bad is this ageism is medical school anyway? I know I asked once before but I’d like to hear more opinions as I start pre-med next month and I’ll be about 34 when I finish that.
My college roommate entered medical school at Rush-Presbyterian-St-Luke’s medical school in her late 30’s
My sister enterered medical school last year - at the age of 46.
There is certainly no harm in a 60 year old applying for medical school. I don’t know the circumstances, but it is certainly possible for them to be admitted. Why are you discouraging someone from trying to become a doctor?
Is there is specific requirement that this person attend medical school in the United States? “Dr. Nick” aside, there are perfectly good (quality-wise) Carribean and Latin American medical schools that would probably be thrilled to have another big-spending American student. Since I’m assuming this person would be not working or “semi-retired-but-going-to-school,” it’d be a good retirement-type experience as well.