What do you do?

Kuriin · Aug 9, 2016

We had a few people in their 50s in nursing school. A lot of people reinvent themselves. If you think you're going to enjoy being a physician, then I say go for it. It is a hard road, but, I am sure it is rewarding, too.

wormie · Aug 9, 2016

Also keep in mind that residency is a job, it's no longer school. Do it.

Pescador · Aug 9, 2016

If you're very interested in sports medicine there are also alternatives routes, such as DPT (physical therapy) or PhD in something like exercise science or kinesiology. Maybe I missed it, buy what is your motivation for doing an MD? General interest in sports medicine?

Lendarios · Aug 9, 2016

Sports medicine, there are several paths and alternatives

Sports medicine it is a very broad field. There is PT, which does not require a medical degree. There is PA, which while requiring a degree, it has a lower entry level. I would look into orthopedic Physician Assistant. The docs will unload on you every single minor non surgical case.

In sports medicine you will be doing surgeries, so be ready for blood!!

Kuriin · Aug 9, 2016

If you're going to go the route of kinesiology in undergrad, then there is no point in getting anything other than DPT (unless you do go MD).

Erronius · Aug 9, 2016

trex said:
I don't think you're crazy, it's never too late to get a career is something you truly love. We need to know your undergrad education though to give you more advice, as a few people have mentioned. Btw, you shouldn't be worried about debt if you're other option is a PhD in history. What do you get paid for that? How much debt are you already in?

To piggy back, the MCAT is a joke IF you've taken all the classes. And not like, oh I took O Chem 4 years ago, it's like I took O Chem and I truly understand the concepts and criteria.

If you're wicked smart and haven't taken any of the classes, you could pound out the bare minimums in 2 years, but I wouldn't recommend that. We have trimesters here but Gen Chem, Priciples of Bio, Calc stream (btw AP calc in high school does not count. I had AP calc A & B in high school and had to take Calc 2 twice because I didn't get it.) so you could take those the first year and no life it. Then summer you could pump out the year of A&P classes and the following year O Chem, Physics using calc (or at least I was advised to take that route) and genetics one term/evolution the next. If you're only doing the basics you better get damn good grades in them. I think it's great you have the history background, if you can do really well in both, you're obviously very smart. Don't look at it as a race though. You're not far behind. If someone was on the 4 year college plan (jerks) and started med school the following fall (assholes), they would have just gotten out of med school at 26 (jealous). I think average entering age is 25.

Also do not listen to people when they say oh, so and so class is easy. First, they're lying. Second even if physics isn't "that hard" for you and you go around telling everyone that, you're probably not mentioning that you could not get the anatomy (or whatever class you are struggling) processes in your head. You can hear people say ochem is shit, get yourself all worked up, but you might just get it. Or you might not get it and realize what all the hype is about.

The getting into a school is the hard part. When you apply you should apply to at least 5 or 6, hope to get 2 interviews and one acceptance. Have you thought about Physicians Assisting? Much less intense. Some people get super overwhelmed or sidetracked, never finish and end up having an existential crisis (hello!).

Study for the MCAT as you go. Makes much more sense tying the sciences together and realizing what you seriously need to not fucking forget. Even though you wouldn't be practicing on your own, you could be doing what you love by the time you're 32. Not a lot of people can say that. Plus you have to love school, I'm guessing that's no problem for you lol. PhD in history?! Smh. Go med. They're always needed.

You don't know WTF you're talking about, Swamp Donkey. This forum doesn't want you; go away.

ZyyzYzzy · Aug 9, 2016

Erronius said:
You don't know WTF you're talking about, Swamp Donkey. This forum doesn't want you; go away.

God's work

Kirun · Aug 9, 2016

What do you do? Warehouse Supervisor

What field/industry? MRO Industry

Wages? 48k/year

Bonuses/SEP? None really.

Benefits? Typical health/dental/eye insurance. Nothing spectacular, but not the worst either.

How long have you been there? A little over a year. 7 years in the MRO/Logistics industry.

I really dislike it. The hiring manager is a woman and about 70% of who she hires is also a woman. About 40-50% of those wash out after less than 2 weeks because they can't handle the physical work.

I'm growing tired of wrecking my body/physical health for an industry I've never been excited about, but I've never been in a life position where I could devote 2+ years to school. Not to mention, I'm completely out of touch on a career field that isn't going to land me jobless and in debt. I had a brief contract position with ADP (between logistics/warehouse jobs) that lasted 6 months (contract didn't get renewed because the project was finished) and it was the greatest 6 months of my life. After spending years in physical labor jobs, that was the easiest, cushiest, most relaxing 6 months of my life. White collar people complaining about how "hard" they work while 50% of their day is spent browsing the internet from an office chair crack me up.

Itlan · Aug 9, 2016

Cad said:
You are a fucking lunatic, but there's some things to think about.

Do you have the prereqs for medical school and to sit for the MCAT? You have to take a shit ton of science classes before you set foot in med school, and if you didn't while getting your History degrees, you'll have to go back to undergrad to take them. These are nontrivial: Minimum course requirements include one year each of biology, general (inorganic) chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and related lab work for each. In addition, about two-thirds require English and about one quarter require calculus.

You need to study for and take the MCAT. If you haven't done this, you probably need to allocate a year, because you'll have to study for the MCAT well in advance in order to score well enough to get into med school, and once you have your MCAT score in hand the application process is a bitch. Most schools require in person interviews, etc...

Next, residency is not 2 years. Even if you do family medicine as your residency (sports medicine is a fellowship not a residency) then you'll be 3 years in for the family medicine/internal medicine primary residency, then 1-2 year for the sports medicine fellowship.

So, all in all, you are not looking at "5 years". You're probably looking at (1-2 years prereqs/MCAT) + 1 year application/acceptance process + 4 years medical school + 3 years residency + 1-2 years fellowship.

Thats 10-12 years.

Yes sir, I think you're a lunatic, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. It's just something you should think about very carefully before you embark.

I think the only science class I'm missing is ochem. I would need to study for the MCAT, absolutely right.

And I didn't mean everything would be done in 5 years, I meant it would be at least 5 years before I started earning a paycheck again.

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone btw. I obviously still have a lot to look into before I decide to fully venture into med school, but it seems like the age thing SHOULD be a nonfactor based on what everyone is saying.

As for my current debt, it's nothing major. As I stated before, I would not pay for my own PhD, and the plan was to earn a PhD and hopefully become a tenured professor at some point. But a lot of humanities dpts are closing down, losing funding, etc. so no matter how impressive my BA/MA record is, we're looking at sometimes only 2 people being accepted on fellowships.

Cad · Aug 9, 2016

Itlan said:
I think the only science class I'm missing is ochem. I would need to study for the MCAT, absolutely right.

And I didn't mean everything would be done in 5 years, I meant it would be at least 5 years before I started earning a paycheck again.

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone btw. I obviously still have a lot to look into before I decide to fully venture into med school, but it seems like the age thing SHOULD be a nonfactor based on what everyone is saying.

As for my current debt, it's nothing major. As I stated before, I would not pay for my own PhD, and the plan was to earn a PhD and hopefully become a tenured professor at some point. But a lot of humanities dpts are closing down, losing funding, etc. so no matter how impressive my BA/MA record is, we're looking at sometimes only 2 people being accepted on fellowships.

I went back to law school after working for ~10 years so its definitely doable. And you'll be a lot wiser than the typical med student because of your extra years of adulthood.

However, don't discount that you're using some of your young, potentially fun years in a goddamn rat race of grad school with people who probably never heard of a video game and poopsock study their way through everything, and class rank matters.

I'm glad I did it and I did well. If it's phd in history vs. MD, I'd get the MD. If it's work potentially lucrative job vs. 4 years of MD and 3-4 years of 60k residency/fellowship followed by $200k of debt... the answer is not crystal clear.

Itlan · Aug 9, 2016

Cad said:
I went back to law school after working for ~10 years so its definitely doable. And you'll be a lot wiser than the typical med student because of your extra years of adulthood.

However, don't discount that you're using some of your young, potentially fun years in a goddamn rat race of grad school with people who probably never heard of a video game and poopsock study their way through everything, and class rank matters.

I'm glad I did it and I did well. If it's phd in history vs. MD, I'd get the MD. If it's work potentially lucrative job vs. 4 years of MD and 3-4 years of 60k residency/fellowship followed by $200k of debt... the answer is not crystal clear.

Completely understand what you're saying and I appreciate the advice. There's obviously multiple paths I can take at this point in my life and I'm not weighing out any options, should that potentially lucrative job fall into my lap (I've been applying to consulting firms who have been actually somewhat receptive to a humanities degree), but it appears my dream (PhD) will most likely not come to fruition unless I fall into a pile of money and can fund myself through graduate school.

The only reason I'd be willing to take on the debt of medical school over graduate school is job availability and the nature of the two degrees obviously.

Lendarios · Aug 9, 2016

Itlan, you seem to be a gym rat, at least from what I remember. Have you considered PT, you will be involved into the Gym/athlete part of it, and part of your networking will be actually going to the gym and meeting people.

OU Ariakas · Aug 9, 2016

consensus said:
Where do you work?

Automotive Dealership

What do you do? (Title/keywords)

Sales Consultant and Lot Manager

What field/industry? Sales

Wages? 60k. 2-3 years time, I am hoping to boost it upto $90k.

Bonuses/SEP? Performance volume bonus up to $1000 per month. Mostly Gross Bonus of $500 per month.

Benefits? Health/Dental/Vision

How long have you been there? 6 month

I am trying to negotiate a base salary of $2000 and stick to 20% commission per car instead of 25%. This place runs like an unprofessional jungle.....huge turnover.

How much sales experience do you have an where are you located? I started my career in technology sales at Dell and we had a ton of people that came from auto sales with good base skills and the starting wage was right around 60k with 60% of that as base salary. If this is your first sales job and you like the field then get ready to call almost every sales floor an unprofessional jungle.

OU Ariakas · Aug 9, 2016

What do you do? Manager at a large multinational consulting firm

What field/industry? Technology

Wages? 115k/year

Bonuses/SEP? 10k - 30k depending on performance

Benefits? 401k matched up to 5%, earned PTO and can roll over 30 days to the next year, 3 months paid paternal leave

How long have you been there? 3 years

Itlan · Aug 9, 2016

Lendarios said:
Itlan, you seem to be a gym rat, at least from what I remember. Have you considered PT, you will be involved into the Gym/athlete part of it, and part of your networking will be actually going to the gym and meeting people.

PT just seems like bullshit compared to an actual sports doctor. What if I wanted to get into something like exercise physiology ("sports science" if you will)?

Could someone tell me I'm wrong here?

Lendarios · Aug 9, 2016

PT serves a separate purpose than an MD.
Compared to an actual doctor, most things are bullshit =)

a_skeleton_06 · Aug 9, 2016

What do you do? System Administrator

What field/industry? Top 20 Global Law Firm

Wages? 75k/yr

Bonuses/SEP? Usually around $1500

Benefits? Typical health/dental/eye insurance. 401k bonus of 7% of Salary

How long have you been there? A little under 1 year. I've been in IT for about 4 years.

I came from a medium size enginering company and to say getting into Enterprise IT was a shift is an understatement. I fucking hate it. Getting anything done at all requires 15 uneccesary steps. Need to buy something? Sorry, we can't pick up that $15 adapter, it's not in our budget even though we made 2 billion last year. It's truly, truly maddening. I'm about to get married and after I get back, it's time for a reassessment. The really shitty part is that I was offered by bosses' management job and it's a pretty big jump in pay but I know that I'll never do any technical work again (I barely do any now) and I'll just be an email and conference call monkey, even moreso than at present.

Heylel · Aug 9, 2016

What do you do? UX Researcher, Accessibility Strategist

What field / industry? Education technology, UX

Wages? $105k/yr primary job, $90/hr second job, roughly 30 hrs monthly, so about $32.5k

Bonuses/SEP? 10% of salary and stock purchase plan

Benefits? Health/dental/eye/life/disability insurance. 401k matching at 4.5% to my 6%, plus annual contribution. Working full-time at home.

How long? Just under a year in this job, but about 10 years total in research and ed tech.

I spent a decade doing public sector research, mostly grant work for DoE, NSF, state contracts etc. My background is in digital media, and I specialized in accessibility after a 2 year GRA and being hired on at a disability research center. In 2015, I jumped over to private sector work and have never been happier. It's hard, I stay very busy, and I get to see my research directly impact products used by millions of students. Doubling my income within a single year has been pretty nice too.

I have no plans to switch companies, but I've gotten a lot of bites from other major corporations since switching to UX research over public sector work. If something goes south, I've got a consulting gig on the side for a fortune 500 bank via a local consulting firm. I'm seriously thinking about striking out on my own one day, so I'm trying to learn more about building my own consulting business.

OU Ariakas · Aug 9, 2016

a_skeleton_06 said:
I came from a medium size enginering company and to say getting into Enterprise IT was a shift is an understatement. I fucking hate it. Getting anything done at all requires 15 uneccesary steps. Need to buy something? Sorry, we can't pick up that $15 adapter, it's not in our budget even though we made 2 billion last year. It's truly, truly maddening. I'm about to get married and after I get back, it's time for a reassessment. The really shitty part is that I was offered by bosses' management job and it's a pretty big jump in pay but I know that I'll never do any technical work again (I barely do any now) and I'll just be an email and conference call monkey, even moreso than at present.

Moving from the technical work into the managerial work is the decision that a ton of skilled technical people with good interpersonal skills have to make at every company. The benefit is that the further you move up the chain the more you can affect a change in companies that see IT as just a cost center rather than a business enabler.

Siliconemelons · Aug 10, 2016

OU Ariakas said:
Moving from the technical work into the managerial work is the decision that a ton of skilled technical people with good interpersonal skills have to make at every company. The benefit is that the further you move up the chain the more you can affect a change in companies that see IT as just a cost center rather than a business enabler.

Let me bold and enhance the rare part of that equation "technical people with good interpersonal skills"

There are a ton of super talented tech people that should never be put into a manager role - most companies in a flawed logic or HR rules promote them (to keep them, or more money they deserve etc.) and you end up with really poorly managed IT- it also starts to grow departments full of high functioning A types that weed out your normal, consistent good workers.

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