Going to Medical School at Age 30+
11-24-2025 09:00:00 AM
According to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), approximately 3.5% of this year’s matriculants to medical school are entering at 30+ years old. I was in my early twenties when I started, and there was a definitive difference in maturity and composure between the “older” students in the class and the rest of us.
Traditionally, some medical schools have been reluctant to train older students, as they see their career longevity truncated compared to younger pupils’, however, with increasing demand for physicians and burnout that may shorten younger doctors’ careers anyway, some schools are now more open-minded.
Here is a piece from the AAMC about folks who start medical school later. ...»
11-17-2025 09:00:00 AM
Ezekiel Emmanuel recently wrote a piece in the New York Times with two collaborators arguing the benefits of changing medical school to three years from four. The primary point was financial: Starting next year, under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” federal student loans for those in professional graduate programs will be capped at $50,000 per year. Grad PLUS loans will be eliminated completely, leaving half of medical students in the lurch.
Dr. Emmanuel and his collaborators point out that most medical students now arrive with upper-level academic background in sciences and that fourth-year medical school is almost like a “gap year.” While I hesitate to agree with those two points, I do think he and his colleagues make other reasonable assertions: For example, making medical school harder to pay for will lead to fewer students from rural backgrounds and therefore fewer future physicians who will work in those needy areas.
Take a look at the piece here. ...»
11-10-2025 09:00:00 AM
When I was at Harvard, we interviewed a residency applicant about whom I was enthusiastic, but when we sat down to talk about the candidate’s credentials, one of my colleagues put the kibosh on the applicant’s prospects. As it turned out, the candidate had made it clear (at least in my colleague’s eyes) that he did not want to leave California. “If he’s not interested in us, why should we be interested in him?” my colleague asked.
Although you hope institutions will like you, keep in mind that institutions want to see that you are serious about them as well. ...»
11-3-2025 09:00:00 AM
Applications for the Summer Healthcare Professionals Education Program (SHPEP), a Robert Wood Johnson funded opportunity for college students interested in healthcare professions, open on November 1. SHPEP specifically targets students from economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and those with demonstrated interest in issues affecting underserved populations. The goal is to help college freshmen, sophomores, and juniors apply and matriculate successfully to health professions schools. SHPEP is housed at 10 universities across the country with different start dates – all over the summer. Housing, meals, stipend, and travel expenses are all paid.
Take a look at the program’s FAQ page here. The application deadline is February 5. ...»
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