Viraj's Weblog

I have decided to go back to school to study medicine. Those that know me probably think I'm going insane, and I don't blame you. Maybe I am.

Honestly medicine is something I've always wanted to get into but felt it was too late for me. I've always felt that being a doctor would be a very noble profession, and I would like to ultimately do something to help others in life. Computers are great and all, but the IT field is not very fulfilling for me. I found a pretty good site describing a Comp Sci PHD grad going back to school for medicine at age 37. He posted alot of useful information to help others. Another interesting page is this story about a man going to med school at age 52!

I am 30 now, and my dad is an ER doctor. He told me that some of his co-doctors started school at age 38 and above. In general I am finding out that age should not be a limiting factor for me. It would be great if I could use my computer science background in medicine, and I know of many fields I could get into. I have the funding necessary to go back to school, which is a huge influence on my decision.

What it would involve is me going back to school for about 2 years just taking prerequisites for the MCAT. Some of these classes I've already taken, but in no way remember, so much of it would be a refresher. The courses are college algebra, calculus, biologies (many!), chemistry 1 and 2, organic chem, physics 1 and 2, and other electives. At that point I would be ready for the MCAT, and after that would need to apply to med schools. That's probably another 6-8 years. I hear it's very difficult to get into schools, and students apply to 10-15 or so. Here is a somewhat discouraging comment on Slashdot about one person's experience.

I have decided to resign from my current job effective 5/13/05 (yes, that's Friday the 13th). I would start summer courses immediately. I've setup a wiki to help me keep track of things, and hopefully I'll be able to update by blog as things go. I don't know whether I'll succeed. Maybe I will get fed up and come back to IT, who knows. We will see!