Age in medical school

There is a wide range of ages in medical school at WSUSOM. I already knew this, but a classmate of mine who entered medical school without having taken any time off after undergrad mentioned how she felt as though she were behind other people who had built up impressive resumes with experiences that are diverse as well as respectable. She also mentioned that she felt young and said so in a way that made her sound as though she were inferior for it.

Different people will always present different experiences. Some will have more to share, and some less, but as I thought over this "issue", I realized that, just as it is in love, age in medicine is just a number.

At the end of the day, people in medical school are trying to earn their M.D. degrees in order to become a doctor. Regardless of whether a classmate sitting next to you at lecture has a masters or doctorate degree, the fact is that that person is your peer, and at that point in time, you are equals. You are both students pursuing after the goal of becoming a doctor, and having the extra degree/letters after your name doesn't change the length of time to be committed, the number of tests to be taken, or the amount of information that has to be absorbed for medical school.

As a non-traditional applicant who has taken time off after undergrad, I feel that it is actually advantageous to be a younger medical student. Sure, you may not be as mature as others who are entering medical school later and you may not have experienced as much, but when you've been accepted into medical school just as others who have masters and Ph.D.'s have been accepted into medical school, you should remember that you were able to surmount the very same obstacle (getting into medical school) as the older/more experienced applicants without having to do as much as they did. You should be proud of yourself for this.

I will agree that there are different things to be considered for people who are entering medical school at different ages (e.g. marriage), but in the end, age, young or old, makes little to no difference in education (maybe except for the higher malleability/absorbing power of brains during younger ages).