I too am attending a community college but just now beginning to realize a passion for learning. 48 years old and started college a year ago. I feel I have missed out on so much. Trying to find out how much I can take in this academic steeplechase.

You two have some similar questions and some very different.

1. Poor grades in high school - interested in a career in medicine: If you have poor grades in high school, it may be due to different factors. In my experience, most people who are in medical school had a fairly easy time in high school and got top grades. If you didn't get good grades because of some distractions that kept you from caring/putting in effort, then perhaps you have the aptitude to do well enough in college to get into medical school. Getting into medical school is extremely difficult and the work (and demands) of medical school are even harder.

I would suggest you do your best in community college and it would be best to take courses that will transfer to a 4 year college and count towards basic requirements of a bachelor's degree. You can take some science courses, but be prepared to take the required pre-med courses at the 4 year college. Medical schools generally don't consider the difficulty of the courses at the community college hard enough to be a good indication of how well you can handle medical school coursework. If you get excellent grades at the community college you should be able to transfer to a 4 year college. If you get top grades there, and you can explain why your grades were poor in high school, then you may have a chance. I think you also need to be prepared that a career as a physician may not be for you, and take courses that will prepare you for other career interests in case medicine doesn't work out for you. It's always an advantage to have options. You may change your mind down the road anyway and realize there is something else for which you have a passion.

2. Starting community college at age 48 - obviously take courses in things that interest you and prepare you for the type of work you want to be doing. Depending on your prior experiences, and your aptitude for school, you may bring a unique aspect to a medical school class. The primary factors to getting into medical school, though, are grades and MCAT scores. If you want to be a doctor, you'll need to transfer to a 4 year college at some point and take all of the required pre-med coursework. At age 48, that is a lot of debt to take on. You'd be looking at finishing college around 52, finishing medical school around 56 and finishing residency around 60. Unless you are already wealthy, it doesn't make a lot of financial sense to go that route at that age. It can be done though.

It's great that you have found your passion for learning. It will serve you well no matter what you do in life.

1. Poor grades in high school - interested in a career in medicine: If you have poor grades in high school, it may be due to different factors. In my experience, most people who are in medical school had a fairly easy time in high school and got top grades. If you didn't get good grades because of some distractions that kept you from caring/putting in effort, then perhaps you have the aptitude to do well enough in college to get into medical school. Getting into medical school is extremely difficult and the work (and demands) of medical school are even harder.

I would suggest you do your best in community college and it would be best to take courses that will transfer to a 4 year college and count towards basic requirements of a bachelor's degree. You can take some science courses, but be prepared to take the required pre-med courses at the 4 year college. Medical schools generally don't consider the difficulty of the courses at the community college hard enough to be a good indication of how well you can handle medical school coursework. If you get excellent grades at the community college you should be able to transfer to a 4 year college. If you get top grades there, and you can explain why your grades were poor in high school, then you may have a chance. I think you also need to be prepared that a career as a physician may not be for you, and take courses that will prepare you for other career interests in case medicine doesn't work out for you. It's always an advantage to have options. You may change your mind down the road anyway and realize there is something else for which you have a passion.

The reason why I went through high school with low grades is because I had some small depressions and never took school seriously. I got over it as soon as I graduated and realized what a mistake it was to not care. Now that I have a job and moved out to a different state, I have the benefit of realizing that education is important. I also took a test at the community college and scored higher than a whole lot of other people. I'm not the brightest person int he world, but I found that if I pay attention in class, I can get the grades I need haha. Helping people is really all I want to do as well. Unless you know any other courses that can help me do that, my path only goes one way. 😉

Don't forget there are a ton of ways you can help people, even within healthcare, other than being a doctor. There is social work, nursing, counseling, etc.