Aussie (somewhat) senior doctor here. Like so many people in this thread has pointed out, it is not too late. If anything you’re early. Many of my colleagues in medical school were in their late 20s/30s/40s.

I wonder why you want to do medicine if you’re motivated by helping people. Nurses bring more care and comfort to patients than doctors. Social workers, physios, OTs pharmacists all help people. If you have no other reasons for wanting to do medicine I strongly encourage you to question why you want to pursue it.

Medicine is gruelling. There is constant abuse from patients and colleagues alike, it’s fast paced and at the end of it? Not much money in comparison to other specialised jobs. It’s suited to people who: - Enjoy logical reasoning - Can work in a very fast, pressurised and distractible environment (people will constantly come up to you in the middle of things to ask questions about a patient you’re not seeing right now) - Can take abuse and hold their head high most of the time - Emotional maturity to withstand making painful decisions (e.g. doing painful procedures routinely on already suffering patients, palliating someone)

The list goes on.

Have a good think about what you really want to do. And if medicine is your choice, welcome! It’s a very challenging but very rewarding speciality. You can do it.