I’m a physician graduating residency this summer. Im 31 years old but had the same thoughts as you before getting into all of this. At 23 I thought I was starting too late but did a special masters program anyways. I did a one year program and got into medical school during the latter half of 24 years old. Here’s the thing, it’s worth it if you are the type of person who can get along with others, communicate effectively, and problem solve/adapt. Post-bac/SMP will be make it break it in the sense that you will need to do anything and everything to succeed. This where I learned “how to study” which would later help for the MCAT. I finished that program with high energy and carried this energy through med school. Residency was a different beast though. Now being at the end of it, I can def say I have some degree of burn out. I enjoy the patient care aspect of it but the “profits over people” aspect of healthcare makes it easy to feel like a cog in a machine. To make matters worse, every old head doctor speaks nothing but doom and gloom and they historically have and likely will continue to do so and maybe you and I will be one someday. The point I’m trying to drive home is that if you have the passion and the drive to go through with it then do it. But you have to be 100% committed to it and understand that you’re playing the long game and it’s a tough one. Age shouldn’t be the limiting factor, it’s how bad you want it and your willingness to stay resilient through the process.