One last time. You do not train to become a surgeon. FIRST you become a physician. You will take tests- lots of tests. These will not be hands on. They will require memorization- lots and lots of memorization. Some of it is dull and boring but you need to know the name of every bone in the body and the location of every vein and what the doo-hicky in the nasal passages does.
You seem convinced that the only thing holding you back is your age. I disagree. The only thing holding you back is your unwillingness to do BASIC research into:
1-How to get into med school or dental school. (you have posted many things which are untrue).
2-How med school or dental school will evaluate your many transcripts (ditto)
3-What the curriculum is like; what body of material needs to be covered and in what cramped/squished period of time you’ll need to memorize it and get tested on it.
4- how residency works/when do you pick a specialty and what do committees look for when you are interviewing for a residency in THEIR hospital.
You will do rotations, starting as a med student. Some will be hands on and others will not. You will do primary care rotations seeing children, elderly people; these are the OPPOSITE of hands on. You will order tests (a desk job) because you suspect an infection; you will evaluate those tests (more time at the desk) to figure out why the white blood cell count is so low. You may see a patient for five minutes who then spends half a day in the hospital getting more tests.
Your ability to memorize and quickly spit back information (neither visual nor hands on) is what is going to distinguish you from your classmates. Nobody will care that you want to perform surgery. You have to learn urology and hematology and psychiatry and many more diagnostic disciplines (desk jobs) out of books and memorization and tests before anyone lets you near a “hands on” patient situation.
OP- I am rooting for you. But I am also pretty sure that with a little effort you could find a terrific job in your current field- which pays well- and meets your need for hands-on/visual learning.
You say you’re still in college. See if you can take an Anatomy Course - in person, not online. How you do in that course (grades, desires, etc) can let you know if you’re on a decent path for you.
OP – if after reflection and shadowing you decide that dental school isn’t going to be possible (or if you try for dental school but don’t get accepted), I am wondering if working as a high-level, specialized ultrasound technician might meet most of the goals you have set out.
It is a very hands-on job
It is a job that is very patient-centered
It requires great visual skills
You can specialize in areas such as cardiac or neurology
It can pay > 100k
The best-paying jobs are apparently in the Boston area
The education and training is around 12-18 months, depending on where you go
Just something to think about as you continue exploring.
–it’s very hands on.
–it’s patient-centered
–It requires good spatial reasoning and visual skills
–it has multiple different venues for practice and a dozen or so sub-specialty fields
–it can pay >$100K in the Boston area
My SIL is in PT school. He is a very hands on oriented person and wanted a job that had a physical component. (He was a professional road cyclist starting at age 15. He’s now 32 and wanted a long term sustainable career.) SIL was able to remediate a less than stellar undergrad GPA and find entry level work as a physical therapy aide to get his hours of clinical exposure in. PT aide doesn’t pay well ($18-22//hour) but also doesn’t require any certification or prior experience in PT.
Just want to note that PT programs are very competitive in terms of admission and the OP would need a plan in place to finance a long grad program. Agree that it could be a nice alternate career path if the OP is interested and can make it work.
Related…a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) does take coursework to be certified, but has a very hands on component. The COTA does things under the direction of an occupational therapist. Lots of job options and depending on the location, pay can be very good.