Dr. Abz Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I posted this here because I figure that med school students would have enough knowledge, compassion, and experience to advise me on this sorta sensitive topic I have PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) aka hormonal imbalance, irregular periods, anxiety, depression, and so on. Women with PCOS face a greater risk of infertility; getting pregnant is much more difficult than it is for the average woman due to hormonal and metabolic problems, gestational diabetes, etc. Besides that, I'm an 18 yr old pre-med hopeful, enticed by medicine, passionate about healthcare, med school has obsessively been on my mind for years, I was mentally preparing for the MCAT in high school by reading giant prep books , you know the drill. Lately I've been researching more in depth about what it's really like during your ~6-10 years in Canadian medical school. I was taking in both the pros and the cons until I realize that my biggest concern and hurdle is this: the 20s are an ideal age for family planning and child bearing, but the way I'm seeing it, a medical student with PCOS with longterm stress + lack of sleep => reproductive hormonal health in havoc with high testosterone/cortisol levels and whatnot, disturbed menstrual cycle, emotional overeating, weight gain (especially visceral fat), and basically anything that would work against the physiology/psychology/reproductive health of a woman in residency/clerkship who wants to be fertile and pregnant. phew. To restate, if I become an overworked, stressed-out, sleep-deprived med student with whacked-out hormones, won't I be putting my reproductive health and the chances of conceiving a baby at a greater risk than it already is from the PCOS? that awkward moment when you want to be a MD to make others healthy, but you might be ruining your own health in the process, and possibly losing out on the early years as a potential mother. By the way, what's the maternity leave policy at your school? (on a random note, how's my Verbal Reasoning '?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hking03 Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I think med school is what you make of it. Yes, clerkship will be stressful... but so will undergrad... so will work... so will trying to have a baby. Life in general is stressful. It's how you cope that will shape your health. So, if you want to go to med school and have a baby... who's to say you can't do both. Yes, PCOS will play a role in fertility... but if you approach med school w/ the understanding that it doesn't have to be a giant source of stress you might actually find it enjoyable. Also, let's just go through an ideal timeline- let's assume you are a first year at 18. You perform above average and are able to apply and get into medical school at 21. You complete medical school by 25 (or 24 if it's a 3 year program). You enter residency and decide you want to have a child. You become pregnant and you take mat leave when you are still in your 20's and get paid for it. Or, you can have a kid during medical school- it might mean you defer a year, but that's something that you work out at the school. So, if I were in your position and knew that medical school was the ultimate goal... I'd work towards it and also focus on ways to not stress myself out too much. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 First get into med school. Then try to have a baby at a timing you prefer. I'd wait until residency but yes, both are possible. Of course, having a good supportive man will help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I think you are making a mountain out of a mole-hill with respect to PCOS. A lot of women are anovulatory (hello obesity!), and it still doesn't stop them from getting pregnant, eventually. You only need one successful ovulatory cycle with an available sperm to get pregnant. Ironically, in todays age, the bigger problem is finding the right sperm than getting that egg ready... Furthermore, you're putting the cart in front of the horse (I just feel like using these today...). You're 18, without a husband and IMHO way too young to be thinking about how you'll have kids. No matter what, you or your hubby/wifey will have to take leave off work to take care of the kid in the first 6-12 months. Every school will allow you to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I think you are making a mountain out of a mole-hill with respect to PCOS. A lot of women are anovulatory (hello obesity!), and it still doesn't stop them from getting pregnant, eventually. You only need one successful ovulatory cycle with an available sperm to get pregnant. Ironically, in todays age, the bigger problem is finding the right sperm than getting that egg ready... Furthermore, you're putting the cart in front of the horse (I just feel like using these today...). You're 18, without a husband and IMHO way too young to be thinking about how you'll have kids. No matter what, you or your hubby/wifey will have to take leave off work to take care of the kid in the first 6-12 months. Every school will allow you to do that. Excellent advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I wouldn't worry about it too much. Clerkship is not so stressful that it'd be impacting your fertility. It's not often you hear of women losing their periods (i.e. temporarily becoming infertile) due to stress alone - there's usually extreme exercise, food deprivation, or other factors involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a1b1 Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 First get into med school. Then try to have a baby at a timing you prefer. I'd wait until residency but yes, both are possible. Of course, having a good supportive man will help. I agree with this. You should not have to worry about choosing between the two, in time both you will have both, there is always solutions, and who knows what kinda of new techniques/procedures will be available 10 years from now to help with infertility issues. Best of wishes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I agree with a1b1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titles Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 (on a random note, how's my Verbal Reasoning '?) Great sentence structure (listing, useful punctuation, short sentences, active voice, etc.) Great voice (mature, natural). Whatever you do, make sure to write! You're readable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Abz Posted January 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 haha thanks a lot for your help everyone, I actually hugged my laptop... any more wise advice will be greatly appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopeToBeGreen Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 My advice to you would be to just follow the path and be open to what you will learn along the way. It sounds like you are pretty passionate about medicine and I think it is always wise to follow your passions at least until you stop being passionate about them. Your real question seems to be whether pursuing medicine is worth what it will cost you. As other have said you still have awhile before you need to make that decision. For now, pursuing medicine means enrolling in some program you find interesting in university and doing really well at it while also doing extra curricular activities that help you develop as a person. (Hint: Pick extra curriculars you actually enjoy not ones that you think will impress an admissions committee). Coincidentally, doing those two things will also be good preparation for anything else you might choose to do if you don't decide to go into medicine. My guess is that if you just follow the path you decision will become much more clear. The further you go along the path the more clearly defined your values will become and so the easier the decision will become. Maybe you'll decide medicine is your true calling. Maybe you'll find something else along the way that you like even better. Be open to what you learn along the way and don't be afraid the switch paths if that seems like the right thing to do. If you do eventually decide to study medicine be assured that you are not the first person who tried to have children during their education. Others have done it and succeeded. I suspect that includes some with fertility issues. If having children is really a priority for you then I have no doubt that you will find a way to balance the demands of medical school and the demands of getting pregnant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanet Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 As a fellow doctor-and-mother hopeful, I certainly understand your concerns. With or without the health concerns, I think it's something every female doctor who wants kids has to consider, logistically. Besides that, I'm an 18 yr old pre-med hopeful, enticed by medicine, passionate about healthcare, med school has obsessively been on my mind for years, I was mentally preparing for the MCAT in high school by reading giant prep books , you know the drill. It sounds like medicine is really your passion, and there's no man in the picture (yet!) to start a family with. So, for now, you pursue med. Give it a shot; a really good one. You can always decide you don't want to pursue it later. Lately I've been researching more in depth about what it's really like during your ~6-10 years in Canadian medical school. I was taking in both the pros and the cons until I realize that my biggest concern and hurdle is this: the 20s are an ideal age for family planning and child bearing, but the way I'm seeing it, a medical student with PCOS with longterm stress + lack of sleep => reproductive hormonal health in havoc with high testosterone/cortisol levels and whatnot, disturbed menstrual cycle, emotional overeating, weight gain (especially visceral fat), and basically anything that would work against the physiology/psychology/reproductive health of a woman in residency/clerkship who wants to be fertile and pregnant. phew. Hey, if you put in the time now to achieve a great GPA and good MCAT scores, you can always take 2 (or 3 or 4 or 5) years off to start a family... and then circle back to the med school plan and apply with some amazing life experience under your belt, as well. (some schools like U of C loooove mature candidates) To restate, if I become an overworked, stressed-out, sleep-deprived med student with whacked-out hormones, won't I be putting my reproductive health and the chances of conceiving a baby at a greater risk than it already is from the PCOS? There's no non-stressful time to have a baby. You work with what you've got. I think being both a mom and a doctor is hard, hard work. But you sound like you can handle it -- especially because you're anticipating it at 18. I suspect you will find ways to juggle responsibilities and cope with the stress. And think about the years when your kids are in school and you are coming home from work everyday a happy doctor-mommy! that awkward moment when you want to be a MD to make others healthy, but you might be ruining your own health in the process, and possibly losing out on the early years as a potential mother. By the way, what's the maternity leave policy at your school? (on a random note, how's my Verbal Reasoning '?) There are health care professionals out there who are doing terrible things to their bodies; and health care professionals who take amazing care of themselves. Doctors are people, too. You know what your body needs, so you simply take good care of yourself as best you can. Bottom line, it's your choice. Personally, I think you can be both a doctor and a mom, and be successful at both. I think it will be damn hard, but I and many others plan to do it. Right now, make your decisions for you; when a partner comes along you want to start a family with, revisit your priorities and make a plan together. You've already got a great start thinking these issues through. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Beef Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 any more wise advice will be greatly appreciated Stay away from using things like 'OMG' or 'WTF' in your med school essays in the future no matter how few characters you are allowed to express yourself in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 Other advice I have for you is to visit the mommd.com forum. You might get a great response there by asking your question. There are lots of us here who want the same things you do (and we all have our own challenges), but that forum is geared specifically to the mother/doctor set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanet Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 Other advice I have for you is to visit the mommd.com forum. You might get a great response there by asking your question. There are lots of us here who want the same things you do (and we all have our own challenges), but that forum is geared specifically to the mother/doctor set. Thanks for that suggestion, kylamonkey! That forum sounds amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted January 30, 2012 Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 If you choose not to go to med school so that you may have a child, you must realize that you may still not conceive a child. Will you be happy not having gone to med school? Going to med school isn't going to stop you from having a child - students have had children in med school (albeit not common) and you can have children in residency with actual paid mat leave. Either route you pick, if you cannot conceive, there are fertility options to explore when the time comes, and there is also the option of adoption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Scully Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I understand completely. I'm turning 30 this year and want to get into medicine, and having kids/getting married later on is a big concern for me. I have a man (at the moment) but we're both in school in separate towns now so who knows what will happen later on. If I don't get into med this application cycle, applying for the MD-PhD is a concern for me because of my age. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it. Like others have said, I wouldn't worry about it at such a young age. It's great you are thinking about your future, but you don't want to think too far ahead, either. Lots of women have kids into their 30s and even 40s now with no problems. Finding a man who is "sponge-worthy" is far harder than getting pregnant nowadays. [P.S. My grandmother had irregular periods and she had 7 kids. I had them too until I was about 24-25 and it somehow "fixed" itself and became regular. So you never know what will happen later on. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manchika Posted February 2, 2012 Report Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have 2 young kids and I am 36 married for a gazillion years now (atleast feels like), a full time job, volunteer work, and planning to take MCAT right now... so if you have the passion of becoming a doctor, it kind of stays with you for the rest of your life if you do not give it a good try. My suggestion would be do the MD program and then think about kids... Kids are biggest part of your life but your dream is a big part too... that is the only reason that I am still thinking of giving it one try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epson Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 @hanet Omg!!! Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) is my hero!!! Jealous you thought of the pic!!! ... sorry did not mean to ignore or be insensitive to the big issue at hand, it just made me smile a lot seeing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holiday1001 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holiday1001 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 out of curiosity, are you the same guy as the original atomsmasher? the banned one? maybe you didn't learn your lesson the first time you got banned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggtastic Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 out of curiosity, are you the same guy as the original atomsmasher? the banned one? maybe you didn't learn your lesson the first time you got banned... He brings a different perspective to pm101 - he's brutually honest and while he could sugarcoat his posts, he chooses not to, at times offending many. I have to admit though, the OP shouldn't burden herself down with a child in this stage in life. Right now, she has to put her energy into UG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holiday1001 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 I do not see how the 'brutally hones' opinion "having children sucks" is useful to anyone or contributes to this thread, or even this forum? obviously some mod has agreed in the past... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 the banned one? banned 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holiday1001 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 banned 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 i only found 6 and 8 edit: I just found the poll that atom5 created. I guess there were 1-7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.