Puppy in med school?

[tbear]

Would it be unwise to have a puppy while in my first year of med school? I will most likely be living on my own but I am a relatively active person and enjoy going outside for walks/runs.

[schmitty]

Would it be unwise to have a puppy while in my first year of med school? I will most likely be living on my own but I am a relatively active person and enjoy going outside for walks/runs.

 

I would suggest not unless you get an already trained dog that can be left alone for whole work days. Think very carefully about it. We have a dog, and it is a lot of work (less so now that she is grown). Just be sure you are okay with having to come home (or pay a dog walker) at set intervals. I.e. Leave for class around 8:30, finish at 5pm, want to stay to study with friends/get a drink? You can't until you go home and walk and feed your dog. Be sure that is something that you are willing to do. Other than that, having a dog is a great way to force yourslef to get up and go for a walk and take a break, which can be nice.

[WtsupDoc?]

Get a cat! I'm not a cat person, but dogs are a lot of work. You don't want to miss out on a study group (or even worse, something fun!) because you have to go home and let your dog out.

 

Cats are a lot more self sufficient - they kind of do their own thing, but will also keep you company.

[lovestruck]

Would it be unwise to have a puppy while in my first year of med school? I will most likely be living on my own but I am a relatively active person and enjoy going outside for walks/runs.

 

I have a dog and it is TOUGH to balance school, social life and volunteering with him. He's pretty easy going but does require exercise and attention like any animal.

 

Many a times I've had to rearrange my schedule, pay for doggy daycare or simply stay home because of him. It's tough to go on vacation since he gets very anxious when I'm gone for long periods of time and won't eat very much. Even studying can be tough. If I'm right in the middle of a really good study session and I don't want to stop because I'll lose steam, I still have to take him for walks, etc. I can't imagine how hard residency will be when I am doing long shifts and need to come home/find someone to walk him! Even when I do go out I feel VERY guilty about leaving him home alone!

 

Also, there is quite a substantial cost associated with having a dog. My guy is healthy, but I still had to pay to have him neutered, annual vaccines/dewormers, doggy day care, grooming, etc. He eats a high quality grain free dog food which keeps him healthy but is also $20/5 lbs so its not cheap! He caught giardia from eating goose poop and cost me $300+! He broke a tooth while chewing a bone, which was $300+ as well! And these are all minor incidents. A bowel obstructions surgery, meaning your dog has eaten something he shouldn't, runs $2000+! I have an emergency fund set up for him for vet accidents like that, but that's still money I could use for school, vacations, etc.

 

I'd never ever give him up and I don't regret purchasing him since he's wonderful and has made a huge difference in my quality of life (he makes me happy, loves unconditionally, etc). But if I had to do it over again, I would wait until I was in a more stable point in my life. His quality of life is great now, but I'm sure he'd be happier if I was home more and had more time to spend with him.

[future_doc]

Older dogs are wonderful and need to relieve themselvesmore frequently, so unsure if this is the ideal solution. Wait until you are living with someone so that there is better cover for the dog. Cats are an entirely different story.

[schmitty]

Older dogs are wonderful and need to relieve themselvesmore frequently, so unsure if this is the ideal solution. Wait until you are living with someone so that there is better cover for the dog. Cats are an entirely different story.

 

I for one meatn older as in not a puppy. That is, >1 year old or so but not elderly and requiring a lot of extra work.

[WtsupDoc?]

I've always grown up with dogs and I never realized how much work they actually are until my parents started going away on vacation. Even full grown dogs are quite a commitment. Also, sometimes getting a 1ish year old dog is worse than a puppy - they are still high energy, but not always trained well by the previous owner. It's tough to break bad habbits than start fresh and train the dog the way you want.

 

I agree with all of the previous advice, especially f_d - I am considering getting a puppy this summer, but mostly so that my SO has company when I'm not around and busy with med school things.

[nosuperman]

I wouldn't. The work-balance - you'll get used to it. The big thing will be time away from the house. Some days you'll be home by lunch, many days you'll get stuck at school for 12 hours. Then clerkship starts and you're on call a lot. Then you're doing electives and interviewing out of town. Unless you've got a partner who is willing to take care of the puppy while you're gone, it'd be pretty hard to be around enough for it, especially during the time-intensive training phase.

[fugacity]

Not to derail the thread here but just as a side note,

 

if it is this tough to keep a puppy, what about relationships? What about people who have small children. I think a lot of it has to do with how much you like dogs, and whether or not you are willing to make sacrifices.

[schmitty]

Not to derail the thread here but just as a side note,

 

if it is this tough to keep a puppy, what about relationships? What about people who have small children. I think a lot of it has to do with how much you like dogs, and whether or not you are willing to make sacrifices.

 

Of course it can be hard on relationships with people too, but the difference is, a person can take care of their own basic needs (for the most part) and understands WHY things are the way they are.

[rmorelan]

Just to think about things - what would be the plan in clerkship with 28 hour call in the hospital 1 in 4 or 1 in 5? What about community placements that most schools have? How would you handle 3rd/4th year away electives when you could be out of the province even for weeks at a time, and the three weeks of electives? What happens when you match and potentially are in a completely different city etc, and again on that call system.

 

Not unsolvable problems but the first two years are the easy part. They aren't really an issue at all - is the last two years and the following 2-5 years, plus fellowships when you bounce around all over the place that is the real problem.

[nosuperman]

Of course it can be hard on relationships with people too, but the difference is, a person can take care of their own basic needs (for the most part) and understands WHY things are the way they are.

 

Yeah friends and family are more likely to watch a young kid, there's school, daycare, and hopefully a partner who can watch them. Of course you could pay to leave your puppy with a daycare service throughout the week but it'll cost a lot. The government covers some of the equivalent costs for help with kids.

 

Plus partner's can actually make things a lot easier in med school because if you split the work evenly, you do half as much stuff. You cook every other night or grocery shop every other week etc. plus if they're really awesome they'll help you out during crunch time.

[NLengr]

Think very hard about getting a dog in med school. +++work. Do-able if you have a spouse and live in the same city as family. Even then it's hard.

 

What happens if you get sent to another city for residency and have no family there? It's a huge pain in the ass. I know because I am in that situation, although we got out dog over a decade ago, before I was in med school.

[jrmch]

I have a cat I'm considering getting this cat another cat (which I'm sure would quickly spiral into 5-6 cats because I'm a crazy cat lady) to keep her company.

[future_doc]

Be careful what you wish for.