Mothers in med school?

[RedPanda]

Hi Everyone,

 

I am 24 years old and have a masters degree in another health profession. I am thinking I am interested in medicine. I discovered this about myself during my practicum experiences. I have very good grades but have not yet taken 5 requirement courses or written the MCAT.

 

My husband is still in school but will have a very good income when he graduates.

 

Anyways, I am wondering if anyone has had kids before/during school? I was thinking that I could have two kids prior to starting med school (while finishing up 5 requirement courses/writing the MCAT). So I would probably be looking at applying when I am 28. I'm not sure how many kids I want so possibly I would want another child while in med school. I would of course then have young children while going through school, however we both have supportive families + his future income to hire help if needed (i.e. nanny).

 

Is this totally crazy? Does anyone have mothers with young children in their classes?

 

Also, is there a lot of travel required during clerkship? I'm thinking I wouldn't be too keen on leaving my husband/children.

 

Thanks!

[Renin]

There are tons of moms and dads in my class when I was going through med. It's definitely doable with family support - and it seems like you will be financially stable enough to do it too.

 

There's even more moms and dads in residency!

 

As for the travel - it depends on your school and things. For our year, there were a few mandatory travel things (ie: rural family medicine) but there are always one or two exception spots and we made those available to the people with kids who wanted to stay close to home.

 

From what I can recall, there's actually quite a few moms in my med class - I can think of five that had babies in med 3 or 4 off the top of my head; it's definitely doable!

[Fresh fry]

Our class has two single moms and 9-10 other parents = doable. Don't put off life, live it.

[aaronjw]

Our class has two single moms

 

this is awesome!!! I love seeing such tenacity for one's goals - even more so when their family will benefit greatly from them.

[rmorelan]

Depending on what you want to to there may not be that much clerkship travel either - depends on what speciality you are considering

[rmorelan]

I guess I should add to this that there are ways to make it work, and it has been done before. You can have both but like everything in life you have to be willing to pay the price in terms of work and stress - or ha, you have to be willing to take the hits.

[Jochi1543]

People do it, but I don't know how. If I had a child at home right now, I would LOSE IT. Having a spouse and other family to provide actual childcare and help around the house is certainly extremely important, and having a spouse with good income helps. I guess if you are keen on it, take the plunge, sounds like your situation is better than most people's at this age. If you are planning to have 2+ children, deferring til after residency may become an issue due to simple fertility concerns.

[Birdy]

I'm not in med school yet, but I've been in contact with a number of moms who are as I've been trying to network with people who have been where I want to go.

 

There certainly are several, of varying backgrounds and circumstances, and they make it work. I have two kids (6.5 and almost 3), one of whom has special needs, and so far I'm doing well school-wise and got a comfortable score on my MCAT with just self-study.

 

My husband is very supportive and when school has to come first, he will take on as much of the house/kid work as necessary to allow me to study.

 

It sounds as though you don't have children as yet, so I will say that things like extended time away and child care are things that really depend on how your circumstances are when those needs crop up, so don't get too set on one plan. I will say there are a lot of things that are less than optimal while in school - med or otherwise - when you have young children, but lots of people do it! My son actually thinks it is really cool that I'm in school.

 

Check out the Mothers in Medicine blog. Several are residents or med students with young kids.

[goingplaid]

Dad in our class and his wife is a resident.

 

I saw him at the gym on day and all I could say was "Man, first you're a Dad and now I see you at the gym. I have no idea how you do it!"

 

He said "The more pressure you have on your time, the better you use it"

 

Total inspiration

[Birdy]

Dad in our class and his wife is a resident.

 

I saw him at the gym on day and all I could say was "Man, first you're a Dad and now I see you at the gym. I have no idea how you do it!"

 

He said "The more pressure you have on your time, the better you use it"

 

Total inspiration

 

It's very true. A friend of mine who is a professional in a very demanding field and professor (and has many more children than I do) said much the same recently.

 

People ask me how I do so much because I always have a ton of things on the go plus a number of hobbies, but really, I feel less busy - and far less prone to being stressed - now than I did when I was single and on my own.

[RiverCityJill]

I'm a first year med student and I have a 2 year old daughter. It is doable. Although there is no question that it can make things a little more stressful because you can't prioritize school above everything else in your life, it's also great that you can't do that. It inserts balance in your life whether you like it or not. The tricky part, for me anyway, is that my daughter doesn't sleep very well right now. I end up having to spend some time I'd like to spend studying sleeping. And if I don't, I end up falling asleep standing up (literally).

 

The approach that I take is just to be very selective about the extra things I take on. There are a lot of opportunities available at Mac right off the bat and I choose the ones that will have the highest yield of benefit. I'm also extremely lucky to have an amazing super-dad husband. Single moms/dads who do this are awe inspiring.

 

Having a child is also a great motivator. You're not just doing this for yourself and so you don't screw around. My husband taught my daughter to say "Mama is a doctor!". There's nothing more inspiring and rewarding than that.

[Jochi1543]

I'm a first year med student and I have a 2 year old daughter. It is doable.

 

1st year is very different from clerkship, though. 1st year med is busy, but it's more or less like a full-time job in terms of hours, and there's a decent amount of flexibility. Clerkship - not so much. I remember a classmate mentioned at some point that she hadn't seen her child awake in over a week.

[holiday1001]

1st year med is busy, but it's more or less like a full-time job in terms of hours

ha not at mac

[Fresh fry]

1st year is very different from clerkship, though. 1st year med is busy, but it's more or less like a full-time job in terms of hours, and there's a decent amount of flexibility. Clerkship - not so much. I remember a classmate mentioned at some point that she hadn't seen her child awake in over a week.

 

This is true but age dependent as well. During the heaviest rotations I miss seeing my kids because they are always a sleep when I get home but they are <2. Good thing there is a mix of easier and harder blocks with different time commitments. It is not unbearable but plan your clerkship schedule wisely.