Should I go to Med School?

[Tracy J]

I’m married with a 3 yr old son and I’m deciding if I want to apply to medical school. I graduated from Baylor University with a good GPA (3.98), but I still need to take the MCAT. I feel very conflicted between being a mommy and going for my career goals. Is it possible to get through medical school, internship, and residency and still have a husband and son? I feel like I have to give something up…that I can’t do it all. Any advice?

[DrSAHM]

Originally posted by Tracy J:
I’m married with a 3 yr old son and I’m deciding if I want to apply to medical school. I graduated from Baylor University with a good GPA (3.98), but I still need to take the MCAT. I feel very conflicted between being a mommy and going for my career goals. Is it possible to get through medical school, internship, and residency and still have a husband and son? I feel like I have to give something up…that I can’t do it all. Any advice?

[DrSAHM]

not sure what happened to the post above – anyhow,
just thought i’d say hi and tell you to read my post in specialties just to fill you in on what i’m experiencing right now.
i, like most of us, entered medical school for all the ‘right’ reasons – and i’m afraid to say that it doesn’t make it any easier.
i’m probably not the best person to talk to right now with respect to whether you should go to medical school BUT i think you need to see/hear/check out all of the pros and cons.
i’m happy to answer any questions you may have and i promise, i’ll be as objective as i can. I know that although we’re all mommies we all have different situations…. 🙂

[Tracy J]

Thanks, I’ll check out your post. I appreciate your help. 😎

[**DONOTDELETE**]

This is something that you have to think through. Yes, often you will have to chose school/work over family but not all the time, it boils down to if *you* will want to make those sacrifices. Medical school is not easy but residency will be much more grueling even with the 80hr/week limit. Once you start practicing things will get better but it will all depend on your residency of choice. I have talked to many female physicians and the ones with children that are young seem to be having the most conflicting feelings because medicine is so demanding. Many work PT but PT in medicine is actually about 30-40 hrs/week! If you are not really sure what to do just wait and see, and start doing some volunteering or shadowing to learn about what you may be getting into.

[PremedRN]

Tracy J,
All of us mothers had that very same thought at least cross our minds when deciding this journey. It is normal. You are a loving mother and wife. Like efex said, you have to know you will be making some sacrafice and be accepting of it. This is not to say that even still accepting the sacrafices wont make you feel guilty at times when doing it. It doesnt necessarily make you a bad mother, if you didnt have such feelings then………..
When I consider what specialty I will enter, one of the greatest determinants for me will be the how much time for my family factor. I would be happy just being able to treat patients above all, so hopefully one of the less time consuming fields will suit me. We will see what happens.
All things in life require sacrafice.It is whether you feelin the long run if the people you care about are mostly going to benefit from it since they will be the ones directly affected by it. Assuming you are okay with it yourself.
Goodluck!!! Awesome GPA!!!

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