Please crush my dreams: No med school for me, right?

[Anonymous]

Ah, I'm going to say at least wait until your experience clinicals and then decide what you want to be. Parenting and med school are extremely difficult.

[Anonymous]

OP: I'm curious to hear what you decided! Had you already applied to nursing school? Are you admitted to a program? Or did you decide to switch tracks and try for med school? Updates, please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do it OP!!! Live a normal life where you can see your kids.
Dentist, PA, PharmD, NP - all worthy fields where you can help people and have a good lifestyle without the liability and stress.

I don't recommend it, ESPECIALLY if you want to do surgery ( only one female surgeon got to her 5th year in residency without getting divorced in 3 consecutive classes where I went to medschool - it's a strain not many marriages can take).

But if you are truly passionate and your career is first and your personal life second, then go for it. I see those crazy surgeons who are in the hospital for 110 hours a week and actually like it- rare breed but they exist.

My husband is a surgeon and he routinely works twelve hour days with surgery, patient consults, and medical record keeping (electronic). And he isn't one of the crazy ones. That's what you do as a surgeon. And, it isn't wise to go part-time as a surgeon simply because you need to keep your skills up. I agree..do something that is more family friendly and enjoy your children. By the way, I work too..in gov't. One of us has to be there for our daughter and it's me because he is working so many hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was also going to suggest you become a pharmacist.
Other option to consider is to become a dentist.

How is becoming a dentist any easier?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not take a closer look at the professions allied to health other than doctors. I think the nurse anesthetist suggestion is excellent - you'll be in there with the surgeries, just not getting your hands dirty! Also, there are technicians in nuclear medicine, etc.

If you like dissecting things - what about a vet (if you don't get into medicine)?

I think vet school is harder to get into. Just not as many spots available for the demand.

[Anonymous]

My sister was interested in doing surgery but didn't want such a family-unfriendly lifestyle so chose emergency medicine instead. She loves it. She still gets to do some procedures, she has shift work, and can work however many hours she wants. She works three 36 hour shifts per week, all overnights, so she is home with her children a lot yet has the pay, benefits and prestige of full time work. (Before the children were in school, she had a nanny while she slept on the days after her shifts. She gets up when they get home from school.) She can also easily arrange her schedule to string a bunch of her work days together so that she ends up with 5, 6, 7 days off in a row.