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Session 119
In this episode, Ryan is joined by co-host Allison, as they tackle a question coming from a MSHQ listener, Grace, who seeks to know more about parenthood as a physician.
Grace is a premed student and she also wants to have kids and people think she is crazy. So this episode talks about how it is not really crazy to have a kids even when you’re pursuing your career as a physician. Yes, you can be a parent and a physician at the same time!
Parenthood is part of life and you just have to know how to deal with it. You can make it work. You can be a parent and a physician at the same time. You absolutely can do it!
Here are the highlights of the conversation with :
Deciding when is a good time to have a child:- Allison going through the pregnancy when she was out of residency (a conscious decision on Ryan and Allison’s part)
- The hardships of having baby during residency
- The ramifications of having a maternity/family medical leave –
- 12 weeks of unpaid leave
- Postponing graduation depending on the program (other programs have an elective time)
- There is no perfect time to have a child.
- More of a personal decision
- Know what the situation would be in your program
- Allison breaking the new after 16 weeks
- Make sure to let your boss know first.
- Patricia Arquette’s speech at the Oscar’s about also paying attention to women in our society
- Women are not being paid as much as men
- It will change your life forever (in a great way)
- Dealing with hormonal/physical changes while taking care of patients (during pregnancy)
- Maternity leave is important
- Allison having 13 weeks off (unpaid)
- The importance of joining a mom’s group/community to get that support
- The change in mindset
- A hard transition at first but it’s totally doable!
- Priorities have changed
- No more sticking around at work
- More no nonsense and you become more efficient
- Sleep deprivation as a factor: You can’t have too much caffeine when you’re pregnant.
- Having extended leave can help
- Coping with all the changes
- Taking one day off a week to spend time with your family
- Adjusting when transitioning back to work
- Exhaustion
- Support
- Dealing with the woman’s hormonal/emotional roller coaster
- First several months were very hard
- Not much you can do as a dad but to support
- Starts to get more fun after a few months
- 12 weeks unpaid leave
- A private place for you to use a breast pump at work
Links and Other Resources
- Episode 61 – Medical School Mom – Prioritizing Family, School and More
- Free MCAT Gift: Free 30+ page guide with tips to help you maximize your MCAT score and which includes discount codes for MCAT prep as well.
- Get us free on your device. Subscribe and listen to new episodes each week. Visit www.medicalschoolhq.net/listen
- Hang out with us over at medicalschoolhq.net/group. Click join and we’ll add you up to our private Facebook group. Share your successes and miseries with the rest of us.
- Listen to our podcast for free at iTunes: medicalschoolhq.net/itunes and leave us a review there!
- Any questions you want us to answer? Email Ryan at ryan@medicalschoolhq.net or Allison at allison@medicalschoolhq.net or leave us a note at medicalschoolhq.net/contact
