should i become a doc??

Question

I want to become a doctor, but i also want to have a family. I just finished my first degree and want to apply to be a doc for next year, however do you think its possible to be a house officer or a first year resident and also raise a child? Or do you think i'd have to wait until after consultancy?

Also how easy it to become a consultant? After you pass the exams as a senior registrar are you automatically a consultant?

Also does anyone know which fields are better for those who want a family?

thanks

Answer 1

Well my mom is a doc and she was a doc when was very young. so she took me and my little sisters with her on the job.
if your wiling to work very hard sure you can do both. if its about preparing the food and stuff then prepare it before going to work and heat it up when u get back!

GOOD LUCK

Answer 2

You don't include information in your question about your marital/pairbond status currently. You will be a better doctor if you take a year or so off between levels of higher education, preferably four or five years. You will be a better, more mature student, who will weather the grind much better as you will have life experience under your belt.

I worked seven years before returning to med school. Once accepted, I was concerned about being an older student, and being 34 when I completed. A friend reminded me: You will be 34 that same day even if you are not a doctor.

I waited until established in my profession to have a child and was through menopause before she was two years old. Now I can't have more. Wish I had started earlier.

If you have a good and supportive mate, you can do it quite easily. If you don't it can still be done, but will be more stressful for you.

You will never regret having a child. You will understand that you have never loved anyone unconditionally until you do. You don't even love your own parents in the same way. It is a spiritually and emotionally enriching experience.

You will probably want to select a hospital based, non-primary care specialty if you want the M-F 9-5 schedule. Radiology, pathology, dermatology, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, occupational medicine, epidemiology, psychiatry. Although some of them might be on night/call out rotation. Avoid general/thoracic surgery, pediatrics, ob/gyn and trauma surgery. ER medicine is a relatively new specialty, and while they may work nights, they don't have the overhead, and when they are away from work, they don't get calls from patients. You will figure out where your interest lies as you go through your clinical rotations.

Answer 3

Hi there. I'm an SHO in Cardiology and I have a 4 year-old son... I had him whilst at Med school, and actually took a year out between 4th and 5th years. It is possible to have children and study... quite a few people seem to be doing it now. I think you actually become more organised and so get things done more efficiently - at work, home and play! If you really want to do this then DO IT!!

I would recommend having children whenever is right for you - the rest will fit round. I guess it is slightly more difficult when you're working and attempting to climb the career ladder. The problem with waitning until you're a consultant is that it takes quite a long time to become one (even given the new fast run-thru training).Field wise - traditionally things like GP, palliative care, pathology although lots of people in other specialities - if you're driven to what you want to do then you'll be able to do it!!

Good luck xx

Answer 4

I'm assuming you are in the UK? If not some of this may not apply. You have done a degree so you are "a little older" than the average med students coming into their first jobs. You could do house officer and junior training and raise a child but I think it would be quite hard. Depending where you work the job may be quite busy, there may be a fair amount of travelling to/from work daily (or alternatively you may find you have to/prefer to stay in hospital accomodation at least during week or part of week) This means significant time away from home, or long hours away incl. travelling. Also you need to take into account on-calls which crop up with unrelenting frequency. you need to have an understanding and flexible partner for sure.

You could wait til after you make consultant. As long as you go into certain specialties this would be quite compatible with bringing up a child. No, its not easy (I am a relatively new consultant, though no family..) but you have more flexibility with your time.

Specialties that might be good to work in: any non acute specialty e.g. dermatology, neurology, rheumatology, radiology, microbiology, haematology (some of these have on call and may also be demanding too though)
Ones to avoid: paediatrics (definitely from what I hear..), obs/gynae, surgery, and probably other specialties whereby you may often be called in at odd hours for emergencies like cardiology (if you do acute stenting for instance), gastro (if you are on the bleed rota)

Also, what about GP? No offence to any GPs out there, but it seems much more compatible with having/bringing up a family.

The "in-between" years from PRHO to Specialist Registrar (although those terms are going out the window soon) could also be a suitable time to have a family, although again I would select your chosen field of specialty with care, see above notes. You can choose to do flexy time training as an SpR. A number of my colleagues did this and seemed to manage fine. You take twice as long to get to the end of course!

As far as automatically becoming a consultant, no there is no automatic. Once you finish your specialist training (whether that includes exit exams or not) you can then apply to go on the "Specialist Register" (for a fee!). Then you are eligible to apply for consultant jobs, of course this does not guarantee getting one,
and your success will depend on demand, how good you are, interviews, which specialty you are in etc. etc.

Also things in the UK are changing and who knows what it will be like in 10 years time

Answer 5

My parents are doctors.

Are you male or female? Despite changing roles, a woman is going to be more involved with a child.

I think it's easier to be a parent when you're in practice rather than your internship/residency. There are too many 36-hour shifts to spend good time with a young child.

Some fields are going to be more demanding. My father is a surgeon. He used to have to be on call one weekend a month, and when he was on call, if there was something in the ER that required a surgeon, he'd get paged, and off he'd go. Many a party was left early because my dad was paged.

Any sort of internal medicine with hospital privileges is going to involve late night admissions and weekend rounds.

Surgeons that tend toward elective surgeries, like plastic surgeons, and those that do planned work, like cardiac surgeons, are going to have more regular hours than those who do trauma. But specialty surgeons like cardiac surgeons move around a lot, because placements are so limited. You might want to read the book Walk on Water, about experts in the field of pediatric congenital cardiology. I wouldn't have the arrogance, but maybe you do.

Specialists in things like dermatology and podiatry rarely have emergencies, and usually have pretty normal work hours.

Answer 6

No. To be a good Dr. you have to have a burning desire in you, You do not appear to have that or you wouldnt be fighting with it.
On the other hand, you will always wonder what life would have been like as a Dr. Once you have a few rug rats running around hollering and wanting more from you. Good luck in your decision.

Answer 7

properly, my sister is doing drugs on the minute, that's 7 years base. one extra 4 years to be a GP, or one extra thirteen or something to be a scientific professional. that's distinctive artwork to grow to be a physician, however the pay is sweet. GP's in England tend to gets a commission around £100k a 300 and sixty 5 days.

Answer 8

I suggest that you enter medicine when you are really up to it. It can take a lot of your time and you will definitely have to prioritize it. Take it from me, i've been there. .i realized that if i want to focus on my family and myself, i have to give it up.. because i think i could not handle it successfully..being a doctor needs sacrifice and that is time away from your family and do service to others, it requires much from you.. but others have done it so maybe you can, if you are up to the challenge..in my case i suddenly grew tired of it..its a case to case basis really, but the choice is up to you. I have a degree in pharmacy and i'm working now in a pharmaceutical industry.

Answer 9

If u want 2 really, really have a family and b a doc., then I would suggest a radiologist, but definitely not a neurosurgeon, cardiologist or pediatrician...They hav weird hours.

Answer 10

Actually if your family preference is greater I'll suggest you not to become a doctor
I cant tell much about suitable profession but not doctor
Be a doctor Iff you r ready to serve others in priority