Is it Possible?

[MdResarch]

Hello,

I need a sincere advice from possibly students who have been in med school for at least 1 year or more; or already have graduated from medical school

I am 31, and have always wanted to be a physician (it really is my childhood dream). Life just got me with a lot of twists. Mom and dad got seriously ill and I had to take care of their medical needs. I have been taking care of ill mother for more than 8 years (even while I was in undergraduate---which made my GPA drop very low). Have dealt with her stroke, seizures and chronic Kidney failure with on going dialysis. There are much more complications she had that I had to help her with. For this reason, I had decided to not focus on medical school and wanted to be close to mom so I could give her the best care possible.

I really want to be able to go to medical school, while take care of her at the same time. In you opinion is it possible to focus on medical school studies and take care of chronically ill parents?? how much time does a medical student get in a day for themselves?

If I do apply, I will need to bring my GPA up by taking few classes, also I will have to study for MCAT. Before I jump into all that I would like to know if it is doable or even worth trying.

Thanks a lot.
Best Regards

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[Goro]

Answer sadly is no.

I really want to be able to go to medical school, while take care of her at the same time. In you opinion is it possible to focus on medical school studies and take care of chronically ill parents??

 

[Esquire]

.

 

[MdResarch]

No. There are times in med school where you can't even take care of your own health, let alone anyone else's. Residency is worse. It's a rather selfish, ironic & inhumane process. Are your parents eligible for a Medicare/aid home health aide? Then it might be possible, but probably extremely tough.

I kind of knew the answer but still wanted to see if it is possible to accomplish my childhood dream. Yes they do have Medicare, but in order to get total care I will have to place mom in nursing home because she requires total assistance. On top of this, I do her dialysis at home (and they don't provide any help to do dialysis at home to patients). At home dialysis works best for her health as it is almost everyday. Clinic dialysis doesn't work well at all for her. We had tried it and it was just making her more sick. To accomplish my dream, I don't want to jeopardize her health by ignoring her in any way.

The only next option is becoming a PA. Do you think it would be possible to go to PA school and take care of her at the same time? I plan on visiting the 2 schools in town and meeting the admissions directors if possible to discuss this.

I hope there is a way.

Thanks a lot.

 

[MdResarch]

Answer sadly is no.

I know it is Sad, I just have to live with it. Maybe there will be time or way to archive this or something close to this in near future. Like maybe at least becoming a PA. I will check the details about PA. if you have insight about PA school let me know please Thanks

 

[dorothyntoto]

You will not be able to focus on this level of schooling while taking care of your sick mother full time. If this is meant to be your path, it will open to you, but it isn't going to happen while you are taking care of your mom at this level.

 

[MdResarch]

You will not be able to focus on this level of schooling while taking care of your sick mother full time. If this is meant to be your path, it will open to you, but it isn't going to happen while you are taking care of your mom at this level.

Thanks for the reply. I knew the answer. A lot of people have been pushing me to go for it, but I know it's not that easy with what I have been doing right now. I agree if it is meant to be it will happen when the time is right.

 

[Darth Doc]

The only next option is becoming a PA. Do you think it would be possible to go to PA school and take care of her at the same time? I plan on visiting the 2 schools in town and meeting the admissions directors if possible to discuss this.

People seem to think PA school is easy. It's not. Almost everyone I know who's a PA is smart enough to be an MD. I do study more in medical school than I did in PA school, but I still had to study hours a day outside of required class time which was from approximately 8am to 3pm. I don't know anyone in PA school who could possibly care full time for a chronically ill parent.

What about when you finish school? Who would care for her then?

 

[cabinbuilder]

The ONLY way I could see you doing it is 1) having a caregiver there during the day hours 2) doing LECOM's Independent study program where you would be home most of the time. Except for anatomy and that is 6-8 weeks of being at school every day, all day.

 

[MdResarch]

People seem to think PA school is easy. It's not. Almost everyone I know who's a PA is smart enough to be an MD. I do study more in medical school than I did in PA school, but I still had to study hours a day outside of required class time which was from approximately 8am to 3pm. I don't know anyone in PA school who could possibly care full time for a chronically ill parent.

What about when you finish school? Who would care for her then?

there is No way that I was looking down to PA school. I said it is next possible option because of school time is shorter not because it is easier. I know it is very time consuming, a lot of physicians that I know have been pushing me to go for it. I would love to but I need to make sure if it's possible with the circumstances I'm in.

 

[MdResarch]

The ONLY way I could see you doing it is 1) having a caregiver there during the day hours 2) doing LECOM's Independent study program where you would be home most of the time. Except for anatomy and that is 6-8 weeks of being at school every day, all day.

Do you mind elaborating on that LECOM program if you have more knowledge about it please?
I will also search for it myself.

I am just looking for ways to make it possible with the circumstances I am in. As I believe in "when there is a will, there is a way"

 

[cabinbuilder]

Do you mind elaborating on that LECOM program if you have more knowledge about it please?
I will also search for it myself.

I am just looking for ways to make it possible with the circumstances I am in. As I believe in "when there is a will, there is a way"

I know that a lot of moms did this when I was going there becuase they could be pregnant and have little ones at home without paying for daycare. Of course they had to make plans at least weekly when their groups met. It's just like it says, Independent study. What I didn't like about it was that for every module (biochem, pharm, etc) they have ONE TEST AT THE END. So if you fail the test you fail the course. I was in lecture and we had 12 exams in biochem, ISP had 1. I just couldn't do it and I'm not a good home studier. Now, for the first part of the first semester you would be expected to go to class for anatomy, histo, and embry0 as those are taught to all 3 learning groups before they split into LDP, PBL, and ISP. You would have OMM lecture and lab for 4 hours every Wednesday.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I just saw a video clip today. There was a girl on there born with no eyes and no nose. Her motto? "I don't need easy, I just need possible". If you want it, you will find a way.

 

[MdResarch]

I just saw a video clip today. There was a girl on there born with no eyes and no nose. Her motto? "I don't need easy, I just need possible". If you want it, you will find a way.

Thanks a lot for the positivity and the input, I will look into that. That's exactly what I meant also....I know they won't spoon feed me due to the circumstances but I want possibilities to accomplish what I desire. I don't want my circumstances to hold me from achieving what I have always wanted to be. I have to keep looking and I will get there when it is the right time and right place.
Thanks again