My child

[chasingzion]

Technically ive been in school now for a year and a half but thats all real estate courses and developmental classes. I only have about 15 credits which would all be considered electives since I've just recently decided to go the premed route. BASICALLY Im just getting started, which leaves me with 4 more years before I apply to med school.
Im 24 (25 in September) my son is 11 months old. One of my reasons for wanting to become a pediatrics radiologist is to provide a good life for my child.
Im well aware of the time that will have to be put in to live my dream. Sometimes I get sad thinking about all of that time in school, and how I will be missing out on my baby's life. I guess he'll be about 10 by the time I become a practicing doctor. So he would just be entering jr high! OMG. Not to mention I'm a single Mom.

My mom is an emergency RN , she never graduated until I was 18. I felt like she was in school my WHOLE LIFE! She switched her major a million times and worked in between. I always felt like a burden though, like I was in the way and her school work was more important. There was never enough time for ME. I felt ignored. She was emotionally unavailable because she was burned out from school. Blazay blazay.

Bottom line, im scared of becoming like my mother. I want to be there for my son. I would hate for him to EVER feel the way I did coming up. One thing I won't do is change my major and stop and start tge way she did, so it wont take me until the time hes 18 to graduate med school.

It all seems so daunting though, but im up for tge challenge. I admit though, sometimes I'm like....well ill just go the PA route so that its not so long. When all else fails ill just settle for sonography tech and be satisfied with a 50k annual salary and call it a day.
Dont get me wrong, salary isnt (but at the same time it is) important. I want to be a radiologist because I would enjoy diagnosing via images and will especially enjoy working with children. Who doesn't like tge sound of a 200+k salary though? But don't bash me for that. It cant be TOO important to me if id consider being a sonography tech making way less, if it meant spending quality time with my son.

Insight?

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[Law2Doc]

Life is about choices, and it's an eternal struggle to balance this kind of career path with a family. I would note that there are certainly healthcare paths quicker than "radiologist" if your primary goal is to be employed before your 1 year old finishes high school. Let's do the math. you said 4 years until you apply to med school, so let's say five years until you start. Then 4 years of med school. Then five years of prelim and radiology residency. Then a year of fellowship (pretty much mandatory in that field). So you will be wrapping up your training when your kid is 16. As an MD/DO, there are definitely less competitive fields that might shave three years off your path. As an ancillary professional (non-doctor) you might knock another three off of your journey. You have to decide what works for you and your desired family life.

Also bear in mind that medicine is being hit hard with cost cutting, and the "big" salaries of today might not still be there in 15 years, so that really can't factor into the equation.

 

[Being]

Also bear in mind that medicine is being hit hard with cost cutting, and the "big" salaries of today might not still be there in 15 years, so that really can't factor into the equation.

This is a tangent and maybe deserving of its own thread... But if salaries go down significantly, do you think it's reasonable to expect that hours will become more humane? That's a tradeoff I'd take in a heartbeat, and it seems like things are indeed moving in that direction.

 

[Mad Jack]

This is a tangent and maybe deserving of its own thread... But if salaries go down significantly, do you think it's reasonable to expect that hours will become more humane? That's a tradeoff I'd take in a heartbeat, and it seems like things are indeed moving in that direction.

As pay decreases, hours and job opportunities actually tend to increase and decrease, respectively. The whole reason the radiology market is so bad right now is that there were reimbursement cuts, so people started working longer hours and doing more reads per hour to maintain the same lifestyle. Unless there are big changes in the next 16 years, I would imagine that it would be extremely difficult to find a job with part time (40) hours in rads fresh out of residency. If a group has one guy that's willing to work 60-80 hours a week and a part timer that wants to work the 9-5 with no call so she can see her kid, which do you think they'll hire?

The bottom line is that you're going to spend most of the next 16 or so years pouring in 60-100 hour weeks, and once you're done you're probably looking at 55-60 hours a week as a new radiologist. You won't be seeing a while hell of a lot of your daughter growing up, you will have virtually no control over your schedule, and the money you want might not really be there at the end of it all. Hell, radiology is changing drastically, and there's some talk of integrating IR into the curriculum, so the job of straight diagnostics might be a thing of the past within your working career as radiologists try to diversify their base skill set in order to be more competitive in the health care marketplace. Think long and hard before you go down that path. You could easily clock 6-8 years in school and become a physician assistant instead, be done before your kid hits junior high, and land yourself a cushy 9-5 someplace making six figures.

 

[chasingzion]

Thanks.
Thats the answer I was looking for.
Realistically, how many hours a week I would be putting into this career.
I didt want this discussion to turn into projected salaries and budget cuts. Im more concerned with the amount of time away from home.
I obviously did the math wrong. 16 years? Wow. So I'll be 40 by the time I'm done.
No, my son is much more important. I think I'll go the PA route.

 

[Mad Jack]

Yeah, a lot of people forget about residency. Realistically, most nontrads end up with a gap year due to having extra responsibilities which make it quite difficult to take courses full time while also prepping for the MCAT and supporting themselves, so you've got a full 4-5 years+4 years med school+6 years residency, so at least 14, but more likely 15 years. If you want to go the PA route, I'd recommend getting a CNA or EMT-B certification as soon as possible if you do not currently hold a clinical position- almost all PA programs require 2,000 hours of paid HCE for consideration. Also look into what programs you are interested in now rather than later, as PA programs often have vastly different prerequisites from one another, so you'll want to pick a group of schools and then plan your education around those prereqs. Going down the PA path, you're looking at 6-8 years, depending on whether you take a gap year and whether you do a 24 or 36 month program. Good luck!

 

[chasingzion]

Thanks.
The only pa school around me is nova southeastern university. They require tge exact same prereqs as med schools

 

[Plecopotamus]

Thanks.
The only pa school around me is nova southeastern university. They require tge exact same prereqs as med schools

I believe there are several NP programs in your area, as well, which you might want to consider.

 

[chasingzion]

I believe there are several NP programs in your area, as well, which you might want to consider.

Thanks, not really interested in becoming an RN or NP though.

 

[QofQuimica]

No one can answer this question for you; like L2D said, it's a personal decision for each family. One of the reasons why my ex and I chose not to have children is because we wanted to spend our time on our professional and personal pursuits, not on raising kids. Being childless has allowed me to do many things that I could not have done if I were a mother, including working abroad for months at a time and yes, going to medical school. That being said, there are obviously people with kids who do manage to go through med school and residency. But they have to make tough decisions and sacrifices in order to do this as well. There isn't anyone who gets to have all their cake and eat it too.

And who's to say that your son will even appreciate the sacrifice if you don't go to school? My mom didn't go to college, and I wish she had, because I know how much she regrets not having gone. All while I was growing up, she was so vehement that my sister and I had to go because she hadn't had the opportunity.

I suggest you take some time to think about what you really want out of life. And if maximizing time with your son while having a decent middle class life is the most important thing, then sonography is a good choice. Clock in, clock out, get paid, be able to help people, master a skill that even most physicians don't have. But if being a physician is your true dream, then you really need to sit down and think about how you can make it happen while minimizing the disruption to your son's life. Note that I say "minimizing," because you won't be able to prevent it entirely. Life is all about compromises, especially when you have to think about other people's needs and preferences.