Anesthesia, wife and a kid!!

[HavanaGuy]

Hi all,

I am probably well behind most if not all of you in my career since I am just a MS I, BUT i am older (31) than the norm and my fiance, who's 27, is also a MS I. Since i want to do anesthesia if I can get it, but are concerned about having kids late in life, I have a couple of questions for you. I'll appreciate opinions and or advice.

1. Please comment on how doable it is to have a kid while in residency (say after the first year) IF your wife is also a resident(she plans to do PEds maybe).

2. If yes and if she were to have a problem, how realistic is it for me to take a few weeks off for such an event? Could I stay a bit longer in teh program to make it up? Is that unthinkable and I'd get fired on the spot or hated by my colleagues?]

3. How many hrs/week can a Anesth resident expect to work nowadays. Please include the entire range from Top Univ Hosp to maybe comm hospitals?

Thanks to all in advance for helping me plan my prof and personal life at teh same time.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[apma77]

BOTH parents being doctors means the kids life wont be too fulfilling. I fail to understand why people knowingly have kids that they will not be able to give them proper parenting and they pass them on to some day care worker.

yes anything is do-able, but do you want to be a half-ass parent?

if you do then your question has been answered

 

[ryanbeckworth]

Honestly, dude, the idea of having a kid during residency even with a stay-at-home mom is hard enough to fathom. You won't be working less than 60 hours/week at almost any program. Couple that with her schedule, and you have both parents gone a lot of the time. Unless you've got family in the vicinity, your kid(s) will be raised by daycare types. Is that really what you want?

 

[HeyDoc]

Well I'm only a MS III but I know of a Med. Student couple that have a child currently and when residency comes around she is going to wait until he finishes his residency to apply for residency. It's really tough on their little one right now being both are doing MS rotations.

Good luck

 

[2bkiddoc]

hey havana, whats up!

I'm not a resident, not even a med. student... not even applying right now...

BUT, a close family friend of mine is an anesthesiology resident. she graduated in 2002, top of her class from a state med school. she got her first chioce residency. found out during internship that she was pregnant COMPLTELY unplanned... got pregnant with a recent CA-3 grad (anesthesiology - same program), right at the end of her PGY-1 (clinical base year). just had her baby in her CA-1, he is not even a year out of residency... everything is spectacular. im having similar concenrs since I'm 24 right now and not even applying to medical school this year. what ive learned from knowing residents who have children is that if you want it, it will happen... and you can make it work... and you can make it great.

lots of luck to you and your fiance. dont let the world get you down. and dont let the negativity of others make you forget how great your life is, just having the love of your wife and eventual love of your child.

 

[mufi]

dude, while it may not be ideal to have kids during residency, i think it can be done
both my parents are physicians
when my father was a resident --my mom was a med student
during that period my mother she had 3 kids (now there is 5 in the fam)
we came out okay
although our grandparents helped
now that all the kids are grown my mother does wish
that she spent more time with us as kids
but i think it can be done
i mean her decision to go to med school allowed us ( my siblings) opportunities to pursue things that we otherwise would not have had

 

[HavanaGuy]

Well, i do appreciate all of your input, and I know it'll be tough, and yes I do care a lot for my still non-existent kids and the way I bring them up. UInfortunately, I didn't choose to "spend" my best years getting out of my native country and settling in teh US. We will likely have both our families helping us some, specially if we can both match somewhere in Southern CA. But even if not, maybe one of us will take a year off.........does that weaken one as an applicant if say she waits 1-2 years after graduation to apply for residency ? Anybody knows?

 

[Goober]

Originally posted by HavanaGuy
UInfortunately, I didn't choose to "spend" my best years getting out of my native country and settling in teh US.

What do you mean by this that you didn't choose? Somebody was forcing you to leave your native country and come to the US?

 

[HavanaGuy]

well, what I meant is I chose to come to the US for all it represents, and yes also because my family and Iwere experiencing political problems in my native Cuba.