Being A Primary Caregiver

[medception]

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Hi all,

So I have become the de facto primary caregiver for my mom (She is 68, I am in my late 20's, we live in the Baltimore/D.C. area), who has had a string of recent bad falls/injuries and other medical issues over the last couple of years.

She has no help other than myself and my brother, and at this point I don't feel comfortable leaving the area to attend medical school for four years, as I would need to be able to respond to her future recurring medical issues quickly. This pretty much only leaves Maryland, Hopkins, Georgetown, and GW as options (Philadelphia and Richmond are too far).

I am currently in the Hopkins MPH program part-time while working full-time at a health policy consulting firm in D.C.

What I am wondering is:
1) If you had to be a primary caregiver to a relative but still wanted to attend medical school, how did this impact your application cycle?

and

2) Did the geographical limitation prevent you from getting accepted?

Thanks for any help and/or advice in advance!

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Similar situation as only caregiver to older parent. Best thing to do is to have a sit down with your mother and see if she will agree to move if you get accepted to a school outside your hometown.

1) I had a convo with parent before applying. Ideally, I would get accepted into a school in our hometown, but we both agreed that if I only get an acceptance outside our hometown, we would sell the home and move. So, I applied broadly to all schools in my home state.

2) No, at one interview in a distant city, I was asked by an interviewer about being a caregiver and what would happen if I got accepted there. I honestly told them we would move to the city. I was accepted to this school along with others.

Fortunately, I also received an acceptance to my hometown school and do not have to sell and move.