Being Pregnant during DPT Pre-Reqs

[prephysicaltherapy1]

Hi Everyone,

I have a BA in Psychology and want to pursue a career as a Physical Therapist.
I will need to complete all of my pre-reqs by this October (or more realistically next October).

My husband and I are thinking about getting pregnant during the time I will be taking the pre-reqs/GRE in the next two years, and that way we will have the next two years + the waiting period before the DPT program will start.

The alternative would be to wait until after I finish all my pre-reqs and get accepted to a program, and then to start having kids sometime during the program.

*We don't want to wait until after completing the DPT program which can take anywhere from 5-6 years..
Would love any suggestions/input that may help!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Hinges]

I recommend you hold off on kids until your through the program. First off, you won't have time to tend to the needs of your child while going through the program because you will be in class all week and studying in the evening. If you hold off and have kids, your pre-reqs may be hitting the 5 year cutoff depending how long it takes for you to get into a program. Meaning, you will have to retake them again. My wife and I are holding off on kids until I graduate from the program and my wife goes through nursing school. At the end of the day, you want to provide the best environment to raise your kids. Struggling through class and taking care of your kid isn't very ideal. Also, how do you feel about doing moving around participating in clinical requirements for several weeks/months at a time away from your children? See where I am going with this.

 

[Snovella]

I agree! I would hold off on kids if you are planning to go into a DPT program. Kids are not easy you will have sleepless nights and will be too tired to go to school. Also what if your kids get sick? If you don't have anyone to take care of them you'll most likely have to stay home with them and miss school. I'm 30 years old and sometimes I feel like time it's ticking, but me and my significant other agreed the smart thing to do is to wait until I'm done with this program.
I want to be able to keep focused and to spend quality time with my kids.
Also consider your finances, kids are expensive and so is grad school. At this point I think you need to figure out what's most important to you.
Good luck regardless.

 

[beyoutiful_sunshine]

I wouldn't hold off on your kids. This is your life, and this is your husband's if kids is what you guys want, I feel like you should go for it. I would have them now rather than in PT school though because it will make your life easier. Yes it's still going to be a big challenge, but I don't think it's impossible if that's really what you want. A second year student in my PT program just had a kid, she had to miss 4 weeks of school and will have to take 2 finals after the Christmas break so she can catch up. It's crazy, but her cohort and the program is really supportive and helping her as much as they can and she's making it work.
I think it's all a matter of priorities and personal opinions I'm very education driven and focused and school is a priority over many things in my life, BUT as I grow up and mature I realize more and more how short life is and how sometimes we put our life on pause and miss out on things.

 

[nd_dpt]

Hi Everyone,

I have a BA in Psychology and want to pursue a career as a Physical Therapist.
I will need to complete all of my pre-reqs by this October (or more realistically next October).

My husband and I are thinking about getting pregnant during the time I will be taking the pre-reqs/GRE in the next two years, and that way we will have the next two years + the waiting period before the DPT program will start.

The alternative would be to wait until after I finish all my pre-reqs and get accepted to a program, and then to start having kids sometime during the program.

*We don't want to wait until after completing the DPT program which can take anywhere from 5-6 years..
Would love any suggestions/input that may help!

Don't have kids while you're going through your program. Even with your husbands help and support, you're going to be woken up constantly throughout the night and sleep is a priority while in school. Another major factor is the fact that you'll be going out on rotation. You can't guarantee that you'll be placed at a spot near your home just because you have a kid. You could end up in a clinic hours away and I'm sure being away from your child for that long isn't ideal. I had a classmate who got pregnant during her first year of school and ended up having to take a leave of absence because of it. Start a family now or after school.

 

[Smash Atoms]

I resigned from a career and started school from scratch 2 months after my daughter was born. She is rounding the corner on 4 years old and I start grad school in July at my top choice program. Without question, raising a child while I go through school has been absurdly difficult, but I thus far have gotten through it with a lot of hard work, support, and good time management. At this point (3 and a half), I am comfortable moving into the rigors of grad school, but for what its worth I can't imagine being in a DPT program with her at 1 or 2 year old.

 

[scrawnyguy]

A couple of caveats before I begin. First, I'm a career changer who didn't start PT school until I was 35 so I'm probably in a different stage of my life than many other folks around here. I'm also a guy so my experience with "baby stuff" is obviously much different than that of females looking to have children. With that being said I wish we would have started a family before PT school. My wife and I got married just as I was leaving the Army in the spring of 2014. I had a degree bit I didn't have any of my science prereqs done so I needed to head back to school full time for a bit and bulk up my observation hours a bit. We decided to put off starting a family during that time. When I got into my program we decided to wait just a bit longer while I adjusted to the course load of PT school. Our school lays out their curriculum a bit differently than most. Our clinical rotations are placed back to back over the course of a year at the tail end of the program. We decided that this would be a good time to finally start a family. If everything goes as planned I'll probably 37 or even 38 before we have our 1st kid. My wife is a few years younger than me but it's still later in life than I think either of us initially planned. If I could go back and do it over again I would have started a family earlier. I placed a job over family which in retrospect was a huge mistake. Family is forever, but I might only be in this field for 10 or 15 years max after graduation. Just something to think about.

 

[Hinges]

I think we are in similar situations. I am 34, accepted into a physical therapy program. However, my wife is only 26 years old so I have time to wait it out until I complete my program in 2021. You are right, family is forever, but if you can't provide for them and raise them in a healthy environment then you shouldn't have them (not saying you did or didn't). I totally understand where you are coming from. I am curious to see how much coursework there is in PT school. Last year, I worked full time (Air Force) and took 8 college classes in a semester.

A couple of caveats before I begin. First, I'm a career changer who didn't start PT school until I was 35 so I'm probably in a different stage of my life than many other folks around here. I'm also a guy so my experience with "baby stuff" is obviously much different than that of females looking to have children. With that being said I wish we would have started a family before PT school. My wife and I got married just as I was leaving the Army in the spring of 2014. I had a degree bit I didn't have any of my science prereqs done so I needed to head back to school full time for a bit and bulk up my observation hours a bit. We decided to put off starting a family during that time. When I got into my program we decided to wait just a bit longer while I adjusted to the course load of PT school. Our school lays out their curriculum a bit differently than most. Our clinical rotations are placed back to back over the course of a year at the tail end of the program. We decided that this would be a good time to finally start a family. If everything goes as planned I'll probably 37 or even 38 before we have our 1st kid. My wife is a few years younger than me but it's still later in life than I think either of us initially planned. If I could go back and do it over again I would have started a family earlier. I placed a job over family which in retrospect was a huge mistake. Family is forever, but I might only be in this field for 10 or 15 years max after graduation. Just something to think about.

 

[freakinmeowt]

If you are dead set on having a baby before completing school, it would definitely be better to have one during prereqs vs in PT school in my opinion. Having a toddler is exhausting but at least they (mostly?) sleep through the night. I don't know how anyone functions on newborn sleeping patterns. Undergrad classes are easier and you have the ability to lighten the course load if you need to. That would not be an option in PT school. Also, having to take time off in PT school to have said child could potentially extend the amount of time it takes to get through the program. In an ideal world, I think waiting until after school would be best. However, as a woman myself, I understand that we have a limited time frame to have children and that waiting could jeopardize that (you don't say how old you are, so that's obviously a factor). Having a baby while in school is going to be hard, but people do make it work. Also, make sure your husband really, truly understands what you're going to be going through school wise, so that his expectations are realistic as well.

 

[Jimbobsquare]

.

 

[TheDancingWriter]

When it comes to kids, they have to be the priority over everything else, so I'd absolutely wait. In my anatomy class, those who have kids really struggle trying to get good grades and often can't get them because their kids are a priority, as their husbands are often the primary bread winners since they obviously can't be while they're in school. DPT school is already going to be hard as it is, so don't complicated it by jumping the gun and having kids. It doesn't matter if others say it's doable. It might be doable for them, but it might not be doable for you, and you don't want to chance that it's not.

 

[Agent007]

Interesting thread. I am starting at Temple this summer and will be 30 yo. We had the same discussions with my husband. One of the reasons of me goung to PT school is to give my kid a better future than I had. At the same time at this age, irs curting it a bit too close. My question is this- if i get pregnant towards the end of the program- will anyone hire me at all? If i take like half a year break after graduation to have a child- will that hurt my job opportunities? Those are the actual hard and upsetting questions...
I know theres no right time, yara, yara... but any opinions from people above?

 

[DPT2021]

I wouldn't wait. Raising a child is time consuming no matter when you start. You aren't going to suddenly have a bunch of free time during your first few years of practice. It might even be more convenient during school if the school has childcare. If your husband has a job that allows him to help with care, go for it.

 

[starrsgirl]

I had a kiddo while I was doing the pre reqs for PT school. I highly recommend this option over having a kid while you are in PT school. First, pre req courses are much more flexible than PT school. I was often able to work with my instructors and get an assignment extension or I could drop a class (in the semester I gave birth) and move it to the next semester. I was able to take more classes when I had more support with my kids and then I did less when it became too much.

The big issue with having a kid in PT school is (for many schools), IF you have a kid in the middle of a semester, and you cannot make it back to school in the next few days (which is ridiculous...you need some sort of maternity break), you will likely have to withdraw from that semester and have to wait and entire YEAR to roll into the class behind you. You cannot simply make up those classes and keep on track.

Second, the intensity of PT school is so much more than pre reqs. I found it difficult to keep up at times (I had 2 young kids when I started school), but my kids were at least toddlers. I wasn't breastfeeding and they were "only" up once at night. It would have been difficult for me to stay on course with the work of a newborn in PT school.

One big factor I always encourage people to consider is the daycare situation. I was in PT school full time with a husband who worked many hours. Our kids were in daycare for very very long hours everyday. In addition to that, my husband also had to care for the kids primarily on at least 1 weekend day so I could study. It was more hours than I anticipated and the more help you can have with childcare, the bette.r Also, plan for the financial cost of daycare now. We were a single income family paying full time daycare....it was very expensive. We incurred more childcare cost than my schooling cost. Just make a plan and budget for this now.
(Also, I did have to travel for 1 of my clinical rotations....this was also very difficult with children. Make a plan for that one too.)