Financially surviving med school with spouse and low paying jobs

[felix_exitus]

Hello all.

I have some concerns with being married and going to med school. I am nowhere close to being admitted but does anybody have experience on how to keep a marriage alive and well while being in med school? My wife will most likely work a low paying job unless she wants to go to grad school and she doesn't. How possible is it for me to pick up a couple 12 hr shifts a week at the hospital I work at during med school as a Patient Care Tech? I worry about paying my bills while not working that much with little income coming in. I live in the Midwest. It's not expensive to live here but wages aren't awesome either. And concerning my marriage, we don't have kids so how can I be sure to keep my marriage alive while my wife struggles to deal with the fact that I will be in med school. She doesn't view it as much of a priority as I do and doesn't value working like I do either. She will probably be ready for children too when I am in med school as she is 4 years older than me. And she won't work full time after having children either. How can I make it?
Thanks 🙂

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[medimedimedi]

you will be fine. There are plenty of people in med school in the exact situation as yours. Either both have no income or they have to depend on a single income. You can of course take out loans like the rest of us. Remember that this is an investment. I strongly advise against having a job during med school. Your time would be better spent studying so you can land a high paying career once med school is finished. The opportunity cost is too high. And yeah, there are people in med school who have children or have spouses who have children during med school. They all get through it.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Hello all.

I have some concerns with being married and going to med school. I am nowhere close to being admitted but does anybody have experience on how to keep a marriage alive and well while being in med school? My wife will most likely work a low paying job unless she wants to go to grad school and she doesn't. How possible is it for me to pick up a couple 12 hr shifts a week at the hospital I work at during med school as a Patient Care Tech? I worry about paying my bills while not working that much with little income coming in. I live in the Midwest. It's not expensive to live here but wages aren't awesome either. And concerning my marriage, we don't have kids so how can I be sure to keep my marriage alive while my wife struggles to deal with the fact that I will be in med school. She doesn't view it as much of a priority as I do and doesn't value working like I do either. She will probably be ready for children too when I am in med school as she is 4 years older than me. And she won't work full time after having children either. How can I make it?
Thanks 🙂

Reading this, I feel like you are looking at it wrong. Your wife doesn't value what you want to do with your life. You anticipate conflict. And yet, you're asking how you can fix it all. In reality, it's going to have to be a collaborative effort or something will fall apart. There's no way to attend medical school and go through residency married with a spouse who isn't fully on board with the plan and have it be a happy or functional relationship. I've known residents with stay at home spouses who survived on a single income, but I can't think of any medical students with a spouse who didn't work part time (doesn't mean they don't exist, though). It's all manageable if both parties are in it together, but if it's YOU going to med school and YOU responsible for the finances and YOU trying to do everything, it won't work.

 

[felix_exitus]

UPDATE for everyone: We're divorcing.