Having kids during medical school?

[mariaa12345]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am a pre-med, female student. I really dont want to be too old when i can start having kids so I was wondering what its like to have a kid in med school. I have a boyfriend right now and in the next few years, he will hopefully be making a good amount of money. I am lucky to have parents that are willing to pay for my undergraduate education and will always provide me a free room to live in. If i get into my current schools medical school then I am 100% sure that I will never need daycare because someone in the family will always be there to help us out with kids. I am in a weird situation with my classes because after I graduate, I will have about a year long break before I start medical school. I was thinking of having a child in that year break or between my second and third year of medical school. Would it be extremely hard to keep up my grades with a baby? And would i have to take time off of medical school if i had a baby between my second and third year? And if i did take time off then would it look bad when i apply for a residency? I really want to be a dermatologist, but i know how competitive it is so my backup plan is to be an emergency physician. Do you think I can do it? I am already a really great student and i definitely have my study habits down.

 

[Osmosis Co-founder]

A good friend at Hopkins med entered medical school with a newborn baby. On top of that she is a single mother! While it was very difficult, she did an incredible job balancing both and just graduated this past May. Two other people in my class had babies during med school, before the third year though or during the fourth year. Another friend had a baby while in her clinical years at Stanford. All of them have one thing in common: the ability to prioritize. There's a lot of ways to waste time during med school, but in some regards the parents make the most efficient med students because they have to. If you DM me I'd be happy to introduce you to these friends so you can discuss further. Good luck!

 

[TKE340]

The short answer is that none of us can really tell you if you're capable of doing it or not. I'm a male so I can't speak to being a mother in med school, but as a father I can tell you it is very difficult. School is much more difficult, stressful, and time consuming than I believe most undergraduates expect. I do very well but it takes a lot of personal sacrifice. Balancing school and family well leaves very little personal time, especially for those of us interested in competitive specialties. The majority of women that have come to speak to us on the subject have said the best time to have children is during 4th year when the time commitment is a bit less. With all that being said, I've been able to stay near the top of my class and spend a little time with my family every day so it is possible. I'll also caution you that EVERYONE is a good student when you get to medical school, and that sometimes the study habits you had in college may not work for the amount and pace of information in medical school. Good luck!

 

[samac]

Double post
See below. SDN has decided to hate me.

 

[samac]

You know yourself and know if you could handle it. But remember you might not get into your local school, so don't have a kid expecting to have free child care through medical school.
Also a free room, are you planning to live with your parents and baby?

 

[ortnakas]

Some things to think about:
Are you going to want to live with your parents, boyfriend, and baby all in the same house?
There's no guarantee you'll get into your hometown medical school. What will you do if your only acceptance is in a different city/state?
There may be a way to take time off for a baby between years, but it's a bit tricky to plan that exactly. What will you do if you get pregnant at a different time?
A lot of great students struggle in medical school... you'll figure it out, but there's no guarantee that the study habits that worked great in undergrad will do the same in med school.

I have classmates with kids, as well as classmates who are pregnant or have a spouse/significant other who is, so you can definitely make it work! However, it's more complicated than you're making it sound.

 

[doc05]

you sound awfully young ... do you really expect to stay with your current boyfriend long term?

several of my classmates took time off for babies, and there were no issues from the school.

how on earth could you have such an intense interest in dermatology at this stage?

 

[samac]

you sound awfully young ... do you really expect to stay with your current boyfriend long term?

several of my classmates took time off for babies, and there were no issues from the school.

how on earth could you have such an intense interest in dermatology at this stage?

Do have to agree there. It read like an 18 year old wrote it.

 

[Smurfette]

Moving to PreAllo since OP is premed.

 

[Goro]

I've had students who had note merely one but even two kids while in med school. They did fine. At the worst, you'll graduate in 5 years instead of four. It' s doable.

There's no good time to have kids until you're Professor Emeritus, so have them when you want to have them.

I am a pre-med, female student. I really dont want to be too old when i can start having kids so I was wondering what its like to have a kid in med school. I have a boyfriend right now and in the next few years, he will hopefully be making a good amount of money. I am lucky to have parents that are willing to pay for my undergraduate education and will always provide me a free room to live in. If i get into my current schools medical school then I am 100% sure that I will never need daycare because someone in the family will always be there to help us out with kids. I am in a weird situation with my classes because after I graduate, I will have about a year long break before I start medical school. I was thinking of having a child in that year break or between my second and third year of medical school. Would it be extremely hard to keep up my grades with a baby? And would i have to take time off of medical school if i had a baby between my second and third year? And if i did take time off then would it look bad when i apply for a residency? I really want to be a dermatologist, but i know how competitive it is so my backup plan is to be an emergency physician. Do you think I can do it? I am already a really great student and i definitely have my study habits down.

 

[jih]

Also a free room, are you planning to live with your parents and baby?

In some cultures this is actually the norm...

 

[Dr. Jan Itor]

I have a boyfriend right now and in the next few years, he will hopefully be making a good amount of money.

I would wait until you or your boyfriend can afford to support yourselves and a child, unless your parents are planning to pay for your living expenses as well as your tuition. You also need to have a backup plan in place in case you don't get into your desired med school.

But I have to ask, have you actually talked to your parents about you having a kid? I know this is going to sound harsh, but I'm skeptical that your parents would be supportive of you having a child with your "right now" boyfriend if you are planning on going to med school.

 

[NickNaylor]

I'll ignore the multiple red flags in your situation of having kids and spare you that judgment (hint: probably not a good idea).

There were people in my class that had kids during med school. One woman had one baby during late M1/early M2 and a second halfway through M4. Another woman had a baby during M2 and took a year off and joined our class during M3. A few other people had babies during M4. So, it's certainly possible, but just understand that you're absolutely going to need rock solid support (or lots of money to pay for childcare expenses) unless you plan to take lots of time off. M3 will be a doosey in terms of balancing your school responsibilities in your home life.

 

[ndafife]

If you go straight from undergrad to medical school, you'll be graduating around 26/27 which gives you 8/9 years of prime baby making. In fact the average age a woman has a baby is 25.2 so you won't be that late if you wait until after school.

 

[ChillDawg]

I don't think anyone can give you the validation you're looking for.
If you're set on doing it, do it, enjoy motherhood, but be prepared to work your ass off for what will probably seem like eternity.