How much time off?

[Rpre19]

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Hi I read in a thread here one of the members took several years off to raise her family as a single mom. It made me wonder...

I started my psych residency in 2008 & became pregnant. I had a complication & had to leave the program d/t too much time out. I have not returned to the program this year & I actually really love love being at home with my new daughter. I also want to have more kids (at least 4-5 total. crazy maybe but me & my husband agree on a medium-large family 🙂 ) It is likely that I will have a repeat of my previous complication with successive pregnancies that could keep me out of residency each time I'm pregnant. I dont know too many programs that would put up with this & they would have the right, after medical leave is up if I'm still out, to not continue my contract. (I lkearned the program basically terminates you after 6 months of leave & then decides to offer you a spot for next year) Besides, I wouldnt want to start a residency program knowing I would be taking advantage of the medical disability leave each time I wanted to have a baby-doesnt seem ethical to me. lol plus I'd never even finish residency at that rate...

My dilemma is that I am in my mid-thirties.Not really any more time left to delay pregnancies. Matter of fact we have decided on having another now. So, how long do you think I could theoretically be out of medicine & still try to get back in? If I couldnt get psych I could go for FM in the future-I think I could be happy doing that. But if you asked me to choose btwn residency or having more kids I would choose family without a second thought. Any thoughts? I havent found any advice on this subject anywhere & dont know of anyome who took more than a year off.

 

[whopper]

I think you're going to get a lot of variability depending on the programs. Several will have an open mind and understand your situation. Others may see this as a reason to throw you you on the bottom of the list.

This reminds me of a case I saw on Oprah where some guy had top scores across the board, but was a paraplegic. He couldn't get into a residency. No one wanted to hire him even though employers aren't supposed to discriminate against someone with his condition. While there are safeguards in place--the employers could always argue they had a multitude of applicants they could've otherwise picked (which is true), though it was also the overwhelming likelihood that he was being discriminated against because any other candidate in his position without the paraplegia would've gotten into several top programs.

Its a very tough situation for a woman to be in who wants to start a family. Most women will end up graduating from medical school in their 30s, yet how can they start a family if they don't take time off?

I remember while in residency, a female medical resident literally had to have her 2 kids in the on call room, and the other residents in the room would watch her kids if she got beeped, and there was a possibility that at any time, all residents would've had to have left leaving those kids in the on call room alone (they were 4 & 5 years old). I also remember another female resident who was pregnant was made to work 2 weeks after her delivery, and she literally couldn't walk without voiding. Other residents had to do her work for her, and the medical PD didn't give a damn that she was urinating. She had to negotiate with other residents to do her work, and she'd pay them back by taking several of their calls in the future.

I certainly hope more programs would not hold your mother status against you, but I believe the likelihood is several will--though hopefully several will also be open minded, compassionate & fair enough to understand your situation.

Compassion. Geez there's a new concept in the medical application process.

 

[peppy]

I don't have any firsthand experience with this sort of situation, but just going by the kind of advice people usually give to applicants who don't match to a residency in the first place, I think you'd be better off if you can find a way to stay involved in medicine in some way during the years that you're not in residency.

For example, if you could work on an MPH, find a position doing research, or something of that nature during the time you're not pregnant, I think that would help a lot compared to just being a SAHM during those years. Some programs might be concerned about if your knowledge base and skills might deteriorate due to an extended time off, so I think it would help if you could point to some activities you've been doing in an effort to stay current and involved.

I hope everything works out for you, but I would also try to have a backup plan in place for what you'll do if you were to run into problems getting into residency later on down the road despite your best efforts. It seems like with the increased med school admissions that the trend is going to be for higher competition in getting residencies, and nobody can really predict how PDs a few years from now might view an extended absence from clinical medicine. A lot of people will say that psychiatry is so easy to get into you shouldn't worry, but since I was really caught off guard by not matching even though I was a seemingly strong applicant, I would not want anyone else to get caught unprepared like I was.