I'm curious what the general impression is here on whether or not to mention one's own kids in a personal statement or interview for pediatric residency. I began med school with one kid, now have two, and am more or less an average applicant (average Step1, solid grades, no red flags, but nothing remarkable or interesting either). On the one hand, I can see how it might be considered a negative to have kids, and I don't have a gap in my record that I necessarily need to explain, so I could just leave it out. On the other hand, not mentioning how I spent 95% of my time outside of school these past few years would seem....kind of lame? If I could somehow list the activities involved without mentioning these were my own kids, it would seem so much better (eg...."volunteered >1000 hours reading to kids", "taught child how to read", "stayed up all night with bronchiolitic/vomiting/febrile kid, then ran to work for 30 hour shift followed by studying", etc). But clearly, that is not really an option.
I have kids...should I mention this in my peds residency application?
- Thread starter Rutabaga
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It shouldn't be a problem, and if anything, may be a potential benefit. You can mention how your interaction with your children, seeing them grow and fostering their development, inspired you to go into pediatrics. This is one field where an applicants personality goes a long way, so I don't think this would negate your application if you mention. But that's just my opinion.... anybody else on the board is welcomed to chime in.
Nardo
Nardo
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Agree. It's unlikely to hurt you at all. I'd make sure you don't come off as trying to 'use' them to prove you'd be good at peds if that makes sense. But including that you're a parent and how that's shown you what it's like on the other side of the physician-parent-patient relationship could be a good thing.
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Another thing to think about, if a program doesn't like you because you have kids they may not be the program you're looking for. I would guess that they aren't family friendly. Besides, so many residents have babies during residency.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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I listed it. People liked it. By law, they cannot ask you or talk to you about kids unless you say it first. I liked it because it opened the door for me to discuss it and mine are such an integral part of my life and why I chose peds it seemed odd to not list it. I also agree with TexasRose's comments, too.
Thanks for the responses guys. I'm surprised no one has taken the other side--isn't there a down side as well (kids eat up multiple hours a day, most days; they get sick, have parent teacher conferences etc etc...).
I do think I will mention it, though I think it's a real mixed bag.
I do think I will mention it, though I think it's a real mixed bag.
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If you were applying to surgery or to a surgical subspecialty then I wouldn't mention the kids, but peds is a different ball game. And would you really want to be at a pediatric program that didn't support residents with kids?
I don't know, I'm not sure what it would mean for a residency program to support residents with kids. Most of the things I would want are fairly heavily regulated; I'm not sure how much variation there is from program to program.
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That's exactly it; the training and academic requirements in residency are heavily regulated but the personality types are not. Kids or no kids, you still have to fulfill your requirements, but that's much more enjoyable when you're working with people who support your life outside of residency and don't resent you for it.
Case in point: my residency really helped me out at the end of my pregnancy. I was put on temporary bedrest and when I got off bedrest, I had to be removed from call until after I delivered. Thankfully, I didn't have that many calls left but really who wants an extra call? People stepped up and took my calls without me asking them. They just did it. Now, I'm going to pay them back by taking a call for them so in the end it will even out, but no one had to volunteer to take my call. My supportive residency mates just did it. Now that I'm back from maternity leave and there are 5 pregnancies in our program, I will be helping my classmates out whenever I can. It's just what we do, and it makes all the difference.
