Need Some Advice

[DRCM]

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Is it possible to go to pod school, work 20+ hours a week, and handle family (husband and 2 kids)?

Some people say to just take out extra money each year to cover living costs. I can't take out full living costs, but if I take out $10K extra, I'd still have to work part time. Do you think it is a smart idea to take out extra money? I know that the more I take out, the more I have to pay back.

I've also heard that it's better to save up money now so that I don't have to work in pod school. However, I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband works. I don't trust daycares - I've heard too many bad stories- so I'd have to work in the evenings when he comes home. Even if I did trust daycares, the salary I'd get would probably be enough to just cover daycare costs, therefore I wouldn't be able to save up money anyway. So then, what's the point? I can't find a decent paying job anywhere. Maybe with a bachelor's degree, my job prospects will be better.

I am most interested in NYCPM. I already live in NYC, and I would like to be in its 4.5 year decelerated program. I know the courseload is still a lot, but it'd really help me out some.

I would truly love to be a podiatrist, but I need to be realistic, not optimistic. I have a family to raise and enough time has passed already. Do you think it is doable? Thank you.

 

[PADPM]

Is it possible to go to pod school, work 20+ hours a week, and handle family (husband and 2 kids)?

Some people say to just take out extra money each year to cover living costs. I can't take out full living costs, but if I take out $10K extra, I'd still have to work part time. Do you think it is a smart idea to take out extra money? I know that the more I take out, the more I have to pay back.

I've also heard that it's better to save up money now so that I don't have to work in pod school. However, I am a stay-at-home mom and my husband works. I don't trust daycares - I've heard too many bad stories- so I'd have to work in the evenings when he comes home. Even if I did trust daycares, the salary I'd get would probably be enough to just cover daycare costs, therefore I wouldn't be able to save up money anyway. So then, what's the point? I can't find a decent paying job anywhere. Maybe with a bachelor's degree, my job prospects will be better.

I am most interested in NYCPM. I already live in NYC, and I would like to be in its 4.5 year decelerated program. I know the courseload is still a lot, but it'd really help me out some.

I would truly love to be a podiatrist, but I need to be realistic, not optimistic. I have a family to raise and enough time has passed already. Do you think it is doable? Thank you.

First of all, only you know what you are capable of handling. Every student differs. Some need a lot of time for study, some not so much. Some need a lot of sleep, some not so much. Some need some down time to relax, some not so much.

In addition to your school work load and part time job, as you know, being a mom is definitely a full time "job".

That said, I have seen students who had financial difficulties work long hours at outside jobs. It's stressful, especially when you have a family, but once again, only YOU know your limits.

Please keep a few things in mind. After your first few years, you may end up doing some externships/rotations outside your geographic area which won't allow you to be with your kids. Some may be in the area but may require long hours that will not allow you to be home much OR hold a job.

And of course when you obtain a residency, although there is an income, but there are also often long hours away from home and the kids, and of course no time for another job.

These are all things to consider. Good luck.

 

[347932]

First of all, only you know what you are capable of handling. Every student differs. Some need a lot of time for study, some not so much. Some need a lot of sleep, some not so much. Some need some down time to relax, some not so much.

In addition to your school work load and part time job, as you know, being a mom is definitely a full time "job".

That said, I have seen students who had financial difficulties work long hours at outside jobs. It's stressful, especially when you have a family, but once again, only YOU know your limits.

Please keep a few things in mind. After your first few years, you may end up doing some externships/rotations outside your geographic area which won't allow you to be with your kids. Some may be in the area but may require long hours that will not allow you to be home much OR hold a job.

And of course when you obtain a residency, although there is an income, but there are also often long hours away from home and the kids, and of course no time for another job.

These are all things to consider. Good luck.

👍

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

People are going to disagree with me on this, but i've always thought the opposite. Why make and save money now? I get paid like 7.50 (an hour) at the two jobs I have right now. So to get 100 dollars, I need to work like 12 hours to get it. Once I'm a podiatrist, that will take like 2 hours. So why work 6x as long now to make the same amount of money when I can just take it out later and pay interest on it (which does not come to 6x the original value). I value time as money, so in my mind, it doesn't make sense for me to waste those extra ten hours working for something that I can get in 3 later down the road.

But you have a family, so you are probably less reckless than me.

 

[DRCM]

Okay, thanks for the comments. I know that I would need a lot of time to study. I'm good at Biology, but definitely need to study it.. I wish I were as good at Biology as I am with Math and Physics -- oh well. I don't need too much time to sleep; if I can take a nap here and there I will be fine. I also don't need time to relax. I don't get any relaxation time now, so I'm used to it lol.

Are the rotations at NYCPM usually outside NY's geographic area? I've heard that they have plenty of externships/rotations closeby. I can be mistaken, though.

And MaxillofacialMN, I agree with you. I think it's ridiculous to make such a little bit of money. It's almost impossible for me to save up now. I guess it'll be smarter to just take out more loan money and pay it off later on. I, too, value time as money. I think it's better if I didn't work in pod school so that way I can spend more time with family, studying, etc. There's also those loan programs that pay your loans for you if you promise to work in an underserved area for a certain amount of years. I'd be interested in this.

I want to attend NYCPM's January program. I definitely think it'll help me to take a decelerated program. Maybe this will give me more time for everything? Any students in this program who can leave input?

 

[flyhi]

I'm not in the NYCPM decelerated program, but I'm just not sure I see how it would be that much different, honestly. I know I would still put a huge effort into the program and not have that much more 'extra' time. Plus, you have to consider, you are taking out loans a full 8 months earlier (thus accruing interest) than if you were starting in August and have that much time left to work if you waited. I say do the the 4 yr. program and do it well, rather than trying to stretch it out because it's going to end up costing you more that way.

 

[bobdolerson]

I think I can weigh in a little here.

Though I don't have kids, I am newly married, so I might lend a little perspective in that regard.

I would say absolutely, first and foremost, drop the job. Unless it's bringing in some considerable money, you're basically sacrificing grades and time with family for 20 hours of money. If you can bring in the loan money, then spending adequate time with your husband and family to me would be far more valuable than any job.

I'm smarter than a lot of people, and can spend a lot less time studying a lot of this stuff and maintain a relatively good GPA. I'm in the top 35% of my class, have a 3.7, and with only school and a wife, always feel like I'm not spending enough time with either. The amount of time you'll need to spend studying to make good grades should not be underestimated; it's a full time job plus some, and that's just to be in the 2nd or 3rd quartile.

It's true that I don't know your abilities, but I feel I'm smart enough to generally be a good gauge of how long people will need to spend studying, unless you're one of the top top top academic performers that can literally ace exams left and right without studying. If that's not you, and you're one of us other 99.999%, then I think you'll be overwhelmed by the endeavor you're talking about, and all of them will suffer.

It's hard enough for me just having a wife, I can't even fathom the frustration I would have with a couple kids that I wanted to spend my time with as well, and the utter depression that sometime comes with having to continually make the choice to stay away from them. It's not always, by any means, but the frustration is for sure there some of the time.

A job on top of this? If it's absolutely, in every way, necessary and unavoidable, then only you can be the judge of whether or not you can do that, make good enough grades to make your thousands of dollars in educational investment worth it, and not grow distant from your family. I have a feeling those 20 extra hours will be the icing on the crap-cake, and wholeheartedly recommend avoiding them if you can, and I wish you the best of luck if you can't.

Either way, good luck. There's something I figured out when I got here:

This isn't undergrad. I was a top academic performer, and generally was either the highest grade in the class on most every exam I took, or extremely close. I found that with the majority of subjects and exams I took, with adequate studying I could literally walk into every exam knowing I knew everything that could be on the test.

That's not really the case, here. There's such a vast quantity of information that there is rarely a "knowing all of it", and each exam generally carries with it a decision as to how much of your non-pod-school life you'll sacrifice for the sake of some points. With a family, that decision becomes harder, and you'll have to decide what grades you're happy with.

It was a crappy feeling, going from where I was in undergrad to a less-than-stellar performer here, but I make the grades that I make, work hard when I study, and had to face facts that my family is important, and I will not give up all my time with my wife for a GPA. Will I get the best residency in the entire country? Who knows; probably not. Will I lose a wife in the next four years? Hell no, and that's more important to me.

At this point, this post is way long, and I'll stop...

Again, good luck.

 

[dyk343]

Dont get a job while in school... Its hard enough managing school. You also have a family to worry about. The answer should be pretty clear. I also agree w maxillofacialsurgeon on money and time/interest.

 

[DRCM]

Okay, thanks everyone. I've concluded that I will not work while in pod school.

@ bobdolerson, I completely understand everything that you've written. Undergrad was basically a joke for me - writing papers in a few short hours, barely studying for exams (I did have to spend a few hours studying for my biology courses before midterms/finals though), and still getting all A's. I've always been a good, hardworking student, but it really was not necessary for me to spend much time on schoolwork in undergrad. I, too, have always been a top student, and have even graduated as valedictorian, but I'm not expecting to be at the top in pod school. I know it is possible, but not very probable. I'm okay with this, though. I agree that family is way more important than being in the top percentiles. I will have to find time to spend with my family -- maybe even have all of us at the table studying & doing homework together. Thank you for your input.

The January program is still the most appealing to me. I'm not bothered by interests accrued on the extra 8 month of loans. If this will ease my workload, even just a little bit, then it's worth it to me.

 

[AZ25]

Smart choice to drop the job. I'm not sure about NYCPM but OCPM has various work study positions for the students. Tutors and TA's get paid $12.00 an hour to basically teach other students material that needs to be reviewed for boards and clerkships anyways. In terms of the top student talk, you would be surprised who the top students are in pod school compared to their undergrad. Some 3.3s become 4.0s and some 4.0s become 3.3s. It seems as though pod school and undergrad are day and night so be ready to work hard, I'm sure you'll do great.