Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) life after fellowship

[pedstopem]

I am PGY-2 pediatric resident, and I am about to start my application for a PEM fellowship this month. My husband is surgeon, and he basically does shift work. Last night during my shift one my attendings said that my family/social life will be very hard if I decided to go through with a PEM fellowship, given my husband's working hours.
I love everything about PEM, I was really excited to start my application process, but above all I want to be a mother and be able to be there for my kids. So now I am confused, I have been asking around the working hours, and all the fellows and attendings keep telling me how good their life is, and sure they work weekends and night but they a have a lot of days off. But I guess none of them are in the same situation I am, and I don't want my kids to have 2 tired parents all the time.

So this question is for PEM fellows / attendings, how are your work schedules? Are you happy with your choice? Are the working hours better if you are just a pediatrician working in acute care? How is your family life after/during fellowship?

Thank you in advance for all your help.

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[Raryn]

I don't have any first hand experience, but every statistic shows that Peds EM doctors work the fewest hours of any physicians. Period. Even less than adult EM doctors.

 

[Arcan57]

Two physician households make it difficult to have kids without employing some sort of child care. Given the starting and ending hours for many specialties, daycare may or may not be an option. Nannies make things significantly easier but may be an order of magnitude more expensive and do seem to exacerbate feelings of maternal inadequacy in a way that daycare doesn't. With a surgeon husband doing shift work (which I guess would depend on how long and how many shifts/month), social/family life is going to be tough regardless. If you're willing to resign yourself to missing occasional functions during school hours (pre-school book reading, being chaperone on class field trips, etc) and having to rely on child care a couple of times a week, I don't think that PEM would be any worse than part-time peds and would likely be a significant step up from being a full-time pediatrician. I realize everyone has their own opinion on this, but I think having a mother who is engaged in meaningful work outside the home as a role model isn't nothing. Also in the event of tragedy, PEM it's a lot easier to support a family on a PEM salary vs. a part-time pediatrician.

 

[kidsemdoc]

I am PGY-2 pediatric resident, and I am about to start my application for a PEM fellowship this month. My husband is surgeon, and he basically does shift work. Last night during my shift one my attendings said that my family/social life will be very hard if I decided to go through with a PEM fellowship, given my husband's working hours.
I love everything about PEM, I was really excited to start my application process, but above all I want to be a mother and be able to be there for my kids. So now I am confused, I have been asking around the working hours, and all the fellows and attendings keep telling me how good their life is, and sure they work weekends and night but they a have a lot of days off. But I guess none of them are in the same situation I am, and I don't want my kids to have 2 tired parents all the time.

So this question is for PEM fellows / attendings, how are your work schedules? Are you happy with your choice? Are the working hours better if you are just a pediatrician working in acute care? How is your family life after/during fellowship?

Thank you in advance for all your help.

 

[kidsemdoc]

PEM is a great field, pays well and can be Mom adaptable only if you have gained senior status in an institution. There is a not so subtle backlash on the part time colleague from the long suffering full timers who have not fashioned their own schedules and "pulled the load." Being part time does put a damper on academic credibility and ability to maintain skills.
That being said, there is high burn out in adult and ped
EM with escape to urgent care or other areas. I recommend being heavily involved on hospital committees or research early on so you can have respite from the stress (somewhat) and pursue an MBA or MPH early to plan for an admin option later.

 

[kidsemdoc]

PEM is a great field, pays well and can be Mom adaptable only if you have gained senior status in an institution. There is a not so subtle backlash on the part time colleague from the long suffering full timers who have not fashioned their own schedules and "pulled the load." Being part time does put a damper on academic credibility and ability to maintain skills.
That being said, there is high burn out in adult and ped
EM with escape to urgent care or other areas. I recommend being heavily involved on hospital committees or research early on so you can have respite from the stress (somewhat) and pursue an MBA or MPH early to plan for an admin option later.