Pregnant and Applying for Anesthesia Fellowship

[lilowangatang]

I am in what I feel to be the worst boat possible. I recently applied for an anesthesia fellowship only to find out a few months later that I was pregnant. First pregnancy. Currently a CA3. That would mean I would be raising a small child during fellowship. To make matters worse, my husband will be applying for a tough residency at the same time (I match in October, he matches in March), and there is a huge possibility we will not be together while I do my fellowship, effectively making me a single mom trying to pass the ABA boards, do fellowship, take care of a baby, pass oral boards, then pass the fellowship boards....I get overwhelmed just thinking about it. Im thinking about dropping out of the fellowship match, but I don't know if I would regret this....I also have no nearby family to help me raise this child. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated!

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[deleted171991]

I would consider finding a good nanny or daycare for those 10-12 hours/day you are away. Drop off the baby in the morning, pick her up in the evening. There are billions of women and men around the world who work and raise children at the same time.

Congratulations for the happy news! It will be tough, but you'll be much happier when you look back. Don't worry about the ABA oral, because the pedi fellowship will open you many more doors than the board certification, which can wait. Just pass the written exam, because a baby is no excuse for failing it.

Priorities:
1. Have baby and finish residency.
2. Finish fellowship.
3. Get board certified.

Let me put it this way: if you drop out of the match, you'll still have to work at least part-time (otherwise you'll jeopardize your undeveloped anesthesiologist skills), and you'll never go back to a fellowship.

 

[lyn2006]

Yep, find good childcare and you will get through fellowship. Personally I would plan to line up two nannies if you have no other help because a. not many people actually like having to work 50-60 hours per week and b. you'll hopefully have a built in backup childcare provider for if one nanny gets sick, etc. I've had two kids during anesthesia residency with a resident/ fellow husband and our nanny has been a lifesaver. PM for more details of how to make it all work if you want!

 

[Planktonmd]

What a predicament!
Did you really want to get pregnant at this time?

 

[michigangirl]

First...congratulations!!! Second...I understand your stress and concern about the coming months/years. We can talk about having 1 nanny, 2 nannies, 3 nannies-- but you are obviously already preparing yourself for a very challenging road. My only major advice is to do whatever you possibly can to both match in the same city so you can live together. It may require compromise. Being a "single" mom during fellowship with no family in the area will be no small feat. Even if a nanny is not cost-prohibitive, let along multiple nannies, there will be call nights and irregular schedules that will make things more complex. I don't know what fellowship you are applying to, but you will have to plan for someone to be available if you get called in from home on call nights or have to stay in house. That stress of not knowing can be very taxing. The day-to-day is manageable, it's the nights that will require the most creative solutions. Could consider a live-in au-pere, but must always be ready for the possibility of that person leaving on any given day, as mentioned above. If being together is not possible, then the next best solution is to bring a family member with you (i.e. mom 🙂) but that is not always possible.

Another potential approach (and I know of a few female residents/fellows who do this or have done this) is to leave your child with family where they live-- I know it's not ideal when you want to be with your child but it may be the best option depending on where your family lives. People have even done this on an international level. You said you won't have family nearby, but I'm not sure if that's because they are international or there are no programs near them?

Don't get me wrong. It's not impossible. There are creative ways to approach the challenges. I wouldn't drop out of the match-- just make sure you have a sustainable plan that will maintain your own personal sanity as you begin the journey of being a mom. Happy to discuss further by pm. Good luck.

 

[lobelsteve]

My sister had 3 kids in med school and residency. Peds neurology for a toyal of 6 years of training. You can do this.

 

[BuzzPhreed]

Don't worry about it. Academic centers love pregnant clinicians/clinicians with small kids. Just put your kid in daycare in the hospital. You can have lunch with him/her everyday. They'll give you plenty of time to "pump" and attend to other motherly duties. Just find the time to make sure your attendings meet their RVUs and no one will complain. As far as the fellowship problem, I'm assuming that you only applied to the same city. If not, that might be a problem. Hopefully you're close to one of your parents or in-laws. That's an option. Good news is that anesthesia fellowships are only a year. Or you can withdraw from the fellowship match now and postpone it.

Congrats on your forthcoming kid. PPPPPPP.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

Don't worry about it. Academic centers love pregnant clinicians/clinicians with small kids. Just put your kid in daycare in the hospital. You can have lunch with him/her everyday. They'll give you plenty of time to "pump" and attend to other motherly duties. Just find the time to make sure your attendings meet their RVUs and no one will complain.

This really isn't helpful advice.

 

[imfrankie]

I am in what I feel to be the worst boat possible. I recently applied for an anesthesia fellowship only to find out a few months later that I was pregnant. First pregnancy. Currently a CA3. That would mean I would be raising a small child during fellowship. To make matters worse, my husband will be applying for a tough residency at the same time (I match in October, he matches in March), and there is a huge possibility we will not be together while I do my fellowship, effectively making me a single mom trying to pass the ABA boards, do fellowship, take care of a baby, pass oral boards, then pass the fellowship boards....I get overwhelmed just thinking about it. Im thinking about dropping out of the fellowship match, but I don't know if I would regret this....I also have no nearby family to help me raise this child. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated!

Congratulations mom! You're gonna love it.

 

[IlDestriero]

I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but it is possible that you might not be able to afford to do your fellowship now.
If you have an au pair and a nanny and/or daycare you could cover it easily, but this will be quite expensive if you are apart and away from family.
2 nannies might be doable as well. One in the AM and another part time for overnight call shifts.
The call outs are your biggest problem. My university offers an emergency nanny service, you may need to just accept the occasional stranger filling in as the cost of the fellowship. You can only call out so many days, and babies get sick, etc.
Good luck.
PS You can go back to a fellowship after being an attending for a few years. I did. It just requires planning.

 

[sevoflurane]

Tough call... but I'd just buck up and do it. It's hard to come back to do a fellowship once you cash in your first post residency pay check.
The hardest things in life don't come easy. Good luck.

 

[yasawa]

I am in what I feel to be the worst boat possible. I recently applied for an anesthesia fellowship only to find out a few months later that I was pregnant. First pregnancy. Currently a CA3. That would mean I would be raising a small child during fellowship. To make matters worse, my husband will be applying for a tough residency at the same time (I match in October, he matches in March), and there is a huge possibility we will not be together while I do my fellowship, effectively making me a single mom trying to pass the ABA boards, do fellowship, take care of a baby, pass oral boards, then pass the fellowship boards....I get overwhelmed just thinking about it. Im thinking about dropping out of the fellowship match, but I don't know if I would regret this....I also have no nearby family to help me raise this child. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated!

Are you applying to Pain? I think that's the only anesthesia fellowship that matches in October. If so, you can see if there are any off cycle pain positions. I know of a few programs that do January-January. Also, you could apply for one of the 2 year spots which involves research and then fellowship. You could ask to do your research year during the first year and work per diem as an attending. You would then do your fellowship the second year. Otherwise, I would advise looking at a program with reasonable hours (8-5) and minimal call. Some programs will make you work 7-7 every day and take weekend call. The other option is have your husband postpone the match for a year and do research. In reality, you will be the one supporting your family while he is a resident so it is much easier for him to postpone starting residency by one year as opposed to you postponing fellowship for a year since you are so close to being done and becoming an attending. Hope this helps!

 

[BuzzPhreed]

This really isn't helpful advice.

Why not? It's the truth. She's pregnant. She's going to have a kid. This is the only pathway to having your cake and eating it too.

 

[Planktonmd]

Here is how I see it:
You made a decision to have a baby at such a critical point of your career... You knew what you were doing (assuming you are an adult with a reasonable IQ) ... now you are wondering what your options might be... but you already made the decisions and did not think twice how those decisions would affect your options!
Deal with it... Life is not always perfect and the world does not revolve around you and your maternal instincts.
You want to do a fellowship... then you will have to be a full time fellow and do the job without expecting anyone to do it for you.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

To the OP, there is a discussion board for physicians who are moms. There are some anesthesiologists who post there. These women balance work and family, and are not "mommy-track". PM me and I can give you the website address. You can get a different perspective there.

 

[sevoflurane]

Here is how I see it:
You made a decision to have a baby at such a critical point of your career... You knew what you were doing (assuming you are an adult with a reasonable IQ) ... now you are wondering what your options might be... but you already made the decisions and did not think twice how those decisions would affect your options!
Deal with it... Life is not always perfect and the world does not revolve around you and your maternal instincts.
You want to do a fellowship... then you will have to be a full time fellow and do the job without expecting anyone to do it for you.

I love how honest you can be plank.... 👍

OP- you will get through this.

 

[Corker]

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[deleted171991]

The tummy will grow, the baby will come, and the first months will pass while she's a CA-3, so half of your advice doesn't apply. 😛

And no, it's not that easy to go back to fellowship, unless you are a board-certified relatively experienced anesthesiologist. Mommy track might not qualify for that, depending on how competitive the fellowship is.

I am going back to a non-competitive fellowship, after a few years as a board-certified solo attending. There was a whole discussion about how I will be able to function as a trainee, or what the heck do I want to get out of this training at this point. I consider myself lucky that I was able to convince most of them that I bring something to the table a fresh grad can't, but I could see that some people still had their doubts. They want puppies with puppy-eyes, not dogs.

It's not that easy to go back. And it will get much tougher, as programs will be able to more and more pick and choose, in the coming years. It's not a candidate's market anymore (except for the semi-worthless fellowships). Heck, you can't get any decent fellowship 6 months before graduation anymore, not even ICU.

 

[IlDestriero]

I had no trouble going back for my fellowship after a few years as an attending. I interviewed at all the best programs and had my choice of where to go. They all asked why I wanted to go back, etc. but they were definitely interested in having me come. I also had more documented leadership experience than most of the faculty. Convincing them that I was bringing a lot more to the table than a new grad was not a problem.
It was different then, before the match, they had to actively recruit the good candidates that they wanted, or lose them to another program.
You should be able to go back, provided that you are a good candidate now. You will have to put aside money to cover your increased expenses, lifestyle, etc. though.

 

[deleted171991]

When was that? And if you tell me 3 years ago, I will tell you it was a different market even then. 5 years ago it was downright Paradise, definitely a buyer's market.

I am not saying it's impossible. I am just saying it gets tougher every year.

 

[IlDestriero]

More than that, but the point is that experience and board certification was valued. Most places didn't even want my exam scores when I called and told them I was already certified. If they didn't want the score, they couldn't use it to stratify the applicants. Make the most of the time away, pick up some collateral duties, and SELL that experience. That doesn't change and the best programs were always competitive. You can say you sat in a chair dropping LMAs in healthy ASA 1 and 2 patients at the ASC M-F 7a-3p, or you can actually do something and leverage it to score a choice fellowship.
It may be a sellers market, but everyone loves a 600hp Ferrari. Don't be an Accord.

 

[BuzzPhreed]

When was that? And if you tell me 3 years ago, I will tell you it was a different market even then. 5 years ago it was downright Paradise, definitely a buyer's market.

I am not saying it's impossible. I am just saying it gets tougher every year.

And I'd ask "why" is that?

Because there is huge $$$ in anesthesia. And the market forces are driving towards monopolies. When you can force someone to take a job for less than they're actually worth, force them to work in a practice model where they can't really dictate individual care, and then expect them to take whatever salary they are handed while assuming all the risk... this is Paradise for the MBAs and venture capitalists who are reaping the benefits off of the hard work of whoever is stupid enough to work in that environment. That, or it's time to rebel against this paradigm and get the lawyers involved.