relocating families

[epsilonprodigy]

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As I'm filling out my secondary for a school that's far, far away.............. I can't help but get nervous about some of the things that might lay ahead. I am married with a 7-year old. My husband is a carpenter who owns his own business. We own a house that we got a GREAT deal on. Also, the public schools are strong where we live, so we'd prefer to keep my son in the school system. So the possibility of moving is scary...........

If I must go somewhere far away, I'm thinking of just getting a crash pad with a few roomies and coming home on weekends during med school. I just don't know if moving would be the best choice because of the above reasons, plus my in-laws are very close by, and my son is very close to them (plus they are able to baby-sit sometimes.)

I'd love to hear from other non-trads with families who faced relocation, and how you dealt. I keep telling myself, "four years out of your whole life is a drop in the ocean," but it's still a little scary.

 

[theseeker4]

As I'm filling out my secondary for a school that's far, far away.............. I can't help but get nervous about some of the things that might lay ahead. I am married with a 7-year old. My husband is a carpenter who owns his own business. We own a house that we got a GREAT deal on. Also, the public schools are strong where we live, so we'd prefer to keep my son in the school system. So the possibility of moving is scary...........

If I must go somewhere far away, I'm thinking of just getting a crash pad with a few roomies and coming home on weekends during med school. I just don't know if moving would be the best choice because of the above reasons, plus my in-laws are very close by, and my son is very close to them (plus they are able to baby-sit sometimes.)

I'd love to hear from other non-trads with families who faced relocation, and how you dealt. I keep telling myself, "four years out of your whole life is a drop in the ocean," but it's still a little scary.

Personally, I chose to apply multiple cycles to reduce the chance of having to move as much as possible. I applied to a single school EDP this year (get my answer in two weeks ) and if I don't get in, I will apply to that school plus the three other schools within driving distance next year. Only if I am unsuccessful two cycles in a row will we look into moving. After the four years of med school though, there is of course a high likelihood that we will have to move for residency, though that is a bridge to cross when we get there.

We too have a son (7 months old), family in our current area, a house, and jobs in the area. Personally, I wouldn't move to a school without my wife and son. It would just be too much added stress, on myself and on them, for us to consider. I know there are others on here though who have made it work, so it is an individual decision.

Good luck with this application cycle.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

i applied fairly broadly and I have told myself that getting into med school is more important than getting into my mumber one choice, but my interview for my number one choice was monday and I am freaking out about it. Every single answer I could have done better, and I should have said this, or I should have emphasized this more and that less, etc. I think about it and I get so nervous it makes me sick to my stomach because I really don't want to move my family. So I don't know what will ultimately happen if I don't get in, but I am reallt REALLY hoping it isn't an issue.

 

[theseeker4]

i applied fairly broadly and I have told myself that getting into med school is more important than getting into my mumber one choice, but my interview for my number one choice was monday and I am freaking out about it. Every single answer I could have done better, and I should have said this, or I should have emphasized this more and that less, etc. I think about it and I get so nervous it makes me sick to my stomach because I really don't want to move my family. So I don't know what will ultimately happen if I don't get in, but I am reallt REALLY hoping it isn't an issue.

I think that feeling is a lot like walking out of your MCAT. You begin second-guessing yourself and thinking you did much worse than you really did. It is what it is and you will be fine.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I think that feeling is a lot like walking out of your MCAT. You begin second-guessing yourself and thinking you did much worse than you really did. It is what it is and you will be fine.

yeah i agree. My wife and I were talking about it and I think the only reason I am freaking out is because this is THE school i want. It is 5 miles from my house, rotations are basically in town, and the school is awesome. If it was any other school I think I would feel fine.

 

[cabinbuilder]

As I'm filling out my secondary for a school that's far, far away.............. I can't help but get nervous about some of the things that might lay ahead. I am married with a 7-year old. My husband is a carpenter who owns his own business. We own a house that we got a GREAT deal on. Also, the public schools are strong where we live, so we'd prefer to keep my son in the school system. So the possibility of moving is scary...........

If I must go somewhere far away, I'm thinking of just getting a crash pad with a few roomies and coming home on weekends during med school. I just don't know if moving would be the best choice because of the above reasons, plus my in-laws are very close by, and my son is very close to them (plus they are able to baby-sit sometimes.)

I'd love to hear from other non-trads with families who faced relocation, and how you dealt. I keep telling myself, "four years out of your whole life is a drop in the ocean," but it's still a little scary.

The question is how bad do you want to be a doctor? Relocation is almost inevitable. As a mother who is also the doctor with two kids I will tell you that there are good school systems all over the country, some of us don't have the luxury of parents, and you can always move back home once you are all said and done. With that said I will show you how much I have moved in the last 10 years and I tell you if you have a supportive spouse to hold down the fort, the kids will be fine.

I started medical school when my kids were 2 and 5 yrs old.

2001 Moved from Alaska to Erie, PA
2006 Moved from Erie, Pa to Corpus Christi, TX
2007 Moved from CC, TX to NYC - stayed for ONE week, hated it and left
Moved back to CC, TX and finished residency
8/2009 Move from CC, TX to Montana - stayed 4 months since my family hated it.
12/2009 Moved from Montana to Colorado -stayed 18 months, did locums for a year and was gone 2 months, home 2 months, etc.
6/2011 Moved from Colorado to Oregon to take over a practice.

That is 7 moves in 10 years. I can get a job anywhere. My kids are now 12 and 15, are well adjusted, happy, A students and very well travelled. They just met their grandmother last year and now are building a relationship. They haven't missed out on anything. The goal was to become a doctor, be a good mom in the process, and be able to support my family forever no matter what the economy is doing.

Most people do not get to go to medical and residency in the same town/city. You will need to plan to move at least once. Hope that helps.

 

[DrBowtie]

Before you send in your secondary, you need to have a serious discussion with your husband about this. Everybody needs to be on the same page.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

That is 7 moves in 10 years. I can get a job anywhere. My kids are now 12 and 15, are well adjusted, happy, A students and very well travelled. They haven't missed out on anything. The goal was to become a doctor, be a good mom in the process, and be able to support my family forever no matter what the economy is doing.

Thank you for this information! I am applying for matriculation in 2013, and my kids will be 5, 9, and 10 when I (hopefully 😀) start school. While my top choice is where we live, it is highly selective, and I'm not super hopeful. Knowing that, my husband and I have discussed moving excitedly; we don't love our city and have wanted to try something new for a while. The kid thing, however, is huge. We are going to be completely broke, of course, so they will need to attend public schools (which they do now). The idea of finding a place that has the competitive level of free education we have here, is safe, and has as low standard of living as our current location seems daunting, if not impossible. I have a lot of research to do once my MCAT scores come in (2 weeks 👍) and I see where I'm competitive, so it's nice to know those places exist!

 

[cabinbuilder]

Thank you for this information! I am applying for matriculation in 2013, and my kids will be 5, 9, and 10 when I (hopefully 😀) start school. While my top choice is where we live, it is highly selective, and I'm not super hopeful. Knowing that, my husband and I have discussed moving excitedly; we don't love our city and have wanted to try something new for a while. The kid thing, however, is huge. We are going to be completely broke, of course, so they will need to attend public schools (which they do now). The idea of finding a place that has the competitive level of free education we have here, is safe, and has as low standard of living as our current location seems daunting, if not impossible. I have a lot of research to do once my MCAT scores come in (2 weeks 👍) and I see where I'm competitive, so it's nice to know those places exist!

You are welcome. My kids have attended public school because I don't believe in religious based private school and there is no way I could have afforded it anyway. They do well and are A students. The kids will be fine.

 

[PostHaste]

I'm more in TheSeeker's camp on this. I'm going to try really hard NOT to move my family, or at least to keep the number of moves to a minimum. My husband has a good job here and would have some trouble finding something as good if we moved, we would likely have to pay to sell our house, my oldest just started school here, my mom lives here, etc. My husband and I share house & kid duties really well, but we both suck at going solo, so me taking off for a week or to at a time really isn't on the table.

A lot of our plan hinged on my MCAT, which turned out better than expected. With that, I'm applying EDP only at the school down the street. If I don't get in there this year we will start planning for relocating the family to whatever school (DO or MD) in the region will take me in the '12-'13 cycle.

We are trying to go into this with a realistic but optimistic viewpoint. We know we'll likely have to move at some point, but we're willing to sacrifice a little time or a little prestige in order to minimize it. Though I guess we'll see how I feel about all that when I fall in love with Plastic Surgery or some other nonsense during 3rd year...

 

[dsoz]

Priorities are important. I was being selfish and was trying to apply to med school this year (after 17 years of being a high school science teacher). My daughter would be a senior the same year that I would start. I thought that it would be OK because I was "only" applying to two schools. One (MD school) is in the major city near our town (30 min drive from my house), and the other one (DO school) was about a 90 minute drive down the freeway. Both were close, but my stats were only "average" for the MD school and "much above average" for the DO school. Which one would be more likely to offer acceptance?

One night my daughter told me that she was feeling that I would miss out on some of her most important activities, so I withdrew my application for this cycle. It is important to take into consideration the feelings and desires of EVERYONE in the family.

I will re-apply next summer. However, I am not going to limit myself to just two schools. I want to move to someplace new that is more warm and sunny. 🙂

dsoz

 

[LingoLaine]

I've got the same issues. My family, husband's career, two mortgages, etc. are all located in Colorado. It would be much easier to stay here, so last year I applied to U of Colorado only. Didn't even get an interview.

This year I'm reapplying to Colorado and have added three more schools. All of those three would require complete relocation (Connecticut, Vermont, Wisconsin) but are places where we could see living permanently or at least long term (i.e. hopefully med school AND residency). If I don't get in this year, I will definitely apply more broadly next year but it will be tough.

 

[Northwesterly]

I will re-apply next summer. However, I am not going to limit myself to just two schools. I want to move to someplace new that is more warm and sunny. 🙂

dsoz

I may be doing my damnedest to stay in rainy, cloudy Oregon, but I like the way you think. 🙂

 

[QuiSait]

I am worried about location too. We live overseas right now. I did toy with the idea of going to school here, but then it would be pretty hard to ever move back to N. America and practice, and I'm not ready to commit to never working there again. So, we'll definitely be moving.

On my first go, I plan to apply to only a small handful of schools close to my family - more support if we have a kid by then, and lower tuition, and good job opportunities for my husband. If that doesn't pan out, then I'll cast a wider net.

It's definitely harder when there's more at stake in terms of family stability, a partner's career, and your finances (or maybe just having a grasp on what living with student debt would look like, versus your perspective straight out of school - I know we're both much more debt-averse now. Plus we have fewer working years to pay it off :-/).