Specialties for a single dad?

[Moomoo123]

I’m an undergrad right now on the pre med track. I really want to pursue a specialty that would allow me to raise children on my own while still earning enough to support them.

I’d really like to have kids through adoption/surrogacy in my early thirties, so soon after I finish residency hopefully.

I do love medicine but having children is a priority in my life and if I have to, I will pursue a different career path.

If anyone has any suggestions for specialties/ residencies I should aim for, I would greatly appreciate them!

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[Dr panda]

Software development. If you start right now by the time you turn 30 you will be already making your 130k+ without any debts, residencies and lost income due to another 4 years of school.

 

[Allosteopath]

The way I understand it is that there is no really good time to have kids. Sure they come with different challenges, depending on when you have them, but they will be challenging regardless of the circumstances.

As a dad, I can tell you that I would absolutely not pursue medicine if I was a single dad, at least right now with a 16-month-old. Maybe I just find parenting stressful, but I could not imagine being the sole parent while pursuing medical school and residency ALONE given the fact you would rarely be home.

If you choose to be a physician, I imagine the same problem would exist, but I have seen people do it.

Are you assuming you'll have to be a single dad for any reason in particular? I don't want to impose, but you're a pre-med student, you might meet someone along the way!

 

[bobbitybob]

My uncle is a physician and he works from home, he specializes in sleep medicine.

 

[bobbitybob]

Even so, your uncle still went thru 4 years of med school, at least 3 years of residency, followed by a year in sleep medicine where working nights is the norm

Absolutely, definitely not disputing that at all! Just stating that its a possibility if OP decides he want to continue on this path.

 

[Catalystik]

I’m an undergrad right now on the pre med track. I really want to pursue a specialty that would allow me to raise children on my own while still earning enough to support them.

I’d really like to have kids through adoption/surrogacy in my early thirties, so soon after I finish residency hopefully.

I do love medicine but having children is a priority in my life and if I have to, I will pursue a different career path.

If anyone has any suggestions for specialties/ residencies I should aim for, I would greatly appreciate them!

OP stated the parental plan begins after residency.

Any kind of shift work might work well with single parenting: hospitalist (IM, pediatrics, laborist), Emergency Med, Neonatology, walk-in clinics, etc, as childcare coverage would be easier to set up if you have no on-call responsibilities.

 

[Planes2Doc]

My best friend in medical school was a single dad to two young girls, sadly not by choice. His wife was diagnosed with stomach cancer while pregnant with their second child.

He had strong family support here, so it was between internal medicine and emergency medicine. He picked internal medicine. Had his extended family not been here, it would have been a whole other story...

So if you have lots of family close by willing to help, anything is possible. If not, I would suggest specialties that allow for an easier time in residency and then thereafter. All with varying difficulty of getting in of course...

Dermatology, psychiatry, and family medicine are some that come to mind. The psych residents at our institution have it real nice.

Medical school is going to be hell, just kidding... Worse actually, if you're a single dad.

 

[Tenk]

If I were a single doctor there is no way in hell I would ever have kids without a full time nanny. With a nanny just pick whatever specialty you want.

 

[907914]

Not a single father, but I can definitely provide the input that I am glad my daughter will be school age by the time I enter medical school. I pay more for childcare than I do for in-state undergrad tuition....Children are expensive lol

Edit: Oh, after residency? Yah, whatever specialty you want with proper childcare arrangements. If you want to spend sufficient time with your family then an internist position (as was mentioned above) or something that is typically a 8-10 hour day job - think PM&R, Derm, Optho, Some Path,Some Rads, or basically any specialty that you can finagle your way in to a part time position.

 

[UTsksk]

I’m a psych resident and there’s no way I could be a single dad alone. My wife has picked up the slack a lot due to my crazy schedule. A lot of specialties are doable as a single dad after residency. Unfortunately you can’t make your hours during residency but it can be done. One of our faculty was a single mom of two that did gen psych and child psych. She said it was horrible lol.