Taking a "Gap year" to start family?

[LoveTexas]

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Have any women out there taken a year off between medical school and residency to have a child? I'm wondering how this would compare to having a baby during 4th year of medical school and how it will affect getting into a pediatric residency. I'm looking for some advice on the topic from women who have made this decision. Thanks!

 

[rina33]

I did this! I am about to start peds residency this year, but graduated med school last year. I had a baby right before graduation. I loved my year off... LOVED it. It went too fast!!! Spreading out 4th year is also a nice idea, but I liked having the time truly OFF from things medical. It will be hard to find the time to just "step away" for a full year if you go straight through with training, unless you wait until you are done with residency perhaps, so if you're ready to start a family now, you should go for it! You should check out mommd.com for more help on this issue. Good luck.

 

[LoveTexas]

Thanks so much for the input! We've pretty much decided that's what we want to do so it's nice hearing that it CAN and IS done! I'm a bit worried about telling the med school about my plans though. How does that work? I've got another year to figure it out. Right now I should probably be working on preparing for the Step 1 instead though! 🙂 Thank you so much for responding!