too risky?

[Dep.Weigel]

OK. Let me preface this by saying I just thought of this a couple of days ago, and so far it sounds good, but I have this suspicion that there is something that I am overlooking here....

Here is the situation. Medical student "X" (ok, for simplicity's sake, let?s just say ME) is married with one child about to turn three, and is in her third year of med school. She really wants to do path...she would rather say in the area, but if she moves, that?s ok too. She has been pretty much middle of the pack first and second year, but did well on step 1 (mean + 1 STD deviation). So far so good in third year. No research, no special awards.

OK there are 2 very good path programs in the area, hell, my first choice is to stay here.... not only because it is a great program, but also because that would mean not having to move, find new childcare, husband would not have to look for work and I COULD HAVE ANOTHER BABY. I mean, I would have like a three or four month window in which I could look at being at home for at least a few months before residency starts, vs. waiting then breaking up my training and having maybe six weeks max at home with new baby. If I have to move, that?s fine, but I would rather take a year off and then move with a 5 and a 1 yr old vs. with a newborn.

So my idea was to apply and rank only the two programs in my area, which are my top two anyway. If I match, then great, the transition should be no problem. If I don't, then fine, I take a year off to be mom (or do research if I just can't stand the little urchins) and then go through it again the next year, this time interviewing and ranking ALL the programs I am interested in. Of course the down side is that I may be approaching the next interview cycle as a leper of sorts - the girl who couldn't match at all the previous year (but in reality only applied to two programs anyway). Or path may continue to get more competitive...

Of course, all this depend on me being able to get pregnant sometime this spring, but I need to confirm the sanity of this idea before I go ahead and try it. Am I crazy??? I don't want to break up my residency - hell I made it this far without having to take anytime off (my daughter was 9 mo old when I started first year). But at the same time. I honestly wouldn't mind playing mom again (for a short time anyway). Sorry for the long post - but please, be honest, be brutal, is this is a stupid idea??

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[yaah]

Honestly I don't know. It might raise some questions if you take a year off and apply a second time. Bound to be plenty of questions about why you took the year off. However, many residents have babies during residency, and the fact that you took the initiative to do this before your training started so that you would not interrupt your training says something, and I think PDs would look upon this favorably. Having a resident go on maternity leave for 3 months can cause some problems.

That being said, of course it is a risk, because as far as I know one's chances of matching seem to be best coming right out of med school. But then again, that is probably because the vast majority of students take this path. Some take time off, but it is often for research or further education.

Ultimately, though, it is your decision, not someone else's.

p.s. Dep Weigel I like your TV show. I just watched it today.

 

[Dep.Weigel]

Yeah... tonight they showed one of my favorites...


Thanks for your reply... I appreciate your honestly.

 

[yaah]

I LOVE that whole bit with chasing the guy in the milkshake costume.

Son of a @#$@!

Go ahead, hit me. I can't feel anything!

 

[QuietSylph]

Of course, all this depend on me being able to get pregnant sometime this spring, but I need to confirm the sanity of this idea before I go ahead and try it. Am I crazy??? I don't want to break up my residency - hell I made it this far without having to take anytime off (my daughter was 9 mo old when I started first year). But at the same time. I honestly wouldn't mind playing mom again (for a short time anyway). Sorry for the long post - but please, be honest, be brutal, is this is a stupid idea??

OK, I'm compelled to post (even though I'm short on time) since I have done almost exactly what you are contemplating. I took one year off after graduating from medical school to have our second child. Even though it meant I had to find a way to make a decent living while working from home, be a good mom to two little ones, run a household, visit family 2000 miles away, all while also arranging residency interviews scattered across the country, I have not regretted it for one minute. It can be done! Now, I did not apply to programs as a fourth year, so I have no information about how applying twice changes your desirability (do they even know?). However, I can say that out of the 19 programs I applied to -- and they are all either mid-tier or top-tier university programs -- I have gotten offers for 16 interviews and had to decline several. So, taking the year off does not seem to have significantly impacted my competitiveness, if at all.

Yaah is right that programs seem to accept your taking time off if it is planned and well reasoned. Most people understand that it's difficult to incorporate having children into a demanding career -- what they really want to know is that your decisions are sound, that you're not flaky or doing things on a whim.

Also, to echo what you commented on in your post -- part of why I decided to take the year off is precisely so I wouldn't need any maternity leave during residency. This way, my new little one gets to have a full-time mom for her first eighteen months AND any residency program I work for doesn't have to accommodate my maternity leave and the inevitable terrible fatigue that comes with having a newborn. It doesn't get much better than that when you're in medicine.

PM me if you want to discuss it any further. Good luck!

 

[Doctor B.]

I don't think it would be a problem taking a year off between med school and residency, especially with as good of a reason as taking care of your children. Most PD's won't think anything of it.

However, limiting yourself to 2 interviews/programs can be risky. Unless you are fairly certain you will match at one of the two or they offer you a spot outside the match, I'd try to set a few more interviews if possible. If nothing else, it gives you some perspective on the 2 places near you and it gives you a few more options if things don't work out at those 2.

 

[LADoc00]

I applied and basically interviewed at 2 places which
A.) I didnt even really know anyone before I rotated there
B.) There were not in the city of my med school, far from it so I had no connections to really pull on
C.) I was a total snob and said there is no way Im doing the "match" (aka the big screw job)
D.) Applied only to the 2 most competitive programs in the country
E.) Didnt care what happened
Results: I did fine.

Moral of the story, you are fine. Worst comes to worst, have a heart to heart discussion with the chairman of Path at your med school and you should have an auto spot there. Tell the directors your situation, for the love of God there are enough IMGs getting spots they should make room for you with no fuss. Seriously people, getting into path isnt like getting into WashU med.

 

[Dep.Weigel]

Thanks to all of you for your replies... I am leaning towards trying this out - and besides, this may end up being a non-issue if my ovaries have twisted and shriveled up as I expect they have after my OBGYN rotation. I actually have a really good relationship with the path department here (I first met with the chair of the department when I was deciding whether or not to even apply to medical school), and I just found out today that I got honors in my IM rotation (how that happened I have no idea). Anyway, I would be surprised if I didn't match here, but then, who knows what will happen, and besides, if I am puking my guts out at the microscope for my fourth year path elective that may be... well... a turn-off.

By the way - good news for people applying to Path at UNC - I heard through a reliable source today that one of the six fourth years applying to path this year did her path rotation and hated it. She is switching specialties... so more room for the rest of you! I better see one of you next fall!

 

[yaah]

I heard through a reliable source today that one of the six fourth years applying to path this year did her path rotation and hated it. She is switching specialties... so more room for the rest of you! I better see one of you next fall!

I am curious - what specialty? There was a girl in my graduating med school class who seriously considered path, and was waffling between path and pedi-heme-onc, and ended up not doing residency but wanting to do NIH research for awhile or something.

I tell you though, I can understand someone not being thrilled with path after a 1 month rotation. Depending on where you rotate, it is so vastly different from all other clinical rotations that it is kind of a shock to the system, and some people just can't handle this! They need the comfort of the stethoscope, perhaps like heroin. It is bad for you but yet you cannot turn away. I, for one, am not an addict and after my last 4th year patient (man with syncope and a mitral murmur) my stethoscope has been collecting dust. I don't even listen to my own heart anymore (I can split my S2 and I have a slight flow murmur, perhaps grade I/VI. Only I can hear it!).

 

[Dep.Weigel]

I am not sure... but it was a primary care type of thing...not like she is switching into rads or something like that. An odd switch, huh?

 

[skoller]

Dep.Weigel, if you need more encouragement, I also took a year off after graduating, and haven't had much trouble getting interviews (even at Duke, Emory, U Mich., etc.). Your plan sounds reasonable to me. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[cookypuss3]

It is bad for you but yet you cannot turn away. I, for one, am not an addict and after my last 4th year patient (man with syncope and a mitral murmur) my stethoscope has been collecting dust. I don't even listen to my own heart anymore (I can split my S2 and I have a slight flow murmur, perhaps grade I/VI. Only I can hear it!).

It's like a bad pick-up line. "Hey baby, I can split my S2. Do you wanna hear? Here, use my Littman III Cardiology stethoscope. Aren't you hot now?"

Hot. So hot.

 

[yaah]

It's like a bad pick-up line. "Hey baby, I can split my S2. Do you wanna hear? Here, use my Littman III Cardiology stethoscope. Aren't you hot now?"

Hot. So hot.

Yup, that and "high output can increase the flow murmur. Would you like a demonstration?"

Would you prefer Hey baby, wanna go see a dead body? I have the keys to the morgue in my pocket.

 

[deschutes]

Would you prefer Hey baby, wanna go see a dead body? I have the keys to the morgue in my pocket.

Belatedly I have learnt not to say "morgue" to program secretaries.

At one of my program visits I asked for the morgue to be included in the tour. The two residents looked at one another and said, "No one's asked that before!"

 

[yaah]

Yes, they prefer the term "autopsy suite" for some reason. Everything is always a suite. A suite is supposed to refer to, if used in the context of a room, living quarters. And no one lives in morgues, as far as I know. So I refuse to call it a suite. But program secretaries may prefer this.

 

[garfield]

Belatedly I have learnt not to say "morgue" to program secretaries.

At one of my program visits I asked for the morgue to be included in the tour. The two residents looked at one another and said, "No one's asked that before!"

They must be hiding something. Maybe they got some skeletons in their closet.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

At one of my program visits I asked for the morgue to be included in the tour. The two residents looked at one another and said, "No one's asked that before!"

RED FLAGS! RED FLAGS! Bad program! Bad program! Don't rank it! AAAHHHHH!