To think I am a bloody doctor, I shouldn't be working for a pittance after childcare?

[knackeredmother]

I am having a pissed off day so am probably BU.
I work 24 hours (plus much more unpaid overtime) a week as a GP registrar, this includes nights, weekends and long days until 10pm.
My take home pay is £1200 (after 5 years qualification).
I have 2 dc under 5 and employ a nanny as my son has lots of hospital admissions with an ongoing chest problem and my shifts mean nursery/childminder would be impossible. I also have no family to help out before I get flamed for having a nanny. There really is no other option for us that I can work out and nursery for 2 would not be much less money.
I pay our nanny about £800 a month gross for 17 hours per week (£10 p.h going rate). That leaves me £400 income to pay all of my outgoings.
My nanny has no childcare to pay for as she uses the 15 hours free government funding and has family help. Its not her fault but she has almost double the disposable income I have for working less and more sociable hours.
I'm using up annual leave today as poor ds is too sick to leave even with our nanny.
It's just made me think what is the point of going to work? I could stay at home, have no sick child stress and although I would be £400 a month down I wouldn't need to run a car, fork out bloody thousands pounds for professional exams and membership fees
I'm being unreasonable aren't I - somebody tell me it will all be worth it in the end!

I never know how to spell diaorehha, I'm very happy when women are vomiting as well because then they have d&v.

It upsets me if they're not puking as then I have to make my handwriting even worse so you can't tell if I've spelt it correctly or not.

As a former teacher I have had plenty of notes saying, "Chanterillerrely weren't in yesterdie cuz she had dyrhya diaryeah dyahrea the shits.

Now as a parent I would invent some vomiting to ensure she had d&v!

Viva I love D&V too!

I'm about to start work now but just wanted to reassure Winter I'm not a troll just surviving on 2 hours sleep with fat typing thumbs ( I was on my phone with ds in my arms).
I also do not have a learning disability (I scored in the top ten percent in the country for the selection exam in GP training and gained honours with my medical degree). I am happy if you do not want to be treated by me though but would hope I would be a good doctor to you.
Just to clarify my £400 is to pay my share of the mortgage/bills and my dh does not get paid everytime my son is hospitalised (at least 20 admissions in the last 2 years) and therefore his income has taken a severe hit.
I do realise people are much worse off than me, but hey MN provides a lot of support for those unreasonable rants you just can't have in RL.
I'm off to assist with some Caesarian sections now and hopefully all those lovely, new babies will cheer me up. I do actually love my job.
I won't be home until 11pm so won't be checking in until then (emesis and diarrhoea from ds willing- notice I didn't write Puking there for the benefit of Winter?)

Ignore the negatives, they aint worth the bother!! Hope you have a good evening.

Winter my sympathies.

DS has only just started sleeping through after a year. I cannot begin to imagine how 5 years feels.

Torture indeed.

It isn't quite five years yet but yes it is difficult. Thanks.

"so called helath professional" - judgy there much Winter?

Im a (Psychiatric) Nurse Therapist who would probably get less and fewer mixed up, my spellings rubbish and Im not great at typing either - but I do understand people and their emotions and that makes me able to do my job.

health not helath - prime example of my crap typing

dear OP,
please think about posting on doctors.net you may find it more helpful and less bitchy.
:)
L

Dashing In A Rush Running Hard Or Else Accident.

Works every time

'I also do not have a learning disability (I scored in the top ten percent in the country for the selection exam in GP training and gained honours with my medical degree).'

Um, they're not mutually exclusive, you know.

My ds-i-l is a plumber and after tax he makes about 2000 a month.

Pranma- that would be about £32k a year then I think

so what is the difference between fewer and less??

fewer is when it's things that can be counted individually, less is when it's a mass of stuff.

So - fewer apples, less water.
Less flour but fewer grains of flour.

FWIW I don't care if my doctor knows the difference between less and fewer. As long as they know the difference between less and more.

are you being screwed over by the partners?
I'm sure the SpRs at our hospital earn more pro-rata than me, and I make more than you for 18hrs pw.

knackeredmother, I am a GP partner, and it does get better - really. Once you are into ST3 the pay improves and no overnight on calls will hugely improve your quality of life. Once qualified it will become even easier to work to fit your childcare - locums/PT salaried or partner.

stick with it, in the longer term GP is one of the most family friendly specialties.

in fact, if you can bear it, I would increase your LTFT training to get the training part done faster....

good luck x

I echo what mumblechum said. It might be different in your field of course, but in mine, the people (nearly all of them women) who gave up never regained their careers. It is worth it in the longer term.

I think you have to look at these years as an investment in your career. Your childcare costs will ease up (or transfer to school fees, which most people don't mind feeling poor for), and you will be able to work longer hours.

The likelihood is that you would still run a car if you were not working, especially with a sickly child. Your professional fees are tax deductable, so make sure you are doing a return.

I'm not a doctor, but I do remember working for a take home pay of about £40 a month when DSs were little and my childminder took most of my money, and the car the rest. Twenty years on, I am glad I went through that pain, because I wouldn't be where I am now.

I think you'd better talk to your employer (or stop lying, if that's what's going on here); current pay scales for GP registrars are here: www.gpvts.info/paygpr.htm

A number of drs have posted saying that the OP's salary looks about right so I'm not sure why people assume she is lying.

And winter wtf?!

OP for what it's worth I sympathise, when I first went back to work as a lawyer after my 2nd DC I was earning a similar amount after childcare x2. In the end I gave up as it wasn't worth it. I am now returning to work after a 6 year break and it has been extremely hard to get a job because of my break. I don't regret leaving but my peers have surpassed me and I am essentially starting over. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Knackered please take real solace in the more recent, positive, helpful replies!

This struggle wont be forever :)

I know someone who worked for a loss for a few years while I gave up but now she is laughing and earning a decent amount while I can't get on the ladder again. Who made the sensible long term decision?

You can't say the childcare should be shared by her Dh. Surely it is the household income that is taken into account when the decision is made as to whether it is worth going back to work- not individual incomes.