To think I could commute between Newcastle and York daily?

[Littleblueowl]

Ive been offered a place on a midwifery course in York. I live in Newcastle and don't drive.

I have a 6 month old DS and DP has a good job here so moving would be unrealistic - do you think it's possible to commute via train every day? It's around an hour and a half away.

Can you stay locally when you have placements?
That would make all the difference.

It's a possibility - I could look into staying with friends or in a hotel although I imagine that could get expensive.

I know a couple of cheap b and bs

Others have mentioned the irregularity of times of placements, as well as the potential locations - the nearest teaching hospitals North of York are Teesside, so might be out of area for placements and are a bit rubbish for public transport if you're not driving in time.

I commuted Newcastle to Darlo on train for about half a year a good couple of decades ago. It was great when it worked, but if there were delays on the train, it could take me up to 2 hours to get in or out.

Even if you are driving, it'll not save any time for the commute - it's an hour from our house close to Durham into York. DH has needed to drive from our house, to Thirsk, then back up to Billingham, this morning. There's congestion on the A1, the A19 is dreadful both ways because it's been closed Northbound since the early hours of the morning and didn't re-open until well gone 9. It's going to have taken him much longer than the 90 minutes it should to complete that journey and he doesn't even have to get across the Tyne and past Gateshead like you do.

I think you'll be better off waiting a year and doing it closer to home. The range of hospitals available for placements close to home is far greater, too. You'd be limiting yourself if you did a course so far away that a lot of the hospitals they use would be out of range.

Unless you live very near to Newcastle station and your course and placements are very near York station, I suspect your journey would be a lot more than 90 minutes in reality.

The train journey itself is 60 minutes. 15 minutes at either end is not a lot at all; you could use 5 minutes just walking to your platform from the station entrance.

Also, the time that you would need to travel (rush hour) means that you may need to double (or triple) the time it takes to travel to and from the stations.

To give you an idea: I commute to a major Northern city from my home 20 miles away. The train journey itself is about 45 minutes. Ideally, the entire journey, door to door, looks on paper as though it should take 1 hour and 15 minutes.

However, in reality, the entire journey takes me 1 hour and 45 minutes. Traveling at rush hour means it takes me twice as long to get to the station from my home, and the walk from the station to my office takes longer than it should.

Then other extra minutes are spent waiting for the train, moving through the stations, waiting to filter onto stairs or escalators, waiting to go through gates, navigating past the throng of people in the bottleneck outside the station, and then getting into my office building ... if you need to be sat in a seat at a certain time on the dot, it can get really stressful.

And the whole thing is knackering. I couldn't do it five days a week. When I am tired at the end of the week, after three days commuting, that return home journey seems to take forever.

If I were you, I would trial the journey at the time you would be traveling. And do check out train fares ... they have become very expensive.

I've done something similar - up to 2 hours travelling to university, plus 3 placements which were supposed to be close to home but were all actually at least an hour's drive (no public transport). My DC were older.

I was permanently knackered, and that was only a year's course, plus placement hours (teaching ) were nominally only 9-3 (actually most schools specified 8-4.30 and in reality most days were 7.30 - 5.30)

During blocks at university I sometimes stayed in a Travelodge mid week to break up all the travelling. I hated the fact that I was desperate to see my DC but massively resented the loss of all those hours on the road when I could have been studying.

The DC were much older than babies, and found it pretty dreadful tbh. My DH was running around like a headless chicken as well.

I was in the same position as you OP in that I might have got a place closer to home the following year, but having made the decision, just wanted to get on with it.

I can't begin to imagine having done the same thing with the huge pressure of shifts and a baby! I would seriously consider delaying a year.

I have just been looking at placement areas. Placements are offered in areas that could result in a 35/40 minute train journey which isn't so terrible, and you can select your top 3 placement areas.
I think the suggestion of trialling trains is a good idea, I'm going to look into that.

Sorry such as where?
I can't think of anywhere York could offer placements like that

do midwifes only do 12 hour shifts? just for health courses where i work they often do 7 1/2 shifts as well so not always as simple as only 3 shifts per week.

id look into public transport links too as here it is always difficult to place students that dont drive. even a placement area that is a 20min distance via car could be well over an hour using public transport. i think someone suggested deferring and doing your test and then doing york. if that is a possibility i would do that.

www.york.ac.uk/media/healthsciences/documents/midwifery/Map.pdf

Do you mean Northallerton?
I thought the friar age had closed its maternity unit? Could be wrong

Newcastle is a much easier place to do placements because there are so many hospitals virtually on top of each other.
You need to think about the community placements too and the travel involved in those.
York is heaving with tourists most of the time and the one way system is hellish. (Unless it has all changed dramatically since I was there).

Would some of the placements be community, rather than hospital based? Maternity services at the Friarage in Northallerton have been cut back, for example. There's no consultants there, so you wouldn't experience the full range patients there. Stokesley won't have hospital placements - they used to use Northallerton and now have to go to Middlesbrough, if high risk. Ditto Richmond.
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northyorkshire/richmond/11471016.Council_reveals_cost_of_fight_to_save_maternity_services_at_the_Friarage_Hospital/?ref=rss

I'd say do it.

I travel 1 hour 20 minutes for uni and placement (midwifery), in my second year and don't regret it. It is tiring but so worth it.
When doing long shifts in a row I stay in hospital accommodation, so that could be an option for you. And shorter shifts or uni days a b&b maybe? The cost of travelling would be reduced and go towards your accommodation.

I gave up a place for a similar reason the year before starting and was really annoyed with myself for the whole year!

Good luck whatever you decide.

sure the friarage is used by teesside either way. did used to be york but sure it changed.

I wouldn't do it. Maybe if it was for a few months, but not for 3 years. Id hang on for a year.

It's no doubt do-able but the cost will be enormous.

Definitely expensive £144 for a 1 week rail season ticket, £556 for a month. Add on bus fares either end.

COuld you hand on for a year and reapply locally - but in the interim see if you can get some work experience/nursing assistant type job to assist with your application?

It's a long haul to do each day - that's before you add on any delays/problems/DS being unwell etc etc.

What is your DH's job is it something where he could apply for a job nearer to your uni? There must be a way to make this work...

Are you going to be able to get to your placement hospital for 7 am on a bank holiday or a Sunday?

Good idea dorado that's excellent advice, spend 12 months trying to boost your CV, make contacts and get advice, work on the application and interview technique.

I would even be as open with the north east universities admissions tutors as: 'I applied last year and didn't get in. What do you want to see on my CV in order to stand a better chance of securing a place when I re-apply next year.' Then work out how you could go about securing those skills.

I would also stand my my advice that it is worth learning to drive if at all possible. I realise that for the theory/classroom based stuff that the train is the best bet, but the odds of the placements ending up on a direct train and bus route and running during the antisocial hours you'll be required to work is slim.

I'd wait, I know it is competitive, but you got offered a place this year, so if you've got a far more accomplished and polished CV, you are far more likely to get a place at a closer university. You are probably made of sterner stuff than me, but I don't think I'd put myself through that sort of commute for three years. I don't think I'd make it to the end of the course.

He works in a histology lab but it is well paid and he has only recently got the job so it really wouldn't be feasible for him to change jobs right now. Ive been working in my GP surgery with the community midwives to gain some experience, I just don't want to have to wait a year. Think I need to sit down and have a long hard think about the logistics

What about night/week end shifts on placement?

Colleague of mine used to commute from York To Durham every day by train (plus a thirty minute bus journey at the York end to get to the train station).

She did it for about 3 or 4 years I think.

I would say that it is possible in theory, especially given the fact that a course is a finite period of time.

However, give serious thought to:

1. Where you might end up on a clinical placement. Might that be further away/or in a more remote/inaccessible location? How would you cope with that? Would you be able to rent a room locally temporarily or rely on other transportation.
2. The train system isn't always on time or reliable in that area, especially in winter. My collague was able to work from home effectively during bad weather as it was an office based role, mostly writing reports and maintaining external relationships via email/phone/occasional scheduled visits. But a midwifery course wouldn't be the same as that. Would your marks suffer if you were last or missed classes/placements regularly? How would you manage that risk?

HTH and good luck.