Baby and med school

[[AUTO]8n23lkd0h30tt]

Hi all, probably a strange question.
I want to be a doctor but I want another baby. I've worked so hard on getting what I need for med school and I've got a son (11 months)
I don't know whether to complete medical school first or have a baby first?
What would you personally do?
I really really want another baby but I don't know whether to do this first
Thank you

Questions to think about if I was in your situation.

How many years does it take to qualify (I seem to have 5 in my head)?

Financially is it viable to not have wages for that long alongside 2 children?

Would you be happy with that age gap between your children?

Is there the option to do any of the years part time?

When are you expected to work in medical settings and what sort of hours (ie if you are placed in a hospital, could you be put on nights)

Leading on from the last question, do you have a partner who can do childcare, or the money to pay for childcare? Considering that childcare before 8am and after 5pm is either non existent or very pricey (at least that’s my experience!)

I know my sister wanted to be a midwife and had to go back to college to get her quals which she did whilst her 2 were small and then did her training when both at nursery/school. She had a lot of family support when she had to do night shifts or early starts but her husband had to put his career on hold and step back to allow her to qualify which put a large strain on finances they hadn’t anticipated

Have you actually been offered a place at university for medicine?

Hi. Im a nurse, but have a lot of doctor friends. I also have a baby. Med School isnt very family friendly, the FY1/2 are even less family friendly. I think having a baby AND doing this is unrealistic. Its either baby then medicine, or medicine then baby once you've established yourself.

It depends on how old you are. Either have a baby now and put off med school for 2 or 3 years (probably better 4 or 5, as it's pretty full on and would be very, very tough with two little kids) or do med school, start your career and have a baby in a decade.

Med school is hard work, but once you qualify it’s even harder. There are continuous exams and assessments basically until you are a consultant. You also get very little say in where you work. You apply for training contracts and then depending on how many points you have you get offered placements pretty much anywhere, and can be expected to commute very long distances even if you get the deanery that you want. If you don’t like it, it’s tough. If you refuse a training contract I don’t think you can apply for another. I think that if you have children they take that into account, only if you can demonstrate that moving would be detrimental to them!! It’s not a family-friendly (or person-friendly, to be honest) system. What I’m trying to say is don’t bank on it being easier to have a baby after med school, especially for the first few years. I would keep that in mind when thinking about children and how big an age gap you would want.

Medical school is tough and so is a career in medicine , none of it is in anyway family friendly.

If you have incredibly flexible day/ night childcare you can do what you want.....it’s all down to the support network that you can create for yourself.