Med School with MS?

[sacrament]

Currently I'm working with my neurologist to determine if I have the relapsing/remitting form of MS. That diagnosis is by no means certain, but it gotten me thinking about the future. What is the feasibility of somebody with MS going through three more years of med school, a residency, and then some good years of practice, before becoming too disabled to function adequately as a physician? Does anybody know any physicians with MS who are able to practice?

I know that some people go many, many years with few or no symptoms, but I also know that many people quickly find themselves unable to work at even physically-undemanding jobs.

Thanks for any input.

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[pathstudent]

That really sucks!

But listen, it is far from the worst thing that could be going on in your life.

Also, the relapsing-remitting form has a very low mortality rate even over 20 years. So you might as well just go for it, and then take life as it comes. Don't worry about how things might be 15 years down the road. Plus there are plenty of therapies for prevention and acute exacerbations.

Do what you want to do now. That is whay I say. Don't do what you want to do based on what might be decades later.

Besides we probably all get SARS before then anyway.

 

[augmel]

hi sacrament,
good luck as you go through this. my father is not a physician, but has had ms for about 35 years. he was diagnosed when he was 30 and stayed mostly healthy with periodic relapses until he was about 50. he worked very hard as a college professor and retired when he was 63. he did end up having to retire a few years earlier than he would have liked due to the illness, but he had a wonderful and fulfilling career none-the-less. in fact, he has recently started teaching part time doing online classes, so i guess he isn't really retired after all.
if this diagnosis makes you rethink things and you decide that being a doc isn't what you want after all, then that is one thing. but i would encourage you not to give up if being a doc is really what you want. the new therapies seem to really slow things down, and my dad worked a long time without any therapies at all. i may not be qualified to say this, but i think that giving up your dream because of ms would be almost as sad as the neuro disfunction that may or may not come later.
besides, there are lots of careers for physicians that are less demanding. maybe trauma surgery won't be your thing, but there are options.
again, good luck.