Women in medical school/residencies

[skbirdie510]

Based on a lecture I heard yesterday, the system isn't terribly kind to women who want to get married and/or have children during their medical training (med school or residency). There seems to be very limited "wiggle room" so to speak for those wanting to do either.

Which schools/residencies are the best/worst for women in this position?

I'm not a medical student, but I am hoping to apply in the not too distant future.

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[gstrub]

We had a medical student take a year off due to pregnancy and she was fine. Just a year behind that's all...plus had to pay for an extra year of medical school. I can't speak for residency, but if you plan on something like surgery, don't expect people to bend over for you. Now OB/GYN might give you a little slack....

 

[lilnoelle]

plus had to pay for an extra year of medical school.

Seriously?
Thats rough.
There have been a few women who have been pregnant in my class during the first two years of med school and it hasn't been an issue. I've talked to the dean of my school about options because I was considering getting pregnant again, and there definitely were options available to me - and I would be able to graduate with my class.
I don't think its really an issue, provided your not begging for a lot of privaleges because of your pregnancy or children. If you are needing to leave two hours earlier than your classmates on a regular basis because of your children for instance, then you will probably meet with some resistance - not because you have kids, but because you are asking for special treatment.

 

[randomedstudent]

Getting married during med school really isn't a big deal - tons of women and men in my class did it, although my husband and I opted to wait until right after graduation (so between med school and residency - this way we could take a longer honeymoon). Most people try to do it after their first year because you usually have most of the summer off so plenty of time. Otherwise you may have to be a little more creative/flexible and may have to forego a nice honeymoon in exchange for a weekend trip. Many people also do what we did and plan for right after graduation - this is nice b/c 4th year is usually less rigorous so there is more time for planning (important if you're the woman, I had a very modest wedding and it still took a lot of time since we didn't have a wedding planner).

Having children is definitely another story.....many, many women do it, but it will certainly be more difficult than simply getting married. This should be carefully planned if possible. Again, summer after first year is an ideal time b/c second year is still pretty much normal days of class (most of which can be skipped anyway) so there is ample time for spending with the baby. During 4th year is the other optimal time, as like I said before, it's usually pretty cush compared to 3rd year. It also helps if your spouse has a "regular" job although many of the people I know who had kids during medschool/residency are married to other medstudents/doctors so even that is doable with some creativity.

If possible I would recommend having kids before residency, although there are many residencies that are very kid/family friendly and provide the flexibility to have kids if you want. Personally I just plan to wait until I'm finished, this is just the best decision for us.

 

[Beau Geste]

Based on a lecture I heard yesterday, the system isn't terribly kind to women who want to get married and/or have children during their medical training (med school or residency). There seems to be very limited "wiggle room" so to speak for those wanting to do either.

Which schools/residencies are the best/worst for women in this position?

I'm not a medical student, but I am hoping to apply in the not too distant future.

Resistance comes in the form of more work for others while the pregnant woman is out on maternity leave rather than the issue of just being pregnant, or so all the specialty forums' conversations on maternity issues demonstrate. Go the extra mile before and after the baby's born.

 

[lilnoelle]

Go the extra mile before and after the baby's born.

Or try to have your children during more opportune times. If possible, have your babies during m1,m2, or m4. Obviously life is not easily planned, but try to at least be considerate of those you work with (and those whom will have to pick up the slack while your on medical leave).

 

[Beau Geste]

Or try to have your children during more opportune times. If possible, have your babies during m1,m2, or m4. Obviously life is not easily planned, but try to at least be considerate of those you work with (and those whom will have to pick up the slack while your on medical leave).

Yeah, I had a really long post and then erased a lot of it. I was going to talk about what my husband and I were planning to do (start baby-makin' in 4th year), but I didn't want such a long post

We're forgoing the year 1-2 options because of step 1. I am distracted enough as it is without a baby!

 

[skbirdie510]

Or try to have your children during more opportune times. If possible, have your babies during m1,m2, or m4. Obviously life is not easily planned, but try to at least be considerate of those you work with (and those whom will have to pick up the slack while your on medical leave).

How much time would med schools generally give though?

 

[Pemberley]

Resistance comes in the form of more work for others while the pregnant woman is out on maternity leave...

The director of our pediatric residency program addressed this issue the other day... she said that some residency programs have responsibility for every bed in the hospital, no matter what, but others can adjust their workload -- that there is a group of hospitalists or attendings or something, separate from the residency program, on whom the burden of taking up the slack principally falls.

She said the key to not screwing over your fellow residents is to choose one of the latter.

Unfortunately, I'm not certain that I both understood and repeated that correctly. Does anybody actually have any expertise in the matter? She also didn't give us any clues to finding out which type of program is which, except to ask the current residents when you go on interviews.

 

[lilnoelle]

How much time would med schools generally give though?

Well, if you can try to have your baby during the summer after your M1 year (My school gave two months off), you can not take any time off (and just do your studying from home), personally, I think thats very much a possible thing to do, especially if you've just got the one tiny one at home. You would need to have someone lined up to watch the baby whenever attendance is mandatory - the amount of mandatory attendance will vary from school to school. Another option would be to take a year off between second and third year to have your baby. One could potentially take off some time in third year and make it up during fourth year if they've taken some extra electives in the first two years. I could've taken one block off (6 weeks for me) and completed it in the fourth year without having any elective credit under my belt. And fourth year's have a pretty easy, laid back schedule so that one could probably have a baby during fourth year without a problem. (If you haven't already taken time off during your first few years).

I'm guessing the only way to get any extensive time off is to take a year off.

 

[McDoc]

...plus had to pay for an extra year of medical school.

That can't be true. You don't have to pay for time off. Unless that person tried and failed and had to repeat some things. If you ask for a leave of absence there shouldn't be any cost, unless you are counting living on loans while on that leave as a cost, then I guess technically you are paying for another year.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

The director of our pediatric residency program addressed this issue the other day... she said that some residency programs have responsibility for every bed in the hospital, no matter what, but others can adjust their workload -- that there is a group of hospitalists or attendings or something, separate from the residency program, on whom the burden of taking up the slack principally falls.

She said the key to not screwing over your fellow residents is to choose one of the latter.

I would disagree with using that as a criteria both from a theoretical and a practical sense. I generally don't wish to get too much into this issue since it can be so heated on SDN, but the key isn't the number of beds your program has, or whether, for example, pedi residents are required to cover surgical and all private patients (part of what the PD was REALLY meaning here...), it's the willingness of the program AND its experience in adapting to 2-3 month maternity leaves. Nothing will tell you that except when you talk to programs and go on interviews. If you are interested in pedi, this is a common concern, other fields, well YMMV and I have no way of knowing.

 

[mshheaddoc]

That can't be true. You don't have to pay for time off. Unless that person tried and failed and had to repeat some things. If you ask for a leave of absence there shouldn't be any cost, unless you are counting living on loans while on that leave as a cost, then I guess technically you are paying for another year.

You can't borrow loans (school loans) while taking a year off just to note. If you take extra time off you have to find other ways to fund your endevours. No one has really ever mentioned that so I wonder if you can get some private loans or something?