Hi everyone!

I've mostly been lurking here but decided to make a formal intro.

From the time I was 4 I thought I wanted to be a doctor. I did well throughout grammar and high school and went to Columbia (I'm from NYC) for my undergrad. I started off as pre-med but I was clueless about studying. I was used to things coming easily to me. When Orgo came around and kicked my butt I got discouraged and realized that maybe my drive to become a physician wasn't as strong as I thought.

And so it was I decided to go back to my other love from when I was 4, Classical music. I switched my major to Music (with a Computer Science minor) and had tons of fun with it! It turned out that I had an awesome ear and I did very well in my courses even though I had NO musical background and didn't play anything.

After graduation I've been working as a Systems Analyst (boring as all hell - I'm mentally hijacked for 9-10 hours a day). I've also picked up the saxophone and oboe. The medicine thoughts have been haunting me for years and so now I'm back at Columbia for their post-bacc program. I am doing extremely well in it so far and have started volunteering at a City ER as well.

My plan was to quit this job in the summer and go back to school full time to do Orgo and Bio and take the MCAT April 2006. But now I am again having second thoughts.

I know that medical science interests me, but I am having SEVERE doubts about whether any medical lifestyle will work for me. Though I fell into it late in life (and thus can't make a career out of performance) I suspect that my first love is really music. In fact I know I can not be happy unless I'm playing. I need to have some time to practice semi-regularly and rehearse with at least one ensemble. On top of this I turn 31 this year and have been married for nearly 4 years and we're seriously considering having a baby in the next year or two (I want only one).

I think that medicine and music is doable, or medicine and mother, or music and motherhood, but I think I've been unrealistic and will be unable to do all three to the degree I want to do them.
If I had to give one up I think medicine will be the one I regret giving up the least, though I will still feel awful about it because I do yearn for it.

I'm still considering other careers in the basic sciences (patient contact is not my big thing - I wanted to do rads or path). But I know that being a grad student is no walk in the park either. But still, I do think it might afford me more balance and just as much intellectual stimulation as medicine.

Or perhaps I should just get a doctorate in Ethnomusicology. But then won't I feel unfulfilled about not doing anything in the sciences?

That's where I am this week. Very confused. And tired of being confused.

Best wishes to all of you gals!

Well hello everyone - as you can see from myabove fumbled attempt at a reply - I am new at this. Sorry for the redundancy there. To the very talented woman who left the message above mine - wow - great to be gifted. But I don't know if you want to go into medicine now. Not that this message will sway you either way but I wonder if you want to start a career in medicine and a career in motherhood at the same time. Below I will introduce myself and you will understand why I think it might be tough (in a nutshell I can't seem to manage it all). But after thinking about this issue, I think it might help you to think about how you would care for your child while you are in school/work. This is the same question we all grapple with but I think the key is to be true to yourself. Are you ok with daycare or nanny, do you have relatives to help you (including your husband), someone to be a backup when baby gets kicked out of daycare for fever or nanny calls out sick? If you are comfortable with someone else contributing significantly to childcare (and homecare) issues then I think you may have more freedom to pursue some of your personal goals. It is important to think of these things now since you are at that age (same age as me by the way) that you are still biologically at less risk to have kids and still have some life left to practice after about 10 years of training. Talk to a lot of people and, in the end, be true to yourself, and don't look back.

Ok so I am going to introduce myself now .... hope this all comes out ok on paper. I am 31, MD, trained in NJ and DC. Finished my chief year after 3 years of IM residency at Georgetown in 2003 - two days after finishing I gave birth to my son Peter. I never went back/started work after that - so here I am 20 months later as a SAHM (love this abbreviation). Now I am 12 weeks pregnant with our 2nd. I have had a lot of anxiety about not being involved in medicine - I really enjoyed it. I know it was hard but I love applying what I know to helping people. I like the interpersonal interactions and the science. I also love staying at home with Peter and have felt that this has been beneficial to both his and my development as people. I wouldn't change what I did. But sometimes I wish I had some more mental stimulation and tangable daily accomplishments. I do work once a month at a free clinic - this is very taxing though because I don't feel I have enough experience to treat these people with the best and most up to date methods. I think I am going to drop this soon. I am thinking of trying to get more into education and medical writing but when I investigated this before I came upon some dead ends. Any suggestions out there? Well I have to go but I would like to thank all who contribute to this site because it is a source of inspiration and support. Thank you.

Hello:

I am a former (burned out) elementary school teacher who after much soul searching, decided to bite the bullet and go for it...Medical School. For some time, I was one of those "in the closet premeds" to family and friends. This site has been particularly instrumental and inspirational in helping me to boldly state and go for my goals. :goodvibes:

Duck

I’ve been visiting these message boards for a while now and I think they’re fabulous. I want to thank the people who have created this website and who regularly contribute to the discussion forums. This is an invaluable resource for women in, or considering going into, medicine.

I’m 26 years old, living in Canada and I recently obtained my MSc in Health Administration. I’ve been thinking of going into medicine for years now. I applied once after my Bachelor’s degree and was not accepted. I decided to pursue other interests, which has been really great, but the little voice inside my head telling me I should be a physician has not shut up! So this year, I applied again to three schools in my Province. I am currently working in a local Hospital as a Department Coordinator. I started this job a couple of months before finishing my Masters. I’m enjoying it quite a bit, but it’s just too administrative and I really want to work with patients. Ultimately, I would like to going into Family Medicine.

Hello all!

I am a third year osteopathic medical student at the founding school in Kirksville, Missouri. I entered school a single mom with a 2 1/2 year old daughter, got married during my sophomore year to another student in my class, and had a new baby boy by March of my third year of school (not planned)!! Whew! It's been a busy few years!

I was actually a member of the class of 2005, however, my school was wonderful to work with me and allowed me a 5 1/2 month maternity leave of absence. They were still going to let me walk with my class at graduation this June and finish up the few months of clinical rotations afterward, but I have decided to extend my fourth year even further and graduate with the class of 2006. My husband and I did not want to be interns at the same time for the sake of the kids (and our sanity).

My situation is complicated further by the fact that my husband is an Air Force HPSP student and has matched to a military residency at Scott Air Force Base. Therefore, I am greatly limited by geographic location as to where I can do my residency!! :boggled:

Are there any women out there in the same situation? A mom, a medical student, and a wife of an Air Force medical student?

I would love any advice about keeping it all together during your internship...Thanks!

Di :grouphug:

Hi, so great to read all the intros out there! I am 26, and a second year med student at Stanford. I just got married almost a year ago (our first anniversary is Easter Sunday!) to the most wonderful man, who is here with me at Stanford as a post-doc in a neuroscience lab. We don't have any children yet but are trying to decide the best time to start. The thing that complicates it is that I am interested in neurosurgery (particularly, pediatric neurosurgery and brain tumors). My husband is really supportive of this - he has known since we met that this is my passion. However, I am just about terrified by the prospect of mixing children with a neurosurgery residency. Worse, he will be looking for a faculty position the same time I match, which will be a major question mark in our future. We are thinking of having our first just before my final year of med school, and our second during my research year in residency. There are so many pros and cons for every possible time to have children, but this is what we thought would work best for us. Anyway, I really look forward to talking with some of you about your experiences!

Hello! I am 25, single mother of 2 girls - Ages 4 and 7. I took the long route like so many others. I am finishing my AA degree from my local community college in May. It took awhile of missing a semester or two to buckle down and just do it! Then it is off to SLU to finish up my bachelors in PreMed/Biology . I am so excited to be actually going somewhere! I tried to fill my need for medicine by pursuing nursing, but it did not fit, so I switched majors. I've been a unit secretary on a ortho/surgery floor for 4 yrs. I have learned sooo much there. Working in a hospital environment really helped with my decision making. I enjoy reading everyone's posts. The honesty and encouragement are wonderful.

hi
i just joined...i'm a first yr in australia and was really excited to find this page, we don't have anything like this down here.
i'm 21 and getting married this yr and we plan to start a family as soon as possible, i'm really lucky in that my school is very very family friendly, they are really good about part time school, deferring, time off, night shift in 3rd yr etc etc...i'm also lucky that my fiance is more then happy to be the stay at home parent for a few years until we come back to america (i'm aussie but he's from pennsylvania so im going to be doing that whole USMLE, match thing! which looks quite scary, we don't have anything even remotly like it here)
if anybody is thinking about ever coming to aus to study check out Flinders in adelaide, the other programs aren't really too flexible but we have quite a few ppl in the school here pregnant or hoping to be and a fair few with kids, and they just bend over backwards for us!

Elle

Hi..I am new to this sight. I am a 35 year old mother of two/ pre-med student. I have an associates degree and have worked as a certified medical assistant for 16 years. I've always known that I've wanted to be a doctor. Unfortunatley, I've let circumstances, family etc stand in the way. This year something finally clicked and I decided it is now or never. I took the plunge and started back to school. Wow it has been a long time since I've factored polynomial equations. (yuk!) But I will make it!! I love this web site. Very encouraging. Good luck to you all in whatever path you are on. God bless.