Hello Everyone,

My name is Cecilia, I'm 34 years old and will be getting married and trying to start a family in April this year. I live in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. I've always wanted to do something more than what I fell into after high school (banking/insurance) but this last week had an epiphany. I decided I can and want to become a doctor. I never went to post secondary so will be doing this from scratch. Intellectually I know I can do this but I don't know what this will look like practically when I know that I don't want to put off having a family any longer. Does anybody have any experience with this? I'm excited that I know the path that I should be on but I'm a little daunted over the family issues that can and will arise from having half the team in full time study and quite probably part time work as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! sesheria@hotmail.com

Hi everyone!
I am 29, living in Central Mass, have a child, husband and this little dream to become a doctor. I am so happy I found this site, so many amazing women, such inspirational stories. I am from former Soviet Union, have lived in US for almost 8 years now, finished college here, but feel now that it was luckluster (I graduated Summa Cum Laude, but no notable achievements). It took me years to realize what I am and what I wanted to do, but better late than never, right? I am hoping to find others to chat, share experiences, tips, maybe even study for MCAT together? Many thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,
I am a 36 year old mom of 4. I have been an RN for 14 yrs and I haven't been scared off yet! I have wanted to pursue medicine for a while, but did not have the confidence/means to follow through. I have been so encouraged by everyone here, reading the posts and replies. I feel that this is an important forum, for women to see that it CAN be done. Well done to all of you who have achieved your goals, and thank you for continuing to support us in trying to achieve ours!

Hi:
I'm Bettina Burnette. I am 47 and have a hubby that has been in medicine since 1981. I now want to take my post bac. premed sciences and take the MCAT and apply to med school. I want to do
pediatric neurology and focus on psychoneuroimmunology and learning disabled children. I am interested in doing research in this area. My passion has always been children , I have seven of my own, and I want to take care of children the remainder of my life. Retirement is not appealing to me. I would like to be like Dr. Denmark, a pediatrician in north GA, and be practicing clear into my 80's and 90's...I plan to have a long life! If anyone has any advice to give, send it my way. Go girls!..I really admire those mothers who are also trying to balance medicine.

Hi everyone,

I am 24 years old and I have decided to go to medical school. This choice has not been an easy one, as I have had many reasons to doubt whether I should do it. However, at this point I am trying to stay focused on my goal and confident in my ability. I am very happy to have found this site as a lot of the experiences are very inspirational.

One of my many questions with deciding to go to medical school had been the quality of life. I have always been a very driven person and always wanted a successful career in medicine. However, I have been in a very serious relationship (I know I am still very young ) for about 4 years. This is the first relationship that has started to make me consider having a family, marriage and all that good stuff...lol So then I started to second guess whether medicine was for me (another long story...I think I'll start a diary...lol :laughing: ) However, after hearing so many stories on this site and during my volunteer service at the hospital...I have come to see that a family and medicine can work.

Well this is my intorduction...I could keep going if I allow myself...lol

I am excited to meeting you all and look forward to some great conversations.
:hyper:

Good luck to you. I hope you do decide this is the right thing for you. I have been married for almost 6 years. We dated for 4 and then got married. I went back to school to finish pre-requisites for medical school. Survived the MCATs. Got in. Now I'm 5 months pregnant. It's very much do-able. Go for it - medical school will work with you. If you have questions, let me know.

Anne

Hi!
I just graduated from medical school 2 weeks ago. I have a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son. Medicine has always been my dream, and I fell in love with medicine even more during med school. I am not taking the typical path, and am taking time off before starting residency. It was one of the toughest decisions I made. But our family needs it.I'm nervous/excited about my alternative route. But, I feel more sure it was best for us as the days pass.

I can't tell how many times I "lurked" on this website when I had no one who could really understand what I was going through! So a belated and heartfelt thanks to all the ladies out there who made me realize I'm not alone. So now that I have officially introduced myself...I hope I can share and learn from all you smart hardworking women out there!!!

Hello Everyone,

I'm 30 years old and a mother of 3 girls (13, 10,5). I've been reading various bio's and finally got enough courage to post something about myself. I'm 11 months a way from completing my BA in Liberal Arts, but after years of debating and soul searching I've decided to follow my dreams.

I've always wanted to become a doctor, but due to certain choices and circumstances my dream was delayed. So I've since settled for working as a Accounting Analyst, although I'm grateful to have a job, its truly not my calling.

So after years of procrastination I'm ready to begin my journey. I'm so happy I happen to stumble upon this site while searching for information. Whenever I'd mention to anyone my desire to go to medical school I received nothing but discouraging feedback. I often felt because I'm not the "traditional" 20 year old student that it was too late for me, especially given the fact I have children.

However, I've decided to step out on faith. Fully aware of the time, sacrifice, hard work and dedication this will take, and I'm prepared. I was once told a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step.

Good Luck to you all, and God Bless. Finding this site was truly a blessing.

Hi all

I confess that I am also a lurker on this site submitting comments from time to time but far more interested in what you all have to say!

I joined up a few years ago and have been trying to begin with prereqs - however, life seems to get in the way as it does. I've been in management positions for quite some time, and time is always an issue so I've started and then put Chemistry on hold at least twice now!

I resigned from my job at the beginning of the year and did some consulting out on my own. Turns out, this was a turning point for me. My sister recently started a massage course (therapeutic) and suggested I join her, which I did. My focus in on the sport injury side, but it does still feel strange saying I'm doing massage therapy. It's just a 6 month course so not a huge commitment.

The great thing about it, is that it made me realise(again) how much I absolutely love studying anatomy, physiology and pathology (it's a great course with excellent content). It's also teaching me to deal with members of the public and their issues and learn to do paperwork and assessment forms within the 5 minutes between clients. Whew! I reckon these are good skills to have as a doctor. We also use medical terminology on our files and are required to write reports for insurance companies (once qualified) for MVA claims.

Also, I recently went for an assessment and have been diagnosed with ADHD which makes soooo much sense based on my history. That was a bit of an eye opener for me too. So, back to the B.Sc. next year. The MT will allow me to work in a clinical environment and make some money while I continue to study those prereqs.

I also plan to volunteer at a nearby Emergency Medical facility (EMT type)over weekends etc. Will follow up on that as soon as I start studies next year.

Thanks for "listening".

Tracy

Hello all!

I have been on as a guest the past few days reading through all of the different topics on this GREAT site! I'm so glad I've found this. I think this will help support my decision to become an OB/GYN. You can't help but feel the love with all these successful, smart and witty women on here! Congrats to all those who are where I am (just making the decision) to those who are practicing and doing what they love. I am truly a non-traditional student and will be finishing my undergrad in a couple of years. I left school a few years ago to pursue another dream of opening a business. It was great and I can say I accomplished it, but it was not nearly as fulfilling as I hoped. I am 25 and married to a great guy who will be a speech language pathologist this May! Yahh! As soon as my husband gets finished with grad school I will be pursuing my studies on a full-time basis(no more 9-5...Yah! :hyper: ) and following my dream. I am truly excited and nervous about all that this journey will bring. I currently have no kiddies, but we are talking about trying soon---before Medical School. I've been stalking the parenting pages here lately and it seems like sooner is better!

Best wishes for all of the women in all your endeavors!