Would love some advice on some things to consider when deciding which medical school to attend especially when a child and wanting to have more kids during medical school are in the picture.

Is there anything you wish you had known/considered about your school when you decided which one to attend? What, in particular, has been helpful or particularly hard about your school when it comes to managing being a student and a mom. I know it will always be hard but is there anything that can make things better?

For example, P/F? class schedule ending early afternoon versus later in the afternoon?

The big question I want to ask is how do you determine if the administration is family friendly? Is it a total death wish if I ask to speak with the Dean of Student Affairs when I'm trying to decide and ask about family planning while attending medical school? Are there schools that will actually help plan this or do you have to show up at their offices, pregnant, and then get them to help you?

I am currently pregnant for the second time while in medical school. The most important thing is finding a supportive administration. When planning your third and fourth years, it will be important to be able to do your rotations at your home institution (rather than away, who knows where), and to be able to schedule your clerkships in a manner suitable to parenthood. Some schools are more parent friendly than others. I would not ask if an administration is family friendly during your interview (obviously), but the medical affairs/scheduling office might be a good place to call and inquire. There is no harm in speaking directly with the individual who handles student scheduling and see what they can/would do for you. Speaking with current students is another great way, particularly the ones with families.

I also attended a school that recorded and offered all lectures online, so I was able to study at home a significant portion of the time. If the school has a PBL format, this will require you to be on campus. Check out the current schedules for the first two years, if you can, and get an idea of when and where you will be required to be.

I went to the medical school that I liked the most. Fortunately, they are family friendly, and have gone out of their way to ensure an appropriate schedule, especially when I showed up completely nauseated three days before my next clerkship was about to start and told them I needed to change to an elective month. (With my first pregnancy (my first year), I never actually told them I was pregnant.)

Good luck.

OP - I would PM lynee, and just go to her school if you can. That sounds amazing and supportive!

I did attend a PBL school, and yes - I missed three classes, because despite what PBL sounds like - you still have classes you are generally required to be at.

That is funny. My school is all I've known, so it is hard to compare to other institutions. We were fortunate enough to be able to plan both pregnancies down to the month. Had that not been the case, I imagine things would have gotten more complicated.

And yes, they have been absolutely great to me, but fortunately, I haven't needed much accommodation (low risk pregnancies).

Dear lynee It is good to know that the administrative staff was hospitable and treated you with love and care during pregnancy which i could not expect .

Thanks, all!

So it seems like my GENERAL perception of medical school being unfriendly towards families and pregnancies is TRUE? That's unfortunate.

Lynee, I'm not sure which school you go to (how can I PM you..)

I recently attended an admitted students reception to one of the schools that I have an acceptance to. I spoke with the Dean of Student Affairs who explicitly told me that if I wanted to have children during medical school, it is a choice that they celebrate with me and that they will help me plan my pregnancies as well as possible. This also did not mean that I had to wait till my fourth year but we briefly talked about some other options. I felt a HUGE weight come off my shoulders.

After I hear back from a few schools in March, I think my plan is to talk to the Deans at the schools I have acceptances to and figure it out from there...

My med school was VERY supportive.

My med school was (is?) very supportive as well. With my complicated pregnancy I was thrown out of sequence for rotations with my class and was in danger of not being able to graduate as intended.

They let me mix M4 rotations in with M3 to get myself back in sequence and I will graduate on time. Pretty awesome of them, IMO.

Also, not a PBL school, but M2 had about 2-3 days of required activities on campus, the rest of the time I podcasted.

Another very supportive school here as well. Although we have had required group activities every morning at 8 am and afternoon activities every other day for the past two weeks- which has definitely been a study-time killer and irritating to spend so much time on campus. *sigh*

But- look in the General discussion for one of my posts- an article from my school is there, and if you look at the 2010 Pregnancies thread, you can see accommodations they made for my situation. I ended up splitting second year into 2, so my baby will be almost two when I start rotations in July.