Mother of 3...med school??

[Gualyz]

Hi,

I need some good advice, i want to hear it all. The good, the bad and the ugly. My dilemma:

I am currently an RN, with three small children( 9, 3, and 1). I already have my bachelors and at this point i came to a crossroads....Nurse practioners program or try to get into med school? For the NP program it would take me year and a half and be done, being able to spend time with my kids and family. For med school, i have 2 more years of pre-req, 4 years of med, + 3 of residency. I am more than willing to put the work into it, but i don't know what is like being a mom and being in med school + the residency. While med school is a dream of mine, my children are everything to me! I want to this for them, but i also do not want to miss out on 100% of my kid's life for the next 10 years.
I have found different opinions on it but none strong enough to sway me either way.

Questions:
what is the typical day to day life while in med school and residency?
NP vs. Med school? any advice? anyone with regrets out there?
Any other moms who have done this?
I know during med school there is no income, is there any during residency??

Any advice or ideas, etc are GREATLY appreciated!!

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[Instatewaiter]

I am currently an RN, with three small children( 9, 3, and 1). I already have my bachelors and at this point i came to a crossroads....Nurse practioners program or try to get into med school? For the NP program it would take me year and a half and be done, being able to spend time with my kids and family. For med school, i have 2 more years of pre-req, 4 years of med, + 3 of residency. I am more than willing to put the work into it, but i don't know what is like being a mom and being in med school + the residency. While med school is a dream of mine, my children are everything to me! I want to this for them, but i also do not want to miss out on 100% of my kid's life for the next 10 years.
I have found different opinions on it but none strong enough to sway me either way.

Questions:
what is the typical day to day life while in med school and residency?
NP vs. Med school? any advice? anyone with regrets out there?
Any other moms who have done this?
I know during med school there is no income, is there any during residency??

Any advice or ideas, etc are GREATLY appreciated!!

Residency is by far the worst in terms of hours required.

First 2 years of med school- class 4-8 hours per day depending on the school. Spend the rest of the day studying (3-6 hours per day depending on the type of student you are). This schedule lends itself to a normal life since you can schedule your life after class.

Third year- basically 60-80 hours per week depending on the rotation. Your time is no longer your own so this makes it much more difficult to live a normal life. I basically didn't see friends outside of the hospital except perhaps once a month- sometimes more rarely.

4th year- depending on the rotation can be worse than 3rd year or better than the first 2 years.

Residency: depends on the residency. Assuming non-surgical (surgical is worse)
80 hours per week. Since there is no call intern year, expect six 12-16 hour days (7a-7p+) per week. As a junior or senior you will take call every 3rd-4th night (30 hour shift) and then do 12 hour shifts the rest of the time

The thing to know though before hand is what is your GPA and what kind of standardized test taker are you? For instance if your GPA sucks and you aren't good at standardized tests, it may not be worth your time to take the pre-recs and never get into med school.

During med school you pay 40K per year. Average indebtedness is 150K but this also includes those whose parents paid for it so it lowers the average. If you are paying for it yourself, expect to pay 200K even at most public schools. During residency you make about 40K per year

People often work during NP school so it is much less of a time commitment and markedly less intense. During residency you will lose contact with your friends and family. Basically from the time 3rd year hits until you finish residency you will basically be living under a rock... at least compared to your life prior to med school.

In the end, if you want to do something truly great with your life, be a doctor. If you just want to get a better job, go to NP school.

 

[Staradmiral]

Do what is right for your kids! NP. being a doctor is a dream, but so is being a good parent. Not worth the time you would lose with your kids in my opinion. especially while they are so young. dont miss out on those early years of their lives.