Medicine and children?

**lilbo6** · 20-04-2007, 03:41 PM

Hi everyone,

I'm looking in to applying for grad entry medicine 2008. I'm 22 and will be 24 when I start the course (if I get in first time which I hear is not likely). I would like to have children at some point, as does my partner, and I wanted to know if you can take time out of a career in medicine to do this.

Is there the opportunity to take a year out between completing the course and beginning the foundation years? If you do this are you less likely to get a foundation job? Can you do the foundation years part time or is it full time only? Following the foundation years what is the situation with training in your speciality ie. can you do this part time or is it full time only?

Sorry for all the questions but any advice would be great....I would really like to know if and when in a medical career it is possible to take time out to have children and if flexible working is available so that you can actually spend time with them!!

Thanks in advance

**aspirant doc** · 23-04-2007, 09:06 PM

Hi there, lots of questions there...

In general, yes you can take a year out at any time, but it is not 100% certain you can just jump back in without having some effect on your career.

...training is full time, but you can always take more years out if you want..

...the impact of taking years out is unclear, in reality you may not be able to get your first choice of speciality...but in reality many of us won't get hat anyway, whatever we do...

....as for foundation years, they're all up in the air right now, your guess is as good as my postman's girlfirend's cat's sister-in-law's mouses' guess.

**lilbo6** · 24-04-2007, 11:00 PM

Thanks for the reply Nick, I'm just feeling concerned that choosing medicine will mean compromising having a family but I know that people on here have families so it can be done!

Its also difficult with all of the changes being made with the training at the moment to know what you are letting yourself in for, although hopefully things will be sorted by the time I get to that stage!

**nightowl** · 27-04-2007, 06:23 PM

you can have children while you are studying, but I wouldnt really advise it. you should just enjoy being a med student and doing your foundation and not give yourself extra problems, its hard enough as it is. Unless you are absolutely desperate for kids I wouldnt rush. take it from a final year student with a toddler who never seems to get a second to herself!
your bio clock probably feels like its ticking but really you are very young

i am 26 and still cant believe im a parent!I love it but its a lot of responsibility and there are so many things I wish I had done first. I dont think its a great idea to take a break between finishing med school and foundation as you could find it really hard if you lose yours skills. you can have children between foundation year 1 and 2, which is what I might do if I want another one. also you can do part time foundation and do it over 4 years, which is good but obviously it is half the pay and double the time. and you usually have to find someone to share the post with you. I think things are easier once you are more qualified as there are a lot of people having kids then and probably more set up for it. have you applied to any 5 year course with entry to 2nd year?thats what I did instead of the really intensive grad courses and I really enjoyed it. good luck with all the applications!

**lilbo6** · 29-04-2007, 12:28 AM

Thanks for your reply, I'm not planning on having children any time in the near future and definitely want to get through med school before I do. If you don't mind me asking which universities allow entry to the second year if you are a graduate and what degree did you read? I'm assumming it would have to be a biology related degree to do this which I don't have

**Stella07** · 13-05-2007, 08:09 PM

Hi nightowl,
I am 26 as well and have a 10 months old baby. I am dreaming to become a doctor but did not get a chance yet. I tried the gamsat last march working full time and found it really really hard. I did not get the results yet but do not expect anything good as I had the time to do a third of it.... I am ready to give my resignation letter tomorrow as i want to get a chance to study seriously for the gamsat in september. It is a big decision for my career and financially. I live in Ireland and I am French also it makes things even more complicated for me... anyway, I would not mind getting some advices and some support from some people that may have been in the same situation...

Regards,
charlotte

**nightowl** · 16-05-2007, 02:10 AM

hi stella

If its really what you want then go for it but be prepared for it to be hard. I suppose I am lucky that I only have 2 years of medicine with a child and not the whole course. Having children certainly makes you feel different from other students and it can be quite lonely sometimes. also I tend to feel like Im not working hard enough because if its a choice between studying and going to the park with my little man, the park wins every time. I just do enough to get by on the studying side and as much as I can with my child.But its a cool career, very interesting and rewarding, just as long as you have lots of mental stamina!
luckily I never had to do any of this gamsat stuff, I probably would have done rubbish! i have a degree in biology so I just applied to 5 year undergrad courses and begged to miss the first year, which seemed to work!Good luck, there isnt any reason why having a child should hold you back, except for having absolutely no time to do anything except chase yourself round in circles!