Hello there fellow non Trads. I have been really tired to update my blog recently. You see, I have been on my Intensive Care Unit month and basically I am working 12 hours a day for 5 days. Then I have to come home and help out with the kiddies and the wifey. So as you can see, being a non trad with children and in medical school is not very easy. In fact, it is downright tiring. However, that is not to say that it is not rewarding.
One thing that I did find out is that I truly enjoy critical care medicine. It is so important when it comes to the Emergency room that they are almost one and the same. However, there is more to critical care than meets the eye. And since I have also applied to Internal Medicine residency programs, if I do match into IM rather than EM, I am going to do a fellowship in critical care/pulmonology. however, there lies the rub. What do I tell my wife? This is something that us non trads have to deal with that 99.999% of the other medical students do not. We have to talk to our spouses. Unlike EM and straight IM, being a critical care doctor will require 3 more years after residency for a fellowship. And that is going to be a hard sell to my wife.
Recently, my 2nd oldest has been having a hard time with her spelling. Mostly in part because neither myself nor my wife have been sitting with her to help her with her words. My fault, because after a long day in the ICU I just want to crash and my wife has the other kids that also need help, be fed, be changed, etc. This is another uniqueness with us non trads, especially those of us with kids that other medical students do not have to worry about. Not only do we have our school events, but our kids have theirs. There is back to school night, parent teacher conferences, plays, book fairs, play dates, you name it. Not to mention homework. So this has to be added to the scheduling process. For that we have "Central Command Calendar"
Basically, I went to Staples and I bought a laminated erasable calendar and white board markers. Then each person was assigned a color of marker. Now we have 2 months of activities that we can check. I write down my schedule so that everyone knows what time and where I will be. Also, I will know when the other events are. Everything has to be put on the calendar. Doctor's appointments, interviews, playdates, dinner dates, etc. Now we have everything scheduled and it can easily be seen.
Time to take my eldest to Karate, be back soon non trads. Here are some ideas for pre-meds.
As for pre-meds: let me know about questions and I will reply with them as soon as I can.
I just found your blog and am enjoying it! I am currently going back to school, taking physics and org chem so I will be prepared for the mcat. I previously got a degree in psychology and went on to work for an oil co...got pregnant and realized I need to fulfill my dream.
ReplyDeleteSo here I am, with a husband and a 2 year old...taking my last 2 classes ths semester and plan to take the mcat within the next year.
I cant imagine having 4 kiddos! And I thought it was going to be rough with 1! How did you find time to study? How did you get through the guilt of not spending much time with your wife and kids?