Med school and a family

jiye · Rookie Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 7

yup agree with lovebite!

GAMSATtutor · Veteran Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 51

oh guess what we have a parent in our year

and she is thinking of withdrawing

she has already deferred 3 times

and her husband doesn't work, they have lived off welfare for the last 11 years, cheap house etc

and no she is not the most intelligent either

skygirl · Regular Joined: 28 Oct 2008 Posts: 14

thats nice of you to say gamsat tutor!

Lovebite · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:27 am Post subject:

:-O *shudder

yuyuandmarmar · Veteran Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 60

So what is your point exactly, GAMSATtutor?? Because from where I am sitting it looks like an attempt to discredit student-parents as incompetent people unable to manage the pressure. Each person is unique. Let's not cast every parent in the same basket.

GAMSATtutor · Veteran Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 51

a few of the students in our course will be deferring to have kids

so that means that they will be taking the place of a student who is trying to get in

that is a bit unfair

Lovebite · Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 12:23 am Post subject:

what if they graduated, and then took time off to have kids? would that be unfair on the government, as the huge expense of training them is not being paid back in utility?

Are you suggesting that Doctors shouldn't have children, or just that med students shouldn't? or are you saying something else?

What I think is unfair, is that people can sit back and judge others choices so flippantly. If someone sits GAMSAT, sits for an Interview, accepts a place, and then access an opportunity that is freely offered and open to all Medical students by the medical School, then who are you to judge them poorly?

If there was deception, or dishonesty associated with it, then I'd understand your concerns.... but this isn't about that. At no stage during the interviews do they say "You do realise that when you start Medicine, you have to do 6 years straight, and you're not free to start a family". Such attitudes lead students down very dark paths. Some people feel so trapped by their circumstances that they commit suicide (have a look at the data for depression among doctors, and suicide rates among Medical students...... especially in your university's recent past!.... its truly horrifying and sad)

What do you think about students who decide to take a year off to go travelling? is that unfair too?

What about students who just decide that its a hard slog, and they want a break for a year before they graduate and get stuck into a training program?

At what point is it ok?

henryryry · Regular Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 20

medwannabe · Regular Joined: 11 Nov 2009 Posts: 17

*high five* to lovebite, yuyu, henryryry et al.

GAMSATtutor, you make me sick.

You think that wasting a med place on a parent or someone who wants to start a family is unfair on other students whose place they have taken??

If it is somebody with opinions like you whose spot they have taken, then I think that we should waste more med places.

People like you becoming doctors is what is wrong with this world.

I hope I am never your patient.

tealou · Rookie Joined: 20 Dec 2009 Posts: 3

I'm new here but I just had to bite on this... as a mother of 3.

I come to Medicine after 10 years of constantly wishing I had done it in the first place. I had the ability, but not the resources, to take on something like med school in my 20s.

I thought that my other degrees, my successful business, would fill that yearning to do something like this, but it never did. And now, at 30, I have a stable marriage, stable income, and yes, 3 young children.

I have also been on the receiving end of some very, very bad Doctors. So I come to Medicine with not only the intelligence and scientific understanding, but real world experience of what it is like to be under the power and whim of a Doctor's decision... and how that feels. Mothers, by and large, have more exposure to the good & bad of medicine... and that is something you cannot quantify.

And on another lighthearted note - external Medicine course? That sounds awesome! Wink

yuyuandmarmar · Veteran Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 60

Well, well, well.

I completed my first year of Med at Melbourne this year. And, yes, I have two children, one of whom has special needs. And I am happy to be able to prove that GAMSATtutor has absolutely no right to have made the generalisations that he/she has made regarding the ability of students (who are also parents) to succeed in this demanding course. Despite the extra commitments I was able to score H1's (first class honours) in both of my subjects. My score was in the top 5% in a class of almost 90 students. So for those who have the passion, the determination, and the fire to pursue their dreams of becoming a doctor, and also have kids, I am proof that it is possible to do well and manage other commitments.

Lovebite · Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:52 pm Post subject:

(please keep in mind that yuyu is probably one of the smartest people I know)

henryryry · Regular Joined: 22 Mar 2009 Posts: 20

As a father to a 3 week daughter, I will embark on my study to be a doctor at the age of 31 next year. I have worked as a physio for the last 10 years, completed a PhD about 2 years ago, and worked in medical research in the last 2 years. And yet I wanted to have the potential to help more people. Thus, it is certainly a great inspiration to know that studying medicine is possible with parenthood and I look forward to the challenge.

Lovebite · Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 4:43 pm Post subject:

Well Henry.... I promise you're in good company.

Get ready for an amazing experience.

tealou · Rookie Joined: 20 Dec 2009 Posts: 3

I am actaully heartened by how many 30-31 year olds with kids there will be when I hit UWA in 2012 Wink

Study group FTW!