Podcasts about premed diaries

Session 10 Today, our premed student is changing her career because she wants to change the scope of her practice. But she’s conflicted because she’s struggling with things concerning her age and wanting to have kids. Is it possible to have kids during medical school? [01:20] Caller of the Week: “Ever since I dove into this premed journey and stumbled upon all of the different things that are offered by Ryan Gray like the Premed Diaries and all premed podcasts. Both Dr. Ryan Gray and Dr. Allison Gray have just been... felt really supported by this online community and all the information that's out there. Anyway, the journey about myself that I wanted to share and the questions that I have for Allison and anybody else who's in a similar situation. It's related to just the challenge about my age... I'm 29 and had kind of a different journey. I was a traditional student with a degree in Biology. I graduated at 22. And I've always been tempted to go to med school. I've always wanted to be a doctor. But I felt like when I was in my early 30s, I just lacked a lot of confidence. I never even took the MCAT despite doing most of the prereqs because I never really felt like I could do it. And I think I never really wanted to put myself out there to find out. So instead, I actually completed a second undergrad - dietitian. I've been working clinically in a care setting as a dietitian for almost five years now. And I absolutely love my job. I work with a really unique population... the people I work with is a tribal population in a really remote part of the United States. I work in a hospital and over the past five years, I feel like I've grown so much life experience and so much confidence. I work with great health care institutions that always supported me and told me really I could do anything... I have been able to grow my role out of the hospital into our outpatient oncology palliative care clinic. Through this process, I've felt myself as feeling really confined by my scope of practice as a dietitian. I'm so interested and curious about medicine and about the unique cancers that my patients are struggling with and just find myself wanting to learn more and to know more. And to be able to go beyond nutrition to help my patient... I'm completing - the last prereqs that I needed was Physics class... so I'm just taking that last class and I'm scheduled to take the MCAT in March of this year and apply to medical schools in June. Really, the reason that I'm feeling conflicted and scared and worried is because I'm 29 years old. I'm about to commit to another goal beyond four years at school and the time you consider medical school and the residency. And I want to have kids. I've grown up in this great environment both growing up and worked where being a woman has never been the reason not to do anything at all. And I think this might be one of the first times that I've ever felt this burden of being a female... I don't want to take anything away from men who are doctors or medical students who have a huge burden on their shoulders with supporting family or a wife who's considering pregnancy. But it just comes along with a whole extra complexity when you're the one who will be going to medical school. When I told my mom who's a physician and was actually the first female medical director of one of our local hospitals that I wanted to go to medical school and be a doctor, she said, that's great. And her second comment was, so you've decided to forgo having kids then, which stressed totally threw me... Luckily I've worked with a lot of really supportive physicians and the people that I have chosen to share my plans with have told me - you can do it. It's possible. Everybody has stories about somebody they knew who had kids in medical school but I'm just so worried about it... get through medical school, get through a residency and be 36, 37 at best and I could find myself unable to get pregnant. And I'm worried about in the future, regret that I'll have. I have this career that I love that has a lot of promise as a dietitian... but I just know that I would love being a doctor and then I could do so much good of this population and provide so much continuity of care in our region and for all of our rural patients. I feel really torn given my age, I'm turning 30 next month. The other important thing to mention, the other part of this equation is my very supportive husband... really only been seriously deciding to take the plunge into applying to medical school since about August of this year. And when he brought it up, he supported me 100%. We've talked a lot about the question of kids because we both want kids - when do we have, when do we try, when is the best time, when should you have kids in medical school, should we wait... what's going to happen if we wait a few years until so I would be in medical school or even wait until I graduated from my residency to try or if he's going to hold it against me if I can't get pregnant. He said he won't but I just can't help but have that worry..." [09:55] Being a Mom and a Woman "As a mom, there's no greater gift than be able to have children and be a mom." I love what I do as a physician, but I think it's in our biology in terms of our desire to be parents. Although not everyone feels this way, but for many of us, it's a very powerful, important thing we want to do. It's definitely different as a woman vs a man. There are certain additional complexities that we have as women going through medical school, residency, and trying to juggle getting pregnant and all of the things that go along with that, plus having children. When you're parenting, just the mere pregnancy itself is unique to women. [11:20] Working as a Dietitian and Getting Family Support You talked about regret and do you think you would regret staying in what you're doing now forever? Otherwise, you would always potentially wonder and would have what ifs. This being said, I wonder if you'd regret not applying. Additionally, it's wonderful that your husband supports you. It's so important to have that support from day one. It would also be fantastic to be able to bring your skills as a physician back to the same population you're caring for. Being able to do more sounds really fantastic. [12:35] How to Do It All "Nobody really has their act together." As a child, teenager, and young adult, you'd think you can handle xyz when you're at this certain age. But then you realize that nobody really has their stuff together. And we're all just coursing through. So adding children, which is a huge part of that equation, is that there's never necessarily a right time. In fact, I don't think there's ever a right time, so to speak. There will be times it will be more challenging in which to have children. If you have a kid and starting third year of medical school, that is a challenging time. If you're starting your internship and you're about to have a kid, then you'd have to postpone your start date. Definitely, there are more challenging times on the path of medical school and residency, at which time having children would be harder. But as to whether there's a perfect time, probably not. [13:50] You Can Have Both: Kids and Medical School It's clear how much you want to have children and I would very disrespectfully disagree with your mom. I think you can have both. There are several people in their group who had kids in medical school. And the rest of us who did not have children yet would look at them wondering how they're able to do that. But they would usually figure out different ways of getting things done. It's not the same when you have children. You have to heavily prioritize what you're doing and really make things consistent and be very clear about what's happening when. So their ability to succeed in medical school just rested on the fact they had to make that work for their kids. They had to find those times when they could study. They have to find the time so they can be there for their kids. Is it possible to do it? Absolutely. It's just a question of making it work and figuring out who's going to do what - bath time, bedtime, study time, etc. And if one of you is in medical school instead of both of you, it's probably much easier than if you're both in school and trying to have kids. [15:57] The Pieces to the Puzzle First, this is very much something people do. It's just a question of figuring out how. If you can get through medical school. It's just a matter of making all the pieces altogether. Parenting is a lot of just feeling your way through life and knowing that your priority is your kid. Perfection and raising children, they do not go together... Perfection is something we strive for but certainly something that is not a reality. [17:20] Going to Med School at 30 Being 29 or 30 is different than starting med school when you're 20 or 22. However, I have kids and colleagues who had kids when they were 20. But you never know. Nobody can tell you what your fertility journey is going to look like until you're at that point. You might go and have one kid when you're 36. [18:40] Figure It Out with Your Husband When does it feel right for you to have kids? If having children sooner is something you really want to do, then do that sooner. Moreover, it is such a personal journal and a personal question for everybody. For me, I felt too stressed out about just the process of being a med student. I felt like I needed to grow some more. I was also too worried that if I had kids during residency that the stress would just be out of control. The kind of residency program I had trained was incredibly rigorous. And that was what scared me into not feeling I could. But that's just me. I know there are others who did really both. I remember one of our junior residents had a baby during the most challenging part of our residency. We were on call every fourth night for the entire year. And she had a baby! Any of these things are possible. It's just a question of how do you feel? If you're really in it and your husband, then it's really just a matter of when you both feel this is what you want to do and you will figure the rest out. If you wait just for the sake of it, it may not be the right time. So it's more a question of looking at how you feel and where you're going to medical school. Another thing to consider is to think about the support you have nearby. One of the things that help families going through medical school or residency is having support from an extended family nearby. No matter what stage you're at, it's huge to have that kind of support. [22:25] Final Thoughts I hear you. I appreciate the decision you're faced with as well as the concern and worry you have. Keep in mind that you have a very supportive husband and a very bright future in front of you as you've done very well so far. You know what you want. So it's just a matter of making it work. At the end of the day, push forward. Apply to medical school. Don't live with regret and see where it goes. Hopefully, you're able to get additional family support in that area. Otherwise, you're going to make that work too. In terms of fertility concern, when you feel you're ready to become a mom then make that happen too. You may find it's really hard to juggle, but you will make it work! The journey that you will take as a med student, as a resident - you'll have stressors throughout that period. But you will make it work. "Just go with your gut. Use your resources, the people around you and just keep your head up and you will get through it." Links: MedEd Media Network

Session 09 Today, we're hearing from a premed who's struggling with balancing time management and finances. It is hard to be a premed, but it is even more difficult when you have a full-time job a family to support, and your classes are not offered at convenient times. [01:14] Caller of the Week "I'm a little frustrated with the whole college experience. I am an older premed student. I'm 28 years old. I have a family. I'm getting married. I spent a lot of time at the community college, not really knowing what I wanted to do and thinking I was never smart enough to be a doctor even though I always wanted to. I never had the grades in high school. I was an average student. But then I started taking the courses at my community college. I started doing really well. I was getting 4.0's in the sciences and the math. I was doing really well. So I'm like, why not give the premed life a shot? And I did really well. I busted my butt to get out of this community college and transfer to a local four year and I picked this particular school because I thought that it would be more adult friendly. At a community college, it's right next door to another community college that they accept a lot of transfer students from. I think 60-65% of their students are transfer students and adults, older students. So I thought it would be a more working and adult friendly, more friendly towards students and families. But I'm finding more and more that that's not the case and I'm getting really, really frustrated with having to take these courses and take time off of work to do them. All of the sciences are early morning classes, three, four days a week and I just can't take that time off of work and be able to support my family. So I'm really struggling with the time management and the finances. I don't have a way to keep going to school and work to support myself and my daughter. I'm really at a loss here. What to do? I don't know if I should go back to the community college and take the courses there and they'll take courses that the university and at least try to show to med schools that I'm not taking these courses at a community college because they're "easier." I'm taking them because I don't have a choice. I'm doing what I have to do. I don't know if it's worth the risk to do that. And it may be a red flag on my application even if I keep doing relatively well. Or on the other hand, is it worth quitting my job and putting that full load on my wife to pick up the slack and make her breadwinner and I'll be bringing home nothing. I really don't know what to do - get a part-time job, working at a hospital or something. But even then, I don't know if that's enough to make ends meet. The cost of living is pretty high where I live. So I'm not really sure at all what to do. If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing or making this kind of decisions. Or if any of the Doctors Gray have an input, it would be great to hear from you. Thank you very much." [04:35] A Tough Decision and Every Situation is Unique Anybody in your shoes would feel that way. It's a tough decision what you're facing. It sounds like you did great at a community college and then transferring to a four-year university because a lot of people say med schools won't look fondly on community college courses. Now, it's hard because it's not working with your schedule and it sounds like you're doing so much working a 50-hour week, providing for your daughter, and taking classes full-time on the premed track. That's a lot! "In general, in this life, do what works." Every situation is unique. Some medical schools may look more negatively upon a student who has just community course credit. However, it's a statement that doesn't take anything else into account. While you are dealing with a very complex situation. You are caring for your daughter and working more than full-time to provide for her while also working as a premed. So your situation is different than anyone else's because it's a unique situation. Hence, it's not fair to anyone saying that community classes are not that hard. [07:08] Back to Community College If you have the opportunity in your medical school application to talk about how you were trying to do what works to provide for your family and to also be successful on the premed track, I think many admissions officers would understand that decision. They would understand the decision if you went back to a community college. If I were in your shoes, I would probably go back to the community college and take more of your courses there because you want to do what's going to work for you. If it doesn't work for your family and it doesn't work for your schedule and for you to be able to make ends meet and to be taking these early morning classes at the university and there aren't a lot of other options out there, then do what works. Are there other four year schools that offer classes at other times? But that would mean transferring which is a huge deal. Realistically speaking, if you looked at all the options and you're at this school where the only offer classes in the morning, it's hard to argue that you should stay there. To be able to provide for your family and also be able to do the work you do, it makes a lot of sense to take a lot of those classes at a community college. [09:09] Splitting Your Classes One option is maybe there's a class that you can take at a university instead of taking all of them at a community college. But at the end of the day, you want to do what works because you don't want to be so stressed out, burned out, and miserable in this process. That alone will make it harder for you as an applicant and it will be harder not to burn out. "Having to work and go to school at the same time, in and of itself, nevermind having a family, is really, really challenging." [10:27] It's Not Just About Grades, It's About You And just because you're going to a community college doesn't mean you'll be receiving letters of rejections from medical schools. You will have an opportunity to talk about why you took a lot of your classes in community college. You have been successful and getting fantastic grades in your classes and that is huge. Ultimately, don't forget that your application will be unique. It's not just about your grades and the name of the school you went to. It's you! And you will have the opportunity to shoe the best version of yourself and explain why you made the choices you did. "Being able to provide for your family is a very basic thing." Remember that you will have the opportunity to talk about why you made the choices you did and go back to those community classes and do well. Again, if you do, keep one class at the university if possible. But if you can't then that's fine too. [12:50] Talking About Finances There are always options and financial advisors in medical schools can provide you help. A lot of you are struggling, especially nontrads, when it comes to finances. And the price tag on medical school can really be daunting. There are loans and many of us have them. There are other types of things you can do as well. You can sign up for rural-based scholarships or programs that have you work for a certain place for a while and in exchange, you won't have to pay as high a fee. There are a lot of options out there. Many premeds don't consider looking at the cost of living as a medical student. And that will change from where you are now unless you're planning to apply to schools around where you now live. [14:25] Go with Your Gut None of these decisions are easy and you have to go with your gut. It sounds like you're leaning forward to going back to that community college so don't beat yourself up. You're a caring individual and trying to make things work. So have faith in yourself as you've gone this far already. Your daughter will look up to you so much for having made a success of this and going through this process. Sometimes, it can feel you don't have a lifeline but you're strong and resilient. Again, go with your gut. If you think you have to take some of those classes elsewhere then just do it. "Admissions officers are not just going to completely discount you if your classes are all at a community college." [16:00] Listen to The Premed Years Podcast In Ryan's podcast, he talks all the time about how we, as premeds, are not a number. You're not a grade. You're not an MCAT score. You're everything put together and everybody's story is unique. He has a lot of insights in his podcast to share so please take a listen to it. [17:30] Leave Us a Message I would love to hear from you every week! Whether you're having your high moments as well as your low times, if you just want to vent about anything, we're here to listen to you. Call 1-833-MYDIARY and hit 1 to leave a message for Premed Diaries. You can leave a diary entry up to 30 minutes. Press 5 if you want to leave some feedback to any of our diary entries. Links: The Premed Years Podcast

The very first episode of Premed Diaries, a podcast dedicated to you. With Dr. Allison Gray as the host, you are the featured guest by calling 833-MY-DIARY. Links: Full Episode Blog Post Call 1-833-MYDIARY and share your thoughts with us! MedDiaries.com OldPreMeds Podcast MedEd Media Network

The very first episode of Premed Diaries, a podcast dedicated to you. With Dr. Allison Gray as the host, you are the featured guest by calling 833-MY-DIARY. Links: Full Episode Blog Post Call 1-833-MYDIARY and share your thoughts with us! MedDiaries.com The Premed Years Podcast MedEd Media Network Nontrad Premed Forum

Session 01 Hi! I'm Dr. Allison Gray. This is our first episode of the Premed Diaries. We created this podcast, along with the other Med Diaries podcast so physicians and physicians in training could have a place to speak their minds, vent, unload, and hear one another in support and solidarity. The premed journey is not easy and there are many stressors, roadblocks, and frustrations. But there are also incredible joys, like that first time you got to shadow a physician or that first interview offer, or that first acceptance to medical school. Here at Premed Diaries, we want to help you on this journey to avoid and deal with burnout - an ever growing threat and serious problem for our physician community. And as a premed student, it's never too early to start. In each episode, we will hear from a premed student and I'll share some of my thoughts as well. You may also hear from others who have called and left a response for the caller on a previous episode. Today, we will hear from a premed student who is dealing with lots of stress and the feeling of needing to be his best in every endeavor and how this is very emotionally draining. [01:10] Caller #1: Feeling the Stress and Pressure Our student today transitioned out of the military in 2016. He went to a premed school following his transition, which he considers as an enormous blessing in his life, and one of the most convincing factors for him to pursue medicine. Right now, he's been dealing with a lot of stress and pressure. He finds it very difficult to convey to the people in his life that things are high-stakes for him. He is working as a paramedic and since then, things feel high-stakes. He expresses the feelings of pressure to get a 4.0 and do well on the MCAT. Alongside, he's also starting his own podcast. "It's a lot to deal with at once." He is working in the emergency department so he gets cases that affect him from time to time. So going and bouncing back from school being so high-stakes to showing up to work and feeling like he needs to be perfect for the sake of the patients, he sees this as a very emotionally draining process. "I feel like everything hangs on a really delicate balance, too. When I go to class, there's pressure to do the best, to be the best, and you still have to show up to work the next day and take care of patients." Not to mention, he has to take care of his family and dealing with being a former veteran along with all the stuff that goes with that. He admits dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety on almost a daily basis. He's trying to manage all these different things at once. He feels like he never takes a break. Fortunately, listening to The Premed Years Podcast and the OldPreMeds Podcast has been therapeutic for him, which he does on his commute to work and school. He still finds it hard for people in his life to realize this. Although he feels so blessed with the podcast they're starting and with him doing well in school, but that doesn't discount the daily grind that can really get at you. He encourages people out there to segment your time as best as you can and take things one at a time. Just keep going and find a little bit of peace and solitude in what you're doing. It's impactful and important to the people who are affected by it. See the bigger picture and things will pan out. "Everything is hanging in such a delicate balance that you feel like you need extra hands and another brain in order to manage it all." Finally, our caller feels great being able to send out this recording since he was able to get all this off his chest. As his way to manage things, he has had a lot of personal growth on time management and dealing with stress, grief, etc. And he hopes all this would help him carry through to medical school and residency, and hopefully become an attending physician. All the skills he learned as a paramedic, in the military, and during training will all be a driving factor. [08:07] Share Your Thoughts With Us! If you also want to share your thoughts with us, call 1-833-MYDIARY and you also can do so anonymously. We would love to hear what you have to say! [08:42] It's a High-Stakes Game Our caller has touched on so many great things many premeds are struggling with. First, is the high-stakes game of being a premed student. There so many pressures you're all dealing with. You could be looking for someone to shadow with or that you're trying to pay your bills. Or maybe, you're changing your career and you still have to take care of your family. You may be a college student and you're also paying your bills. Many of you could probably relate to this high-stakes feeling. "There are so many stressors out there as a premed and it feels really high-stakes because you feel like you can't really do a crappy job at any of it." [09:40] Family and Friends Not Getting It This is an important thing to recognize and acknowledge. Your family and your friends are your biggest fans and heroes and they're rooting for you. But the reality is that a lot of times, they really can't understand what you're experiencing. This is true as a premed student, and more so as you get into medical school and then eventually becoming a physician. "Your family and your friends are your biggest fans and heroes and they're rooting for you. But the reality is that a lot of times, they really can't understand what you're experiencing." Our caller is already a paramedics so he has experience working with patients and working in a very busy environment. So this already shows him how difficult it is. Seeing patients in life-threatening situations and having to be on is a hard thing to do, regardless of your role in healthcare.  This is really tough. And trying to explain what this is like and articulating it in a way that a family member or a friend can really understand when they don't live in that world is really hard. Fast-forward when you're on the wards. It's very hard for people not working in health care to understand the pressure you're under. These hard situations where patients are dying or dealing with incredibly difficult diagnoses. So try as best as you can to vent and talk to your family and your friends. And if they don't get it, then they don't. Good thing you have peers you're going through things with. And they get it a lot more than others. They may not have the close relationships yet as you do with your family and friends but they do get it. [11:26] Needing to Be Perfect We can never be perfect. Physicians and physicians in training, we hold ourselves to this incredible expectations. We think that we really have to be perfect but the reality is that we are human. Being human means that we make mistakes. It's impossible for us to be 100% all the time. We can really only do the best we can. "The reality is we are humans and being humans means that we do make mistakes." That's something I have really tried to keep in the back of my mind all these years, that I'm doing the very BEST that I can. And as long as I'm doing that, then I feel ethically and morally grounded. That if it's not perfect and I make mistakes along the way, at least I'm doing the best I can. So you have to keep this in your mind as well. [12:50] Use Your Resources and Take a Little Break Listening to resources like podcasts such as The Premed Years Podcast and the OldPreMeds Podcast is HUGE, especially when you're feeling that you don't get a break and that you're doing so many different things. It's really important to find anything that gives you a little bit of a break, even if it's just for 20 minutes. Find a TV show you love or sing really loudly in the car. Listen to a podcast that inspires or encourages you. Go to the gym. It's hard to make time for that but a little bit of that even if it's just for 5-10 minutes can get your mind back on task and give you that encouragement you need to keep going when you're feeling really worn out and spent. So use your resources and lean on other people as you can. If somebody offers to make you a meal, take them up on it. If somebody offers to watch your kids, take them up on it. "Just find a little bit of time, even for 20 minutes to get a breath of fresh air so that it can feel like you're getting at least a tiny break." [14:17] Take Your Time and Growth Coming from Pain With all things in general, it's okay to step back and just focus on one thing at a time. If you have kids, you can't just focus on premed stuff because they need your help or you need to make them dinner. But this is an idea in general, where if you have so many different things you're focusing on, in any one minute, try to just focus on one thing. It can help to just step back. It's a cliche that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but that's true. There's so much growth you will see as a premed and as a med student. Your capacity to just take on will just expand. It has to. Your body and your brain just adopt as you have to take on more and more. So you grow ever more. This concept that as painful as it might be to grow from that and not letting it stop you is huge. Lastly, encouraging your peers is huge. As what Ryan's mantra is, “collaboration, not competition.” So encourage your peers no matter what phase you're at. [16:10] Get Things Off Your Chest This is why we're here. We want to give you the freedom and encouragement to reach out and call so you can get things off your chest. I'm here to support you and offer some thoughts every week. This is a great way for us to all support one another. [17:00] Respond to Our First Caller Call 1-833-MYDIARY and let us know you're calling in response to this. I will play your response on subsequent episodes. Thank you for joining us on this first episode everyone! As you move through this journey, listen to this podcast along with all out other series. Let's support one another in fighting this very scary and serious problem we have in this world of burnout. Links: Call 1-833-MYDIARY and share your thoughts with us! The Premed Years Podcast OldPreMeds Podcast

Trailer for Premed Diaries. Call 833-MY-DIARY to share your story.

Session 100!! Your premed stories are shared this week! 6 different listeners called/wrote in to share their premed journey to medical school. You must listen! Links and Other Resourceshttps://medicalschoolhq.net/mshq-100-your-amazing-premed-stories/ (Full Episode Blog Post) For more episodes full of premeds calling in and sharing their stories, check out the https://meddiaries.com/premed-diaries/ (Premed Diaries) podcast! Related episode: https://medicalschoolhq.net/74?utm_source=podcastlist&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=podcastlist&utm_campaign=podcastlist (1st Year of Medical School for a Nontraditional Premed). Related episode: https://medicalschoolhq.net/53?utm_source=podcastlist&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=podcastlist&utm_campaign=podcastlist (Zig or Zag: There Are Multiple Premed Paths to Medical School). Need MCAT Prep? Save on tutoring, classes, and full-length practice tests by using promo code "MSHQ" at https://medicalschoolhq.net/nextstep (Blueprint MCAT (formerly Next Step Test Prep))!