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Can I be included in my kids life and be a doctor?

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Michael’s Answer

That's a complicated question without an easy answer! My spouse and I are both doctors and we have two young kids. We are very happy but our lives are busy and we have a pretty high stress level trying to balance everything.

When you are a doctor, your job is different from most jobs. You have a duty to take good care of your patients and put a high priority on them. So if you are seeing a patient in clinic and they are sick, you might have to stay late at work to take care of them. If your child has a cold and is sent home from day care, it might be hard for you to leave work and pick them up, because you have patients to see.

Doctors also tend to work pretty long hours and the work can spill over into the evenings and weekends, which can make it harder to focus on your family. Here is an interesting study that shows that doctors often do work from home on weeknights and weekend nights:

https://catalyst.nejm.org/date-night-ehr/

Doctors have a high rate of burnout, and trying to balance work and home life can definitely contribute to that:

https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2015/0900/p42.html


To sum up, yes it is possible to be included in your kids' life and be a doctor, but it is not easy and you have to really work at it. If being involved and available at home is a high priority for you, then you might want to explore other careers too.
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Richard’s Answer

During medical school and residency, you won’t be in control of your own schedule which makes family time difficult to obtain. However, after training, you can be in more control and can choose what practice to join based on your needs. You can work less and have more time for family at the cost of making less money and possibly consulting on less interesting cases.
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Sanaz’s Answer

Yes! its all about how you prioritize your time. It won't be easy I can tell you that but it is possible. It will be challenging but rewarding at the end. I think so often in society we have a tendency to dichotomize things in our lives which make them seem like they are more unattainable than they really are. However, I believe with good support, proper time management skills and focusing on your life and ignoring the negative feedback/judgements from others you can totally do it! I believe in you!

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