A reply to another mom med student hopeful

I am a 31 yo mother of a toddler and MS1. I too worked in finance in my "previous life". I didn't hate it, the hours and work were intense, but most of the time, I enjoyed the work enough. What I couldn't shake was that in every quiet moment, my mind went back to medicine. When I was looking at biotech companies for my private equity firm, I got caught up in the science rather than the finance. For several years, I just stuffed these feelings, telling myself that I was too far down this path to change my career. After I had my son though, I just couldn't ignore it anymore. I would never advise him to settle, how could I? It was risky, I could get rejected, waste time and money, etc, but I could not accept not giving it a try. I spent a year preparing, took the MCATs, applied, and now I am here. I couldn't be happier. Ultimately, I hope that I will be a good example for son and proud of who I am.

My week as a patient

A week ago, I was sent to the ED after several days of an illness. I remained in the university hospital for 5 days, was discharged, only to be sent to ED again two days later by my PCP. Thankfully, my new dear fellow med student friend joined me, so my hubby could take care of our little man. I learned a few things during this adventure. - All patients 21 and under go to the pediatric ED. Yes, imagine all the girls in matching tee shirts in the kid's area during rush week sitting next to the actual kids. - A 21 month old will zero in on the one thing he can't play with, namely mommie's IV. - You and your spouse's cell phones will fail just when you need them the most. - Stand up for yourself. You may be told you had two CT scans, but you know you only had one. After all, you had a room full of visitors forntwo hours around time this supposed scan took place. P.S. Said visitors are credible. You also worked in radiology QA, and know that these mixups with images happen more often than they should. you should notnhave to know either of these things of course to get the correct scan results. - When grumpy patients threaten the ED waiting room staff with "just leaving with a bandaid if I am not seen right this minute", their stock answer is "well, you are a grownup and you can do what you want.". This also works if your friend is high and "freaking out" and you are not sure if you should bring him in or not. - You should not ask the kind young EM resident how far into his residency he is right before begins your lumbar puncture, especially when the answer is two months. This results in nervous resident, one bloody tap, and four misses before the wonderful attending has pity on me and takes over. - Seriously though, I am truly grateful for my friend who sat with me all night, held my hand, distracted me, and watched me puke through the most of the tap. I also greatly admire the attending who was truly compassionate, saying "he was there to serve" and he lived up to his words. he told the resident that he believed in cleaning up his own messes rather than leaving them for the nurses. He proceeded to wash the surgical scrub off my back, which was certainly something I never expected him to do, but showed great care. He also was incredibly patient and sensitive to my pain. After several attempts at the LP, I was in a lot of pain, and he assured me this was on my timeframe, that I could take a break and they could allow me to change positions, even though this meant preparing the entire sterile field. These small gestures really helped me get through the procedure, and I admire him for his patience and bedside manner. He balanced teaching his resident and caring for me. I know it must be easy to become jaded as an EM doc, but I am grateful this physician is on staff at our hospital, and I look forward to having the opportunity to learn from him as a student, now that I have learned from him as a patient. Most of all, I am incredibly thankful for my wonderful husband who has taken such great care of our son and me during this whole ordeal. Thanks for everything!