Careers - Part I

Peter and I have been discussing his impending residency choice a lot lately.  As a third year medical student, he's already completed rotations in internal medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, and is currently on surgery.  The debate is currently between surgery (general or something specialized) and emergency medicine.  The two offer very different types of patient care and also have very different lifestyles, so the debate not only involves what type of medicine he wants to practice, but also the balance of family and work that we want to have. 

Peter on his first day of 3rd year rotations.

In a lot of ways, I love these discussions; there's the excitement about the endless possibilities of  where we could end up for his residency, what our lives would look like on a day to day basis.  I love that we now get to tackle these decisions together, and the intimacy that comes from talks about our future, our future family, our careers.  On the other hand, it is difficult and anxiety-inducing for me because I like to PLAN and all of these exciting possibilities are just hypotheticals at this point.  Luckily, our experience last year with the uncertainty of my job offer has helped me to relax, and appreciate the present instead of constantly planning for the future.  And while I am supportive of Peter's choice choice of specialty, I am apprehensive of what life might be like for us and our future family if he chooses surgery.  What does life with a husband who is always on call look like?  Will we still be able to have a balanced, quality family-time lifestyle we want?  Will I resent the long hours he spends at the hospital?  Can I still have a legal career, or will two stressful jobs be too much?  Will we ever take a vacation? In my mind, an emergency medicine doctor's life seems much more manageable - 14 twelve hour days within a 28 day cycle.  It's basically shift work, so you're never on call. Or maybe it's because I can picture what that life would be like, and that's what makes it more manageable.

I know Peter considers all this, too, and I'm confident he will ultimately make the best decision based on his passions and our goals for our work-life balance.  So far he loves his surgery rotation and comes home with a smile on his face and excitedly recounts everything he did that day.  I haven't seen him this energized, excited, and happy in a very long time.  In March, he will do a two week rotation in emergency medicine, and shortly after he will need to decide to what specialty he wants to apply for residency.

Until then, I'm enjoying this exciting, and very uncertain, time in our lives.