New Job
I'm starting my new job on friday. For the last 6-8 months, when people would find out I was about to finish, everyone wanted to know what I was doing after graduation. So I feel like I've been talking about my new job a lot, and that everyone I know has already heard about it.
I realized, of course, that even though I've been talking about, I haven't actually written about it here. So here goes:
Medicine is a great profession. It has not always been a great profession for women, though, especially women who also wanted to have families and actually be around to see their kids. Thankfully, this is changing. Now there are lots more options for working part time and job sharing in such a way that you can still be a doctor and a mom.
I feel very blessed to work at a great place that values families and children. It's also a place that is a busy practice that is getting even busier. They have hired me to work as a part time hospitalist and part time OB faculty. I'll be working full time, one week a month (7 days in a row), then during the other weeks work in clinic 1.5 days/week. I'll still be taking OB call, so I'll get to deliver babies and have my own OB patients. Since I'll also be in clinic, I'll still have my own patient census and get to do the primary care that I love.
But most importantly, I'll still get to be a mommy, and won't have to have someone else raising my baby. The weeks when I'm working, Jeff will mostly be taking care of him during the day. My mom will likely help out some as well. We may end up finding someone to help us 1 day/week or so, depending on if Jeff can get his work done while taking care of Judah. We're still figuring all that out.
One thing I'm excited about is that I'll still get to use all my skills - inpatient care, obstetrics, and clinic. I may not end up doing all three for my whole career, but I like that I'll be doing it all for now and so will have more options later. Once you stop doing something, it's hard to start doing it again.
So that's what I'll be doing starting on Friday. I'm a little nervous now that I'm the one in charge, but happy that there are lots of great colleagues around who can answer any questions I might have. Part of the reason I wanted to post this is just so that other female physicians or med students out there can know that it is possible to find part time jobs that still leave you with time to be a mom. You may not get everything you want in a job, but you can find ways out there to be both a doctor and a mom.
I realized, of course, that even though I've been talking about, I haven't actually written about it here. So here goes:
Medicine is a great profession. It has not always been a great profession for women, though, especially women who also wanted to have families and actually be around to see their kids. Thankfully, this is changing. Now there are lots more options for working part time and job sharing in such a way that you can still be a doctor and a mom.
I feel very blessed to work at a great place that values families and children. It's also a place that is a busy practice that is getting even busier. They have hired me to work as a part time hospitalist and part time OB faculty. I'll be working full time, one week a month (7 days in a row), then during the other weeks work in clinic 1.5 days/week. I'll still be taking OB call, so I'll get to deliver babies and have my own OB patients. Since I'll also be in clinic, I'll still have my own patient census and get to do the primary care that I love.
But most importantly, I'll still get to be a mommy, and won't have to have someone else raising my baby. The weeks when I'm working, Jeff will mostly be taking care of him during the day. My mom will likely help out some as well. We may end up finding someone to help us 1 day/week or so, depending on if Jeff can get his work done while taking care of Judah. We're still figuring all that out.
One thing I'm excited about is that I'll still get to use all my skills - inpatient care, obstetrics, and clinic. I may not end up doing all three for my whole career, but I like that I'll be doing it all for now and so will have more options later. Once you stop doing something, it's hard to start doing it again.
So that's what I'll be doing starting on Friday. I'm a little nervous now that I'm the one in charge, but happy that there are lots of great colleagues around who can answer any questions I might have. Part of the reason I wanted to post this is just so that other female physicians or med students out there can know that it is possible to find part time jobs that still leave you with time to be a mom. You may not get everything you want in a job, but you can find ways out there to be both a doctor and a mom.
Comments
and congrats on the adorable little one :)